Title: Colonial America and the Character of Colonial Charters: Historiographical Transformations and Spanish Colonization
1Colonial America and the Character of Colonial
Charters Historiographical Transformations and
Spanish Colonization
- Teaching American History
- Kern County, California
2Alan Gibsons Email
3Why Study the Early American Settlements Today?
- To separate the fact from the fiction about our
heritage and to undo myths created by Anglophile
historians. Hopefully, these lectures will make
it clear that English settlement was neither the
first nor the only settlement in North America.
The Spanish, French, and Dutch also established
early and permanent settlements in North America.
The story of these settlements has, since the
1960s, gradually been uncovered and told with
increasing subtlety and complexity and it needs
to be told to our students. There are reasons to
emphasize English settlement, but these are not
reasons to ignore the settlements of the Spanish,
French, and Dutch. Colonization should be taught
as a contest between these nations for the North
American continent as well as a series of complex
and shifting interactions between the colonists,
natives, transported slaves, and authorities at
home and in the mother country.
4The Politics of the Study of Early America
- Separating fact from fiction and depoliticizing
American history, however, is easier said than
done. In addition to establishing the importance
of non- English colonists in the making of
America, historians have also increasingly
focused on the complexity of the peoples who were
already in America when it was colonized. This
has raised a series of controversies beginning
with, how many natives were there? It has also
expanded to questions about the character of
their cultures.
5The Politics of the Study of Early America
- Some scholars romanticize natives and suggest
that they lived in bliss before colonization in
order to highlight the undeniable destruction
done to them. Others point to every example of
native violence, human sacrifice, and
environmental waste of the natives to suggest
that they somehow deserved conquest or morally
reformed by it.
6The Politics of the Study of Early America
- As Alan Taylor has noted, Warfare and the ritual
torture and execution of enemies were commonplace
in both native America and early modern Europe.
But Europeans had a superior ability to inflict
misery. They had greater technological power and
organizational capability to do harm to the
natives than the natives did to them. They also
were driven by imperial aspirations and
evangelical religious ideologies that led them to
colonize in the first place and to view natives
as inferior. The greatest devastation that they
caused, however, was unintentional through
disease. (Alan Taylor, American Colonies, 4).
7Why Study the Puritans and Pilgrims in
Particular?
- Despite the historical truth of multiple
settlements on the North American continent,
Americans have traditionally turned to the
Puritans and Pilgrims to explain ourselves as a
people and our national character or what we
often call American Exceptionalism. So the
study of colonization and settlement also
illuminates the American Character and our
National Identity. - The Puritan Work Ethic Contrast contemporary
Americans conception of a job with the Puritans
conception of a Calling. - The Dark Side of the Puritans and Pilgrims
Intolerance, Superstition, and Repression
8Why Study the Puritans? (continued)
- The Settlement of America is also a source of a
number of concepts and metaphors that constitute
a dimension of our collective memory. We say that
we are a Chosen People, a City on the Hill,"
and A Redeemer Nation. But contrast this with
Malcolm Xs famous statement We didnt land on
Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us - Provides an avenue for discussing the claim that
America as a Christian Nation Founded on
Christian Principles. Is this True? What Does
This Mean? What Are its Political Implications?
Consider that wee shall be as a Citty upon a
Hill, the eies of all people are uppon us
John Winthrop Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony
9Why Study the Puritans? (continued)
- Provides an Avenue for Discussing the Origins of
Religious Freedom in America and for Debating the
Proper Relationship of Church and State - Provides an avenue for discussing the character
of groups who separate from society to seek
purity. Under persecution and surrounded by
others who are different, common bonds are more
easily forged and maintained. But once separation
takes place, it is necessary for authority,
hierarchy, and discipline to be introduced.
Compare and contrast the Puritans and the Beat
Generation. - Provides a challenge to the idea that American
society is based only on the liberal principles
of John Locke. Much of the political thought of
early America is communitarian, not
individualistic.
10Strategies for Making the Study of Colonial
America More Interesting
- Use of Novels and Plays The Crucible, The
Scarlet letter, and The Last of the Mohicans, and
The Prairie. - Use of Biography and Great Men and Women Anne
Hutchinson, Roger Williams, John Winthrop,
Captain John Smith, Powhatan, Pocahontas, and
William Bradford. - Jill Lepore, The Name of War King Phillips War
and the Origins of American National Identity.
Analysis of how we talk about war.
11- Historiographical Transformations in the Study of
the Settlement of America
12The Transformation of the Story of the Settlement
of North America
- In the past, the story of the settlement of what
would become the United States has been told as a
celebratory and narrowly confined narrative of
the creation of a new people in a new land. The
settlement of North America, according to this
story of American Exceptionalism, was the
upbeat story of English colonists who fled
religious persecution and came to new land
seeking and securing prosperity and liberty,
planting the seeds of democracy, and gaining the
character traits that we associate with Americans
(individualism, equalitarianism, and
acquisitiveness) when confronted with this new
continent.
