missions – U.S. to 1877

October 2, 2013

The Westward Expansion

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After reading so much about the British colonial conquests of the 17^th and 18^th century along the east coast of the United States, I had almost forgotten about anything in America at the time that existed west of the Mississippi. During this era, the Spanish took it upon themselves to maintain their superiority in North America by conquering most of the western United States, securing themselves as the most important colonizers on the continent. In this chapter we are also introduced to another player, the Russians, and their colonization of Alaska.

Throughout all of the North and South American colonies of the 17^th and 18^th century, one common theme that unites all of the settlements (with the possible exception of New France) was the use of excessive violence when conquering new territories. As Alan Taylor writes in his history American Colonies, the Spanish “heard alarming rumors of Russian and British advances towards the West Coast of North America” (Taylor, 445), which prompted them to colonize at a faster, more violent rate. I believe this shows a deep insecurity on the part of the Spanish colonial exploits, who were determined to demonstrate their superior colonizing skills through any means necessary, even if that resulted in them “rap[ing] Quechan women and brutally whipp[ing] native men who protested” (Taylor, 459).

I was surprised with Taylor’s devoted a portion of the chapter to Russian settlements in North America (particularly Alaska), as I was unaware they conquered any land. I enjoyed reading WEKING’s analogy where he compared the Russian promyshlenniki to Spanish conquistadores in terms of violence of cruelty to the local Indian population. Taylor writes that “the promyshlenniki became notorious for their brutality to native peoples and for the rapidity with which their operations harvested wild animals to local extinction,” (Taylor, 447), showing a complete disrespect for not only the native peoples, but for their land too. Through reading all the chapters devoted to different European colonies, it seems as though most Europeans believed they were automatically a more sophisticated group of people than their native counterparts, and it was almost their duty to “save” them by forcing their practices on the Indians. The Russians were apparently no different.

The intertwined nature of religion and Spanish colonial conquests has always been an interest of mine. Religious conversion played an important role in the conquering of Spanish Latin America and continued to be important as the Spaniards colonized out west. As EVFARESE noted, it was clearly in the best interest of the Catholic Church to fund these overseas expansions, as they had the potential to gain many more followers. Overtime, the Indians eventually became dependent upon the missions, as Taylor writes, “by introducing free-range livestock [among other resources], the Hispanics narrowed the Indian’s ability to live outside the missions,” (Taylor, 461), detailing the full extent of Spanish control in America.

October 2, 2013

Stretched Too Thin

Alan Taylor’s final chapter explains the colonization procedures performed in the West. Both Russia and Spain attempted to colonize this vast and generally unknown expanse of land during the mid to late 1700s. During this process, both nations partook in oppressive behavior towards the natives. Russians kidnapped women and children for ransoms as well as raped many of the native women during the affair. The Spanish took a different course by creating missions throughout California. In his recent blog post, Well’s describes these missions as “forced assimilation.” (http://sites.davidson.edu/his141/the-other-cold-war-imperial-paranoia-in-pacific-north-america/) I completely agree with his terminology. Not only did Spanish make the natives adapt to most facets of their lifestyle, but they didn’t give them any choice in the matter. It didn’t make matters any better that the Spanish destroyed the native land with their farming procedures and abused many native women.

But the question that arises is why did the Spanish create these missions? The answer relates back to why the Spanish settled California in the first place. Because of substandard communication in the 18^th century, Spain believed the Russians were a danger to their small settlements on the west coast. The fear of losing settlements made Spain send more people to colonize California. The only problem was that Spain did not have many people to send. The Spanish citizens were generally happy with their lifestyles in both Spain and Mexico and did not want to travel many miles to a place they knew virtually nothing about. So, instead of forcing people to migrate, Spanish authorities did the next best thing: they converted Indians into Spanish colonists. This way the land could have Spanish support and would protect against Russian interaction.

The Spanish mass conversion was a desperate maneuver to colonize a vast land with very few colonists. This was an example of a nation wanting to expand more so than the colonists who inhabited the land. This process seems quite foolish but it was one of the reasons why the Spanish failed to successfully keep much of their land in the New World. They claimed too much land and thus, could not develop their settlements as effectively as other nations.

October 2, 2013

Paranoia in the Pacific

Taylor began his assessment of the west in a unique fashion: focusing on Russian imperialism in Alaska. Despite initial intent to “acquire them [native peoples] through kindness,” (448) Russian colonists (promyshlenniki) tremendously mistreated and disrespected the native peoples. The disrespect was particularly unfounded, as the Aleut people were talented and innovative, aptly demonstrated by the baidarka, a small boat which facilitated fishing. Despite the skills of these people, they were vulnerable when it came to dealing with firearms, and the Russians ruthlessly exploited and intimidated them. However, Taylor’s main reason to include Russia in his narrative was to provide a frame for the geographical anxiety felt by the Spanish. Taylor noted that Russia’s population consisted of only 400 members in 1800 (456), and considering the vast distance between them and the Spanish, the Spanish took preventative action to secure the Pacific.

The Spanish first explored California’s coast during the middle of the 16th century (456); however, factors such as the apparent lack of mineral wealth and the distance and difficulty in accessing it led to minimal Spanish interest in the land. This changed in 1768 due to misleading reports of Russian and British encroachment (457). A lack of Spanish colonists interested in the area led Spanish to attempt a cultural conversion of native people. This practice, known as missions, assumed that with the cultural and particularly religious conversion would allow the native peoples to essentially become equal to the Spanish (461). However, the soul-saving missions had an extremely significant and damaging impact on the natives, as the missions virtually rendered them incapable of living on the outside in their accustomed ways. Contrary to Spanish belief at the time, the native peoples had chronically shaped the land, and the Spanish influence destroyed that.

I want to build off of and challenge Wells’s comparison of Spanish and British imperialism (http://sites.davidson.edu/his141/the-other-cold-war-imperial-paranoia-in-pacific-north-america/). I find his points of similarity regarding intimidation and forcefulness to be convincing and well-supported. However, the similarities only apply to Puritan praying towns, while Spanish missions consisted of a much greater portion of colonization in general. The comparison of the two imperial powers ignores the overall focus of the European countries. Many Spaniards colonized with the primary goal of soul-saving, while only a very minuscule faction of the British focused on it at all.

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.

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.