Uncategorized – Page 14 – U.S. to 1877

October 2, 2013

Hawaii’s Importance

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Taylor strangely discusses what Europeans are doing in the Pacific which most people think is not much. People don’t tend to associate early colonization with anything in the Pacific, due to its difficult to be reached. As Taylor points out, the region of the Hawaiian islands begins to become more frequently visited by explores and traders thus their importance in American history starts early than typically expected. I like how Taylor takes a commonly unimportant region and turns it into a crossroads of relevancy. The islands become a crossroads in the region for traders from the Far East to North America which threw the islands into new cultural encounters and transformations of their own. In the 1780s Kamehameha won the local arms race to become the dominant chief of the region. Kamehameha exploited the Europeans for their technology to better establish his dominance. One such British naval officer, George Vancouver, even provided Kamehameha with warship with which to accomplish his goals. The British believed that the islands were their protectorate and thus wanted Kamehameha to win dominance so to unify the islands, possibly under British control. There were also European mariners who would abandon ship to live on the islands. They did this because on the island they were desired for their skills military advisors and artisan so the local chiefs would provide them with land, prestige, wealth, and even a wife. Compared to the hard life at sea, this was a dream come true for the mariners.

It is important to note that the Hawaiians faced many of the same problems that other natives faced such as germs causing disease, weapons, and missionaries trying to convert their people. Although, thanks to Kamehameha these shocks were limited and the people recovered from them and had no real problems with the Europeans. This makes the Hawaiian islands an exception to how many natives were dealt with. As pointed out by King, European missionaries would result to intimidation tactics or forced assimilation to convert native peoples but, according to Taylor, the Hawaiians did not face this problem. It is possible that they did face similar problems but that Taylor felt it unnecessary to mention them but it is possible that Europeans would be less willing to convert people forcibly who were recently well armed and hard to reach.

October 2, 2013

Short end of the stick

A reoccurring theme in American history is the poor treatment of the natives. I found this last chapter of American Colonies to be really interesting because I had never known of the Russian involvement in the continent or the Spanish taking of California. However, the Indians were cruelly treated and forced out of the land that was rightfully theirs, just as the Spanish and English had done on the east coast.

To begin Taylor goes into the Russians and their takeover in Siberia and Alaska. The Russians may have been the most ruthless of all ethnic groups as they forced the natives to provide them with furs in order to make a profit. The Russians didn’t use trade as they easily could have. Instead they chose the route of holding woman and children at gunpoint and coercing the Aleut men to bring furs back as ransom (451). Obviously, this aggravated the Aleuts and they rebelled, and the Russians quickly countered by burning villages and murdering the natives by the hundreds (452)

The Spanish were very similar with their treatment of the Indians in California. The Spanish showed no equality to the natives as they came in and just took land that they wanted with no remorse. Their move caused Russians to prepare defense in case of a Spanish attack on their new claimed lands, but Taylor states that the Spanish was “preoccupied with trying to control the immense native population” and they did so through “plundering, beating, and raping Indians.” (458) I noticed that my classmate Jake Newton spoke on how the Spanish was going to colonize in the west because of the other countries involvement in the west (http://sites.davidson.edu/his141/spanish-brutality-in-the-west/). I definitely agree with that reason, but I also feel that a big influence on the Spanish colonization in California was the need to protect their settlements in Mexico (454).

One thing I disagree with from Taylors writings is the way he makes the levels or harshness vary from ethnic groups. Although there does have to be some group that it the worst in their actions towards the natives, Taylor makes it seem like the French were good guys, English were bad at times and good at times, and the Spanish and Russians just ran over natives at all times. In reality all of these groups used natives to their own advantage and none are innocent when the history is actually analyzed.

October 2, 2013

Winning the West

Taylor brings an interesting perspective to the colonization of America in this chapter, especially when it comes to Russian attempts to reach America. It was unknown to me that Russia had even made significant attempts colonize America but Taylor makes it clear that they were very set on crossing the Bering Strait. By doing so the Russians “hoped to prove that they belonged, culturally and politically, to Europe.(Taylor 447)” There were many similarities to what the Russians were doing and what the Spanish were doing in their imperial quests. Taylor mentions that “the Russians resembled the Spanish Conquistadores of Mexico.(Taylor 447)” But the comparison made between the French and the Russians doesn’t hold up. It is interesting that these countries, who were quite a ways away from each other and who didn’t have contact in the New World would have such similar tactics and goals.

