Russia – U.S. to 1877

October 2, 2013

The Island of California, Spanish hysteria, and Russian Oppression

Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126

Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127

A major theme in this week’s reading is the presence of paranoia among the Spanish and their uneasy feelings toward British (Hudson Bay Company) as well as the Russians. By the early 1600s, the Spanish had built a true empire in North America with its core centered in Mexico. With such a large empire and vast amount of territory, the Spanish had been stretched relatively thin and decided not solidify their presence in California despite multiple explorations in the 1540s. They did, however, create New Spain as a buffer zone between their crown jewel of Mexico and other foreign nation establishments. Contrary to Spanish beliefs, the British and Russians were much further away from Spanish settlements and did not seek to significantly expand their western territories. In fact, the Russian settlements were confined to a small portion of Alaska and the British owned Hudson Bay Company had not surpassed the Rocky Mountain area. In response to this invented pressure, the Spanish established permanent settlements in California in order to solidify power via religious missions with the first one being constructed in 1697. Also, Taylor points out that during the 18th century Enlightenment, the Spanish were even skeptical of the efforts made by European nations to explore western territories to create maps and discover new wildlife. I find the sense of suspicion that swept through the Spanish Empire in North America unwarranted and entertaining in a way.
The most interesting aspect of the reading to me was the way Taylor includes information of Russians persecuting Siberians as well as other foreign groups throughout their conquest of eastern Asia and settlement of Alaska. Over the course of the semester, we have read and discussed numerous accounts of Spanish and English persecution of native peoples (such as the Aztecs, various Native America groups, and slaves). Taylor, for once, provides information (although scant) suggesting that other power hungry groups oppressed people when possible. Although I appreciate Taylor’s decision to include Russian mistreatment of Siberians, I am disappointed that he did not elaborate on it further. Taylor has gone into great and even gruesome detail when describing the living conditions of slaves, massacring of Aztecs, or systematic persecution of the Indians by the Spanish conquistadors or English colonizers. However, Taylor fails to give the Siberians or Aleutians comparable attention in this reading.
Lastly, I would like to discuss the Spanish’s absence of knowledge of western North America and their stellar map-making in regard to California. As my classmate JaNewton pointed out, the Spanish’s true motivation for settling California was not in the name of Catholicism but in fear of Russian colonization in the Pacific Northwest. Along with labeling California as a desolate wasteland filled with wilderness, the Spanish decided to make it an island as well. The actions of the Spanish empire in western North America and especially California truly convey their paranoia and unrest during the 17th century.

October 2, 2013

What In The World Is Russia Doing Here?

Up to this point, the entire focus of this class has been on the colonization of America. That is logical considering that this is American history, but the history thus far has not really been American. Rather, it has been a conglomerate of European explorations, European politics, and European settlement. Chapter 19 was no different, but this final chapter ended the colonial period in an intriguing way.

Spain had played a role in the colonies up to this point, but they started to get worried. Spain “owned” a lot of land towards the west coast. I say “owned” because technically they claimed the land and it was theirs, but the Spanish really had no idea how much land was actually their. So when rumors spread that Russia and Britain were coming after their landed, they assumed that “the Russians and British were closing in on California and would soon outflank New Mexico and attack precious Mexico” (Taylor 445). First off, what in the world is Russia doing in this book? Russia was definitely not a country I expected to hear, or had ever heard, in connection to colonial history. Also, it always amazes me how little they knew about the layout of the country, as seen by the map of the island of California (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:California_island_Vinckeboons5.jpg). However, the Spanish did expand with their missionaries up the coast of California. They claimed the land by establishing little missionaries scattered up the coast of a vast territory.

Somehow Russia decides to rear its ugly head in the colonies. Now considering I had never heard of Russia being in America this early, I was intrigued to see what they brought to the table. I very quickly learned two major themes. The first is that the Russians are just like every other country that settled near natives. They were brutal, cruel, and effective in dealing with natives. They used natives to get the goods they needed and took advantage of them, just like every other society we have studied thus far. Secondly, Russia created a sense of urgency for the Spanish. Sarah Funderburg puts it eloquently in her most recent post, “the rumor that the Russians were rapidly expanding their land-holdings (or establishing them at all) motivated the Spanish to increase their aggressive expansion.” The Russians, to me, did not add much to the conversation about colonization. It seems as if they were another card in the deck.

Russia, Spain, Britain, France, etc. all seem to go the same way about colonization. As our talk of American colonization comes to end it is very clear. Now, just as Taylor does I will conclude with a brief mention of Revolution. Now, it is time to revolt against the British crown and become the United States of America.

October 2, 2013

The Westward Expansion

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

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

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.