In 1590, less than 100 years after Columbus first reached the shores of San Salvador Island, José de Acosta wrote “Natural and Moral History of the Indies,” an enjoyable and informative book. In it, he considered the fascinating geography, minerals, plants, animals, and peoples of the Americas. The book demonstrates how an education in Western classics nourishes the mind, prepares it for clear-sighted observation, and even allows it to rethink classical authors’ judgments. Acosta came to appreciate the good nature, qualities, and the superiorities of New Spain and its people, despite being a clergyman of the Spanish empire who was educated to revere Old World authorities.
Appreciating the Plantain
Acosta considered the plantain the most important of the unfamiliar American trees. When he first described the plantain shrub, he took into account what he learned from the great Old World authors and discussed the plane-tree, or Platanus orientalis, a completely unrelated Old World tree praised by Latin and Greek writers. He speculated that the earlier Spanish explorers called it a plane tree based on the vague similarity of the leaves—both broad and shady.The Old World plane tree conjured up powerful images for the classically-educated: There are stories of famous Romans gathering for dinner in its hollow or branches. It’s a very large tree that offers extensive shade.
The images Acosta described from his classical education seemed to whet his appetite for observation. He described at length how plantains grew and how they were cultivated. He pointed out that, in one way, the plantain is deficient compared to its classical namesake; it can’t provide much shade. Nevertheless, it’s superior in a more important way: it provides food, whereas the plane-tree doesn’t bear edible fruit.
Comparing the Cultures
Acosta’s clear-eyed comparisons, his observations, and favorable judgments shows up not only here, but again and again, even and especially when talking about the indigenous American peoples. Acosta doesn’t shy away from revealing the ugly side of pre-Columbian culture. In terms of recorded history, Acosta’s documentation mostly focuses on the two great Indian empires which Spain came into conflict with, the Aztec empire, located in what is now modern Mexico, and the Inca empire, which spanned from modern Peru to Chile along the Andes mountain range in South America.
Acosta repeatedly insisted upon looking at other side of the coin: the wise practices of the natives. He writes all of book six (old works of literature were often divided into parts called “books”) with this primary purpose: “to refute the false opinion ... that they are brutes and bestial folk and lacking in understanding or with so little that it scarcely merits the name.” He boldly maintained that their culture was no less barbaric than that of the “wisest republics” of the Greeks and Romans. He believed that the natives were just as capable of renouncing and eradicating evils such as human sacrifice as Europeans were.
Acosta even believed the Indians capable of teaching Spanish Christians a thing or two. He noted the care the Aztecs took in educating their children. He admired how all Aztecs, not just the nobles, were careful to protect their children from idleness and impulsiveness. He deeply respected their schools, where children were trained in good manners, martial arts, and hard work. Whatever their weaknesses, Aztecs cared just as much about forming their children’s character as they did about their obtaining knowledge. This was a shared goal of classical education, from the writings of Plato, through Cicero, to the treatises written in Europe at this time.
Perhaps this shared impulse helped Acosta see the good in the Aztecs. His ability to do so was also thanks to a serious commitment to the intellectual tradition he'd received. This tradition was filled with colorful stories that encouraged comparisons, demanded careful observation of what was before one’s eyes, and accommodated true open-mindedness. Acosta had the ability to judge fairly what was outside of his previous experience. Whether considering plants or people, Acosta lived up to the education he had received.
