Menchaca's Expansion Of Alta California

The early years of colonial Mexico were a time of great change, as the native Indian populations were decimated by disease and increasingly dominated by the Spanish social and economic structure. Under the encomienda system, the initial flood of Spanish immigrants were provided with a support structure in New Spain, as the Indians’ land and labor were put at their disposal in exchange for moral guidance.[3] As Spain sought to reap the benefits of its new colony, the need for dependable labor in Mexico’s agr...

...ything and everyone that were there. At times they would work with the Natives at other times they would be at war with the natives. The Spanish had been engaged with the natives longer and over time felt the best way to control them would be to convert them or put them into same locations where they could “keep an eye on them”. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 was proof that no matter what they tried, when one man, country, or society tries to oppress another, war is almost always inevitable.

While the far-away North American tribes were having their land taken away, and being harassed by white American expansionists, they also faced another threat: Spanish occupation. During the early-1500’s, many Spanish explorers and conquistadors, such as Cabeza de Vaca, wished to find gold and riches and, in the process, they harassed, oppressed, tortured, and spread deadly diseases to the Native tribes. They often used the excuse of racial class-separation, known as “castas,” to justify their rotten, atrocious crimes. Throughout the 1600’s and 1700’s, the focus of the Spanish explorers experienced a shift from conquistadors wishing to acquire gold and wealth to Catholic missionaries wishing to religiously convert the Native tribes and, as a result, they built up many churches on the land. As one might guess, the

When the Spanish first began to colonize the western hemisphere, and create the land they would call New Spain, they were notoriously motivated by the “Three G’s”: Gold, Glory, and God. Conquistadors set out to claim new territory and conquer new people with the hopes of converting them to Catholicism, and exploiting them for resources and labor. These Spanish interests, along with other significant cultural and ideological differences, clashed with the Native’s desires to keep their religion and remain un-enslaved. The Spanish were able to bring many of the Native Americans to live, work, and pray in their missions, sometimes with appeals to reason or faith, and often with threats. Many Pueblo Indians were converted under the threat of death, giving the Spanish a false sense of success in their ability to subjugate the native people. Spanish leaders and priests were either oblivious or uncaring to the discontent of the Pueblo, allowing dissention to grow right under their noses. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, which occurred in present day New Mexico, saw 20 Pueblo villages unite to rise up against the Spanish, who had been colonizing the area, and at the time was the biggest Native American victory over European colonizers. Much of the reason for this rebellion can be traced back to Spain’s misunderstanding of Pueblo life, and their belief in their own superiority, as well as the Pueblo’s desires to hold on to their ancient traditions, and to renounce the Catholic doctrine that had often seen them abused. Understanding either side’s views of the other can help one to understand what lead up to this revolt.

In both “the mission” and “the end of a culture”, we see how complicated, and overall detrimental colonization was to the existing indigenous population. Masked with claims to “save” the indigenous by converting them to Christianity, the Spaniards forced indigenous native Americans to adopt to their[the Spanish] way of life. Aside from reviewing both films, I will also draw information from the power point lecture to elaborate on how and why the Spanish were able to conquer and subdue such a large area of land and people. Pretty much the entire Indigenous population was forced to convert against their will, and many were killed, forced into slavery, and exposed to diseases that they had never been exposed to.

As a Californian learning about the state’s government, it is essential to know how our state came to be today. On that note, I learned that a majority of the beginning of California’s history was under the ownerships of Mexicans. Some famous contributors that lead to California’s success today is due to Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Gaspar de Portola, and Sebastián Vizcaíno. This can date back to 1542 where Spain claimed California. However, as the US began to experience the Manifest Destiny, the need to spread from sea to shining sea, Americanizing the territory lead to officiation of California as the 31st state, under the Compromise of 1850. Of course, there has already been settlement in California by the Native Americans that dates back to

Cabeza de Vaca’s Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America shows that while Christians thought themselves superior to natives, both sides were diverse and could commit good, bad, or neutral behavior towards each other. Therefore, the Indians and the Christians were much more similar than different. This is apparent in de Vaca’s accounts of Indian to Indian behavior, Christian to Christian behavior, and Indian to Christian behavior (and vice-versa).