The Spanish fear of the Russians was unwarranted though. I agree with JeLaws http://sites.davidson.edu/his141/the-russians-are-coming-the-russians-are-coming-and-the-spanish-missionaries-too/ that the false claims about Russian expansion forced the Spanish to colonize more quickly, but I do not believe that is the only reason that the Spanish colonized California. The Spanish were always looking for ways to expand and to hopefully stumble upon more of the mineral wealth that they had found in Mexico. So when they heard that someone else might be encroaching on land that they wanted they used it as an excuse to push forward, establishing missions as they went.

The Spanish missions were a new way that the Spanish were using to claim land. They were used to “help” the natives embrace christianity and force them to become more like the Spanish. Although this was the primary goal they were also important to the Spanish government because they were an easy way for the Spanish to control the natives, and therefore control the land more easily. The natives became dependent on the missions making it easier for the Spanish to get what they wanted.

October 1, 2013

Yet Another…

To be honest, when I began the reading about the “Final Frontier”, (appropriately named by Mitch Han) I had hope that at least one European nation was relatively benevolent and respectful to their fellow humans. As we’ve discussed, an argument could be made for the French but they had their fair share of cultural imposition. As I should have foreseen, the Russians were arguably as bad as the rest if not worse than even the Spanish. Taylor argues the Russian were brutal, viscous adversaries with specific goals to make as much money as possible and to show the world that they belonged in the elite European nation group. Taylor the Russian promyshlenniki as “…notorious for their brutality to native peoples and for the rapidity with which their operations harvested wild animals to local extinction” (Taylor 447). The statistics he provides would be shocking to anyone who hasn’t read the rest of the chapters of this book. I am numb to the numbers because of all of the decimation we’ve read about in Mexico but in reality, the decline of population experienced would easily rank as genocide-like in today’s world. The Russians, like the other Europeans, brought many diseases that killed off the Natives but Taylor stressed the venereal diseases given to Native women more than in other chapters. The Russian explorers, “held the native women and children [at gunpoint] for ransom, while releasing the Aleut men to fill a large quota of furs (which took months). Once the furs were delivered, the promyshlenniki released the children and the women. In the interim, the Russians exploited the Aleut women as sex slaves. Upon departing, the traders left behind venereal diseases and some trade goods…” (Taylor 451). Though we can be almost sure that this is not the first time such practices had occurred (the Siberian natives come to mind), Taylor chooses to describe this instance specifically and in detail. This makes me think that this interaction ranked as one of the worst on the North American continent.

The Spanish arrival in California contrasted with the Russians in that they put more money into the operation than what they ever expected to get out. As we mentioned in class today, the missions had to be constantly re-supplied and invested in. As Mitch Han discussed, the Spanish were spread thin and tried to create somewhat of an agriculture based, mission directed colony. They built permanent housing and brought in livestock. The Russians did the opposite, simply exploiting the natives hunting skills and leaving once they could fill the hulls of their ships and satisfy their hunger and pleasure. This stark difference can probably be easily attributed to the landscape of Alaska and the surrounding areas but the Russians also didn’t have the Catholic Church and an enormous amount of claimed land already producing profit for the home country.

October 1, 2013

North America’s Final Frontier

The final chapter of Taylor’s American Colonies coincides with the colonization of America’s final frontier, the western seaboard and Alaska. It is also the first time Taylor mentions anything about Russian colonization in North America. “By joining the competition for knowledge and commerce in North America, the Russians hoped to prove that they belonged, culturally and politically, to Europe” (Taylor, p. 447). In my opinion, the Russians always seemed like the odd ones out when it came to European colonial power; this definitely reminded me of all the “Mean Girls” references we made in class. Russia tried extremely hard to fit in with Europe, but prominent countries such as, England, France, and even the Netherlands never viewed Russia as either a formidable competitor, or a civilized European nation.

The promyshlenniki were Russian fur traders who spread into the Aleutian islands of Alaska looking for new trade routes and fur markets. I agree with @JELAWS’ comparison of Russian economic goals to those of the French, while the manner in which Russians treated natives more resembled that of the Spanish “Black Legend” in other parts of America. However, I do believe the promyshlenniki’s cruel treatment of natives in Siberia and Alaska also paralleled the way English settlers treated Native Americans along the eastern seaboard. Excessive hunting of local animals, brutal oppression of their people, and exposure to deadly diseases were all misfortunes natives dealt with in the face of European colonization on both the east and west coast.

