On March 5, 1731, Mission San Francisco de la Espada was established along this bank of the San Antonio River. Here the Spaniards took in the Coahuiltecan, a group of hunter and gatherers. The Spaniards attempted to convert them to Catholicism. They were also taught the ways of the Spanish. By the mid 1700s it was a working Spanish community.…
Information in Las Casas’ accounts that may be misleading or exaggerated are his reports of the cruelty inflicted on the Indians by the Spaniards. From the way the priest wrote his account, it gives the appearance that in his eyes, the Indians could do no wrong and the Spaniards were only capable of wrong. Because of this bias, events might have seemed more severe or extreme than they actually were. The accounts he gives contain both facts and opinions. Because opinions were included, it’s possible that they could muddy the facts. The account could also sound more extreme than the actual events if the priest was trying to get the attention he believe the situation needed in order for anything to be done.…
Under this new law signed by King Charles the V of Spain, encomiendas were no longer considered a hereditary grant, the owners now had to set their Indian serfs free after a single generation. In order to enforce this new laws, De las Casas was appointed bishop of Chiapas, and together with 44 Dominicans he set seal for America once again in July 1544. “Upon his arrival in January 1545, he immediately issued, Admonitions and Regulations for the Confessors of Spaniards, the famous Confesionario, in which he forbade absolution to be given to those who held Indians in encomienda. The rigorous enforcement of his regulations led to vehement opposition on the part of the Spanish faithful during Lent of 1545 and forced Las Casas to establish a council of bishops to assist him in his task” (Encyclopedia Britannica Online). However, his strong position in favor of the Indians, cut off the support he received form his colleagues thus forcing him to return to Spain in…
The missions were the perfect vehicle used as an imperial project by Spain to exert control of the lands and communities in California. After England took Florida from Spain and Canadian lands from France, Spain found necessary to once again take control of more lands to expand their empire in the new world. Attempts had been made in the past to survey California. They had successfully take control over Baja California. Spain had extensive experience in the matter, consequently by the mid-eighteenth century, Spain had already established mission in Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Baja California.…
In 1769, Spanish missionaries founded a chain of 21 missions that attempted to Christianize native Californians…
The Spanish civilization was much more prosperous than most of the English settlements, acquiring over a million citizens in their empire by the seventeenth century. New Mexico was the most successful of the outposts built and was still expanding, it had a population of over 10,000 non Indian residents. Once Spain realized other nations were beginning to settle in California they also started creating outposts of the empire further north. In the 1760 the began building trading communities along the Pacific coast. As the Spanish moved into California they spread disease throughout that killed many of the natives. The Spanish also wanted to convert the remaining Natives to Catholicism and make them become laborers to build a prosperous agricultural…
“From the fact that the Indians are barbarians it does not necessarily follow that they are incapable…” (de Las Casas 3). In For the Record, it starts off right away in this section of how the Europeans while not sure of what to make of the Indians they knew that these were not the savages as some had described. De Las Casas goes on to describe of a people that were both loyal and committed to the community and to their fellow man. De Las Casas main adversary, Gines Sepulveda, failed to see the parallel in the fate of the Spaniards at the hands of the Romans and Caesar Augustus. “Now see how he called the Spanish people barbaric and wild” (de Las Casas 3) demonstrates the same philosophy of the thoughts of Europeans as they encountered the Indians. Shall those that are fearful for the loss of all they have worked for not fight back and retain what is rightfully theirs. The Indians, especially the Aztecs had built cities, established political and economic organizations and created richly diverse civilizations. In The Jesuit Relations they recount the gratitude shown to the hospital nuns “The Savages who leave the hospital, and who come to see us again at St. Joseph, or at the three Rivers,…
The origins of the missions were an instrument of joint Spanish and Catholic policy. The padres were intent on bettering the life of the native Californians by teaching trades and Catholic Doctrine. Many modern California Native Americans believe the missions were an enslaving institution that robbed their ancestors of their culture and lands. Both perspectives have evidence to support these beliefs.…
