In this discussion of the sources used by Fray Juan de Torquemada it is not our intention to reopen the question of plagiarism in his historical writings. The purpose of this study, as will be explained, is simply to find out the varied and rich sources which Torquemada used as well as to judge objectively how he employed them throughout his “Veintiún libros rituales.” It has been said, and correctly so, that the Monarquía Indiana is a sort of “crónica de las crónicas.” In fact, the sources consulted by its author are very numerous. As we shall see, these embrace various kinds of indigenous records, many unedited chronicles and other Spanish documents likewise unpublished, as well as, lastly, a rather small group of printed works.

Scholars have frequently argued about the nature and extent of British participation in the economic and political life of the countries which emerged during the nineteenth century. Historians who seek to disprove general or specific theses concerning British imperialism in the nineteenth century, often focus their discussions on the doctrines of “Free Trade” and “Laissez-Faire” and their impact on the formulation and implementation of British official policy. They note that Britain refused any opportunity to attain formal special status and demanded that it have only equal opportunities for trade.

It is often assumed that the most creative aspect of Latin American thought, since independence, has been revolutionary. To a considerable degree this is true, as this author has himself pointed out in previous writings. But Latin America has also felt the impact of a different stream of creative thought, Spanish in origin to a considerable degree, though not completely so—the stream of Hispanic and Christian traditionalism. But this traditionalism is a mixed current. Thus, Pablo González Casanova of Mexico has shown that while reactionary forces often opposed it, “modern” Christian thought in Spain and New Spain was absorbing the new philosophy and science of the eighteenth century. Alberto Caturelli and Enrique Zuleta Álvarez. of Argentina, in somewhat different ways, have pointed out a mixture of Christian traditionalism with liberal streams of thought in that country. Moisés González Navarro of Mexico found in the historian-statesman, Lucas Alamán, a mixture of Christian traditionalism and economic liberalism. Carlos Valderrama Andrade of Colombia has found that traditionalists such as Miguel Antonio Caro (1843-1909), and his father before him, mixed with the conservative elements of traditionalist thought progressive elements not unlike those of modern Christian democracy.

In January of 1914 a young Mexican lawyer named Luis Cabrera, who was already on his way to becoming one of the most important figures of the Mexican Revolution, arrived in Washington on a special mission for the First Chief of the Constitutional movement, Venustiano Carranza. Cabrera's task was to persuade President Woodrow Wilson to lift a ban on the sale of American arms and munitions to Mexican factions, and his success in this effort encouraged Carranza to turn to him in a variety of other Mexican-American crises during the next three years. In the course of three difficult negotiations he became well-known in Washington and played a role in the development of American policy toward the Mexican Revolution. Though less important then Wilson's own agents in the shaping of American policy, Luis Cabrera should be better-known to those who would understand Wilsonian policy toward Mexico.

The Coleccion SepSetentas which was published by the Departamento de Divulgación de la Secretaría de Educación Pública during the recent presidential term of Lic. Luis Echeverria (1970-1976), contains many volumes of interest to historians. However, it should be noted that of the 315 volumes, which form this Colección, some are readily identifiable as historical while there are some which were not written by historians or not written explicitly to narrate past events. In great measure this style of writing corresponds to the modern tendency (as Alejandra Moreno Toscano asserts vol. 143) to supplement historical research with the findings of anthropologists, sociologists, economists, geographers and urbanists. On the other hand, some authors in SepSetentas state that they will study human groups or anthropological problems, systems and structures, but since they use the historical method, their volumes are useful also to the historian.