In the much earlier chapters of American Colonies, Taylor paints this picture of a menacing Spanish empire known as the “Black Legend.” At the end of American Colonies, Taylor emphasizes the excessive paranoia and fear expressed by the Spanish in response to only minor Russian advancement into Alaska and the Pacific. This gives reason to believe Spain was no longer the colonial power it used to be; Spanish control in North America had been diminished greatly by this point. The thinly spread Spanish population in California relied heavily on the constant import of supplies from Spain. Needing more colonists to support these colonies in California, the Spanish tried establishing missions to convert the natives and force them to adopt the colonists’ agricultural lifestyle. Taylor explains in great detail the environmental consequences of extensive livestock grazing that the Spanish had introduced to California. Because their food source declined rapidly as a result, the natives had no choice but to rely on the missions for survival.

October 1, 2013

Conquest of California

The Spanish’s interest in gaining California is interesting. The Spanish were dominant in Mexico and afterwards, Cortes turned his gaze northward up the coast of California. In the early to middle part of the 17th century, the Spanish were exploring up the coast of California, looking to see what the land there was like. They found a land that, to them, did not seem worthy of their attention or further exploration. The Spanish Empire was stretched very wide at this point and it was probably a smart decision to focus themselves on what they had already gained. As JaNewton points out, it was the threat of the British and the Russians that scared the Spanish into returning to explore California. I think it is interesting to look at the competitiveness of the Spanish and how that forced them into gaining as much land as they could before the British or the Russians could get there.

This also points to the vast lack of knowledge of the Pacific coast of North America. The Spanish had heard that the Russians were moving into North America via modern day Alaska and they felt threatened even though the two empires were thousands of miles away from each other. Also this is an example of how communication might have been exaggerated as there were only “a few dozen Russian traders” (445) in pursuit of sea otter pelts for commercial trade. Clearly, a few dozen men over 3,000 miles away shouldn’t be much of a threat, but the Spanish were very eager to keep their land and not let anyone get it. The Spanish needed this land to act as a buffer between their precious Mexico and the Hudson Bay Company and whoever else may be to the north and the more land they have, the bigger the buffer is. They were also intent on gaining more and more land in the New World to compete with the thriving colonies of the British. I think the Spanish felt threatened by the success of the British colonies and were determined, due to their competitive nature, to outdo them and become more successful, and that meant gaining new territory and new Christians.

The other important aspect of the Spanish colonization up the coast of California was the fact that they were spreading Christianity through missions. Although these missions were tough to maintain, the Catholic Church in Rome was willing to help out as they might get more followers. The missions played a major part in forming relationships with the natives of California and many became dependent upon them for providing them with easy food. They were, however, put to work and became at great risk for contracting a myriad of diseases. The Spanish missions were integral in making their stamp on the coast of California as many of them are still standing today, reminding all Californians and Americans who was there first.

October 1, 2013

Blog Post #5- Spanish Brutality In the West

The Spanish conquest of Alta California in the 1760‘s- 1780‘s was the most interesting aspect of Chapter 19 in American Colonies. What first struck me was that the Spanish had explored the region both in the 1540’s and early in the 17th century. They had decided that the land was not bountiful enough to be considered worthy of conquest and missions (p. 456-457). In fact, they were only motivated to claim the land as theirs after hearing reports that the Russians and British were looking to make their own colonies there. This is important because it shows Spain’s true motivation in claiming the land. It was less about conversion of natives and spreading Catholicism, and more about competition with other foreign powers and protecting their land in Mexico. Their complete lack of knowledge about the land they were attempting to colonize is also noteworthy. According to Taylor, the Spanish thought of Alta California as undeveloped wilderness and they thought of the natives who lived there as “gente sin razon (people without reason” (p. 460). In reality, the natives had positively “reshaped and enhanced” (p.455) the environment and the Spaniard’s conquest and assimilation of natives proved to negatively affect hunting and plant and tree growth.

In the grand scheme, it could be argued that a lot of these smaller details Taylor provides about Spanish conquest in Alta California aren’t that important. It seems as if Taylor goes out of his way to provide extra evidence of Spanish ignorance and arrogance when they conquered new lands. He also shares examples of shocking brutality from Spanish soldiers and commanders towards the Natives. This section of the chapter, which to me seemed like a scathing criticism of Spanish conquest tactics, is consistent with how Taylor describes them throughout this book.

In this blogpost (http://sites.davidson.edu/his141/the-russians-are-coming-the-russians-are-coming-and-the-spanish-missionaries-too/), the author writes in more detail about how unfavorable life was for Natives after they were colonized and how they were essentially turned into slaves, even though the primary goal of colonization, according to the Spaniards, was conversion. While most, if not all European Nations who colonized in the New World were oppressive and nasty towards native people who already lived there when they arrived, it seems as thought the Spanish were far more blatantly uncivil and indecent in how they did things. I think Taylor and @jelaws would echo this point.