The English and Spanish strategies at colonization in the late 1600’s were very different, resulting in very different outcomes. The English methods of displacement and extermination of the native populations led to wholesale destruction of the cultures targeted. On the other hand, the Spanish attempted to peacefully associate with the local populations. This lead to the creation of a hybrid culture of Spanish and Indian peoples. The birth of this new culture demonstrated the success the Spaniards had in the waning days of the century (Otermin, 2007).…
After the missions began to be secularized, the Carmel mission began to deteriorate little by little. According to Sydney Temple, the author of the book Carmel Mission, the pious fund that supported the missions was seized by government authorities in Mexico City and so the missions were left to the natives that had lived and kept the mission afloat. The responsibility was the natives to keep the mission going (70). For a while the natives found ways to support themselves, the natives would trade and sell cow hide with the ships that came in to the California ports. After the second and final secularization of the missions, “the Carmel mission lands were divided, half of the lands were give to the natives and the other half of the lands were sold by Spain to pay off their debt” (Temple 82). After the lands were sold and given to the natives the mission began to transform in to…
Portola had been suffering hunger and thirst from the journey, so they would try hard to survive which opened up trade with the Native Americans. Along the way, Spain would conquer new territories in order for them to expand its empire; they would build outposts and missions all over California. One of the purposes for outposts and missions was to, “spread Christian faith across the land, irreparably transforming the native population” (Gaspar De Portola). Spain's encroachment along the coast of California helped them exchange new cultural ideas; this benefited the Spanish because more and more natives are transforming the native population.…
Bartoleme de las Casas was born on 1484 in Sevilla, Spain. In 1502 he left for Hispaniola to spread the word of Christianity and monitor the progress of religion in that area. Once there he witnessed the brutal treatment of the indigenous people. He continued to participate in the conquest for an additional twelve years. After his services, he was rewarded with territory and indigenous people of his own. Once he met the gentle people, Las Casas realized that the way the Spaniards treated the Native Americans was inhumane. He sailed back to Spain to defend the people and plead for their better treatment. After this, Las Casa believed that “both Spaniards and indigenous communities could build a new civilization in American together” (Pagden).…
The Franciscans pushed for religious conversion, the natives, while subject to this, wished to remain mostly steady in their old ways, and the Spaniards desired a peaceful autonomy and control. Although variant in their goals, the groups of the Yucatán did, for some time, come to an agreeable and sustainable balance of living. Coexistence might not have been harmonious, but it was tolerable: “one or two conquerers did marry Indian women…their children would have Mayan as their first tongue, and be tended through their first years by Indian hands” (pg. 44). Not only did the natives and the Spaniards connect on a social level, but partnerships between the two groups were also political and economic. Indians would come “regularly into the Spaniards’ towns and houses, bringing in their tribute and serving out their labor obligations” (pg. 43).…
The only mission that took root in Texas was one that eventually became the city of San Antonio. Spain began colonizing California in 1769, and its missions there were especially important, Missionary Junípero Serra established several missions, including one that eventually became the city of San Diego. Altogether, the Spanish founded almost 20 missions in California between 1769 and 1800. Life in the Spanish Missions, thousands of Native Americans worked at missions, farming, building churches, and learning crafts. Treatment of Native Americans: Although they were not overworked, Native Americans did not have control over their lives in the missions, if they violated mission rules, they often were imprisoned or…
Written in 1850’s,The Scarlet Letter made Nathaniel Hawthorne even more acknowledged than he was and making other famous authors like James Henry place him on a higher pedestal than ever in stating in his Hawthorne about him that “He was a beautiful, natural ,original genius and his life had been singularly exempt from worldly preoccupations and vulgar efforts .It had been as pure ,as simple ,as unsophisticated , as his work .He had lived primarily in his domestic affections ,which were of the tenderest kind; and then__ without eagerness , without pretension, but with a great deal of quiet devotion__ in his charming art. His work will remain ; it is too original and exquisite to pass away; among the men of imagination he will always have…