13Partial Truths in the Old Story
- By 1640, the great majority of free colonists
were better fed, clothed, and housed than their
contemporaries in England where about half of the
people lived in destitution. - Colonial America did not have nobles and
aristocrats in comparison with Europe. More
people participated in politics in the colonies,
especially those without wealth. Town meetings
were held in New England and representative
legislative assemblies throughout the colonies.
In a sense, the seeds of democracy were sewn in
the colonies. - Many of the colonists did flee Europe to avoid
religious persecution, especially the Puritans.
14The New Story
- Beginning in the 1960s and accelerating (though
not without resistance), a new story of the
settlement of North America has been told. Now
scholars emphasize the diversity of the peoples
engaged in settlement, the multiplicity of
nations acting (the importance of Spanish,
French, and Dutch colonization), the multifarious
character of the colonists motives, the disease
and difficulty of the endeavor, and the
exploitation and cruelty of these peoples to each
other. Finally, scholars have emphasized the
paradoxical and ambiguous character of the
development of democracy and liberty (especially
religious liberty) in colonial America.
15- Diversity of the Peoples Who Settled North
America
16The Diversity of the Peoples Who Colonized North
America
- The Spanish, Russians, French, Dutch, and British
colonized North America at roughly the same time.
The Spanish colonized Florida and migrated from
settlements in what is now Mexico north into what
is now the state of New Mexico and California
Russians colonized Alaska the French colonized
in the Great Lakes, Quebec, and throughout the
Ohio and Mississippi Valleys all the way done to
New Orleans the English colonized not only on
the east coast but also in Hawaii. Obviously,
when all of these nations and nationalities are
considered, settlement did not take place only
from Europe to the east coast of North America or
even only east to the west, but west to east
across the Bering Strait, north from Latin
America, and south from the Canadian territory.
The contest between foreign powers for control
over the North American territory is of course
integral to the study of American history.
17Spanish Colonization (Florida, New Mexico, and
California)
- San Agustin or St. Augustine 1565
- Santa Fe 1607
- Taos 1609
- El Paso 1659
- Tuscon 1709
- San Antonio 1718
- Laredo 1755
- San Diego 1769
- San Francisco 1776
- Los Angeles 1781
18French Colonization (Florida, Canada, the Great
Lakes, Louisiana and Missouri)
- Fort Caroline (Florida) 1562
- Quebec 1608
- Montreal 1642
- Green Bay 1634
- Sault Ste. Marie 1641
- Cahokia 1699
- Pensacola 1696
- Mackinac 1700
- Detroit 1701
- Mobile 1710
- Natchez 1716
- New Orleans 1718
- Baton Rouge 1719
- Vincennes 1724
- Ste Genevieve 1750
- St. Louis 1764
19British Colonization
- Jamestown 1609
- Plimouth or Plymouth 1620
- Boston 1630
- Charleston 1670
- Philadelphia 1682
- Savannah 1733
- Louisville 1778
- Nashville 1780
- Cincinnati 1788
- Hawaii
20Dutch Colonization
- New Amsterdam New York, 1626
21The Multifarious Motives of those who voluntarily
came to North America in the 17th century?
- Among those who came to settle, there were
diverse reasons for their choice to come to North
America and almost certainly face a difficult and
short life. Some came to conquer others to
settle. Many came and left which is another
relatively untold story in American history.
22Were Americans. We have been kicked out of the
Best Countries in the World. (Motives for
Settlement)
- Religious Freedom for Religious Dissenters -
Much more so from Britain than from Spain and
France which for the most part did not allow
dissenters to colonize. - Second, third, and fourth sons of Aristocrats
- Indentured Servants or Engages among the French
By far, the most numerous and thus important
group. - Adventurers and Fortune Seekers John Smith, Sir
Walter Raleigh, the adelantados from Spain, Fur
Traders In Canada, land speculators in Jamestown.
- Criminals many facing death penalties. Some
came to New France More came to Louisiana.
Georgia was founded as a penal colony. - In France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Britain,
the Governments and joint Stock Companies
supported settlement of the North American
continent because they sought a) a short route to
the Pacific and to India b) extensive mineral
wealth c) to quell discontent and enhance the
status quo in England by exporting portions of
the society that were outcasts or supported
change. - In short, the colonists came for the freedom to
create their own religious communities, for
opportunity and profit, and for a place to be
more significant that in Europe.
23Involuntary Colonists the Slaves
- The Africans who were enslaved and forced to
America in the slave trade were from many
different tribes including Ashanti, Fulani, Ibo,
Malagasy, Mandingo, and Yoruba.
24The Natives
- Conquerors and colonists of course did not find
an unpopulated or virgin land. Native Americans
already on the continent included literally
hundreds of linguistically distinct people.
Another old myth that has been destroyed by
recent scholarship is that the cultures of
natives were stagnate i.e