October 1, 2013

The West and Unrest

In a post from September 30, @JELAWS says, “False rumors of the rate of Russian and British colonization caused the Spanish to panic and colonize California.” This is interesting because false rumors are a very critical part to both of the readings for this week. In the Taylor reading, the rumors spread between Russia and Spain are discussed at length. Obviously, neither were as close to each other as the news spreading would indicate. Spain was especially paranoid and exceptionally proactive in making sure to expand as much as possible lest Russia catch up to them. Russia, of course, as Taylor said, never had more than a few hundred settlers living in their barren, isolated colony (452). However, the rumor that the Russians were rapidly expanding their land-holdings (or establishing them at all) motivated the Spanish to increase their aggressive expansion. Additionally, though somewhat of a more minor detail, the long-lasting rumor of the “black legend” motivated the Russian promyshlenniki to treat the natives with special cruelty (Taylor 447).

False rumors similarly impacted the British treatment of colonial Americans following the Seven Years War. Upon returning to Britain, the soldiers who fought in American spread the word that colonial Americans were living a disproportionately luxurious lifestyle when compared to their European peers. These rumors may have had an impact on Parliament’s decision to pass increased taxes–they believed that this was a fair measure given that the colonists were doing so well. This taxation was not solely because of the rumors of success, but also in conjunction with the fact that the colonists had not been paying taxes for many years now. I find it interesting that in an era where communication was so slow and difficult, especially when across such large land masses, rumors had an impact on legislature and colonization practices. It does beg the question of how colonization would go today, in our era of instant communication.

October 1, 2013

The Other Cold War: Imperial Paranoia in Pacific North America

We spent last Thursday’s class discussing the imperial wars in North America and how—in many ways—the French, British, and Spanish colonies functioned as a microcosm of the imperial conflicts in Europe. I think we see some continuities of this theme in our latest reading.

In Chapter 19, Taylor directs our focus westward to the Pacific, detailing the Russsian and Spanish colonization efforts along the west coast of North America. Eager to reap the commercial rewards of colonization, Russian explorers ventured east through Siberia into present-day Alaska; meanwhile, their Spanish counterparts crept northwest from Mexico into Alta California. Though separated by thousands of miles, the Pacific colonies shared some interesting similarities with those of the British and Spanish in the East. Taylor notes that in their treatment of the Siberians—and later the Aleut—Russian promyshlenniki resembled the Spanish conquistadors, intimidating Native peoples into hunting furs later to be traded with Chinese and Russian merchants (447). I, however, found even more striking similarities in Taylor’s description of the Spanish missions in Alta California that I’d like to share:

Intimidation Tactics – To suppress Native insurrection, the Spanish employed a number of intimidation tactics against the Native peoples. Exercising their technological supremacy, Spanish colonists stifled periodic Native uprisings with their impressive array of horses and guns. Much less organized and more poorly equipped, the Natives stood little chance against the Spanish invaders. In the greatest demonstration of power and intimidation, the commander at Mission San Gabriel decapitated a local chief and displayed his head on a stake just outside the mission. Though the chief had retaliated—and justly so—against the Spanish for having recently raped his wife, the Spanish commander felt that his excessive retribution was necessary, “lest the Indians ‘come to know their power'” (458). This tragic story immediately reminded me of Taylor’s account of King Phillip’s War, in which the the New English and their “praying town” allies executed Metacom and displayed his head atop a watchtower (201-2). Both accounts serve as fine examples of Native suppression at the hands of European colonists. Depending on how they perceived the Native peoples—as a tool to be used or animals to be broken—Europeans altered their treatment of the Native peoples.
Forced Assimilation – In an effort to Christianize the Native peoples, Spanish missions adopted a methods of forced assimilation to Spanish culture and Catholic religion. Taylor notes that by keeping their recents converts under close scrutiny within the confines of the mission, Spanish franciscans, led by Fray Serra, required Native peoples to forsake their animism and adopt Spanish customs. They required them wear Spanish clothing, recite the Catechism, and learn the Castilian language. Most disturbingly, Spanish monks confined young, unwed girls to barracks at night, where, as one California governor noted, ‘[it] was not possible for [him] to endure them, even for a minute” (463). Such horrifying treatment of the Natives, reminded me of the Puritan “praying towns,” in which Puritans confined converted Native peoples for the sake of evangelism. Anglicizing the Natives, the Puritans missionaries forced those living within the praying towns to adopt English names, cut their hair, change their clothes, and abandon hunting and fishing (200). Such horrifying accounts of Native suppress reveal that while each colony differe