Missions were created to bring the word of God to a new land. They thought the Indians deserved a chance to go to heaven.. The country of Spain helped the Catholic church and the Spanish priests. They wanted to strengthen the Spanish Empire over in the New World. The thought they could teach the Indians how to be like the Spanish. Spain thought the Indians could become Spanish citizens. This would give the king more power. The missions were set up between 1769 and 1823 in California. The Spanish also build forts called "presidios." Presidios were supposed to protect California from foreign troops like the Russians and the British. Spain already had missions in Mexico. They went to Alta California which is not a part of Mexico. They made a trail of missions called the El Camino Real. El Camino Real means "Royal Highway" in Spanish. They called it this to honor the king of Spain. Each mission had a Franciscan priest called a "padre." Padre means "father" in Spanish. The head of the priests was Padre Junipero Serra.

In the textbook “California: An Interpretive History” by James J. Rawls and Walton Bean introduces the way California Indians carried their everyday lives in chapter 2, The Original Californians. According to traditional Indian beliefs, Californian natives believe that they were created and have lived their entire existence in their ancestral homeland. However, anthropologists believe otherwise. They believe that they are decedents of people who made their way across from Asia to North America thousands of years ago when a now-vanished land bridge connected the two continents during the Pleistocene Era (11). These men and women along with their descendants settled into the North and South America continents, making possible the spread of various tribes throughout California along with their tradition.

The Spanish Empire, at the time were the first nation to arrive to, and truly colonize the New World. This colonization started as a quest for gold, power, and a want to convert a newly founded native people into Catholics. Because of these three motivators, The New World had something for just about everyone. The broad spectrum provoked interest into explorers, priests and friars, as well as regular peasants who had no hope of being successful in the European world they lived in at the time. The Spanish were able to establish such a grasp on America so quickly, by enslaving many Native Americans and forcing them to do labor as well as exploit their knowledge of the area due the European's superiority through weaponry as well as technological advancement. This enslavement lead to the general undermining of Native Americans by Europe, which would lead to the thought of them being a savage and simple minded group of people who needed the guidance of the Europeans to become sophisticated. This Spanish undermining of Native Americas would lead to the eventual "Black Legend" created by other European countries which would standardize the view of Spanish

After Hernan Cortez’s victory over the Aztecs, the Spanish expeditions focused primarily on the vast territory to their north. With legends of gold and great wealth, more and more Spanish explorers launched expeditions to what is now the American southwestern region as well as Florida. Map 1 demonstrates the exploration and colonization efforts that took place in the North America from the middle of the 16th century until 1675. It is very evident that Spanish authorities put an enormous focus on the area of present day New Mexico, which they heavily settled after Juan de Oñate’s arrival in 1598. For the settlers, the territory of New Mexico was their opportunity to gain riches, but also it put them in direct contact with the area’s native population,

The Spanish were the first people to encounter the Native Americans. Throughout the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish conquered Central and portions of North America. The Spanish chose a more violent style. They pushed their way into the Americas, and would kill, enslave, or change the cultural views of any Native American that stood in their way. When Hernando Cortes led an army into the American mainland, Tabasco, a strong Aztec empire, resisted the Spanish but their rifles defeated the Aztecs. In 1520, the Aztec finally rebelled against the Spaniards’

There are several reasons why Spain wanted to colonize what later became the American Southwest. One reason is due to Spanish explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca stating on his reports about a seven cities of Gold or “Cibola” that contain rich resources. This brought the attention of Spain which made further explorations to the vast landscape. The Southwest exploration ended in disaster due to the lack of discovery for precious metals, so Spain turned their attention to international rivalry that led Spain’s settlement in the northern frontier. One settlement in particular was Albuquerque in 1706, with its rich resources, Spain required labor workers and this was a reason the Indians were valuable to them (Meier and Ribera, 20). Indians who

...th empires. The Indian overlords made no attempts to assimilate the other cultures to their own and thus provided the basis for a full scale revolt against them. With diligent work by missionaries, the Spaniards tried to bring together the people of present-day Mexico and the southwestern United States by converting them to Christianity. The resulting extension of the Spanish empire, New Spain, was the most strongly united of the American empires for years to come.