Though there were certainly many continuities in the colonies from the Atlantic to the Pacific, I found the most interesting example in the European motivation to colonize. In his blog last week, A.J. described how North America served as the stage for European power struggles (http://sites.davidson.edu/his141/old-world-competition-comes-to-the-new-world/). As he aptly noted, “now battles would take place on New World land which would greatly affect the people living there.” I think the same occurred on the Pacific coast. This war, however, was much unlike the war to the East, where geopolitical struggles culminated in numerous violent conflicts. Rather than engaging in a violent conflict, the Russia and Spain entered a cold war. Though Russian colonial efforts in Alaska remained small and insignificant—only 400 settlers by 1800—in the scheme of geopolitics, the Spanish saw them as a threat to Spanish supremacy in America (454). Paranoid that Russia settlers or British fur-traders might assume control of the resource-rich North American West, Spanish ordered the colonization of Alta California, a project rife with economic, domestic, and environmental trouble. Though they never engaged in full-scale war, the colony of Alta California was born out of imperial paranoia and geopolitical conflict. Indeed, the Spain and Russia did engage in a political struggle for power in North America, characterized by unwarranted fear. So, one could say that Spain and Russia engaged in a cold war in the Pacific.

September 30, 2013

The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming! and the Spanish Missionaries too

In Chapter 19, Taylor discusses the colonization in western America, mainly Alaska and California. The Spanish missionary work in California is more popular than the Russian colonization and trade efforts in Alaska. The Russian expeditions and treatment of the natives interested me. In 1741 Chirikov and Bering discovered Alaska, but Chirikov was quickly run off by natives, returning to Russia (Taylor, p. 448). Bering and his crew barely survived the winter on an island in the Bering Sea (p. 448). Bering was able to bring back sea otter pelts, which became the catalyst of Russian interest in America. Russians began hunting seals, sea otters, sea lions, and foxes. The promyshlenniki treated the natives horribly. They held the women and children as ransom until the Aleut men brought back a sufficient amount of fur (p. 451). The women and children would then be released back (p.451). It was a system of “forced commerce (p.451).” Women were often used as sex slaves during captivity only adding more fuel to the anger of the natives (p.451). The Aleuts on Umnak and Unalaska revolted, but the Russians retaliated and destroyed 18 villages (p.451). In the 1780s Shelikhov “tried to control, regulate, and reorganize the chaotic and destructive exploitation of the sea otter and the Aleut (p. 452).” Shelikhov did reduce the rape of women and increase the payment for pelts, he still used the forced commerce practice as did the promyshlenniki (p.452). The Aleuts were quickly depopulated due to “hunger, new diseases, labor exploitation, and violent retribution (p. 452).” Even though the Russians had a goal more similar to the French, I think the treatment of the natives by the Russians would have created a legend similar to the Black Legend in other parts of America.

False rumors of the rate of Russian and British colonization caused the Spanish to panic and colonize California. The Spanish colonization in California was primarily a mission expedition. By claiming that the missions benefited the natives, the Spanish took the land without any formal purchase (p.459). The growth of colonies was stunted by the lack of an overland route from Sonora to the San Gabriel mission. Some emigration did occur with the discovery of a route, but the Spanish broke their promises to the natives at the critical Yuma crossing. The Spanish took over fields for livestock, raped native women, and whipped the men who protested (p. 459). The natives eventually revolted, permanently closing of the crossing at the Yuma crossing. The emigration to the California colony was again halted.

Although the missions were more popular and successful in converting the natives than in Mexico, the corruption was still present, perhaps to a lesser degree. The neophytes had to work long hours at a steep pace. They were punished if they resisted. Many neophytes died rapidly due to disease and intense labor. The Spanish were able to sustain a mission-centered colony in California despite the high rate of native death and lack of emigration. Taylor describes the Spanish colonization in California well, but I wish he would have made the distinction between how the priests, soldiers, and colonists treated the natives instead of bundling them all under the ‘Spanish.’

In week 2 @JANEWTON made a point to recognize that “there were varying levels of violence, peaceful interaction with natives, trade, implementation of religion, etc with almost every European nation that attempted to colonize the land.” I believe that in chapter 19 Taylor made a point to include the Russians to further emphasize the differences in colonization. The Spanish missionaries in California serve as an example to remind us that each colony was different even if it was controlled by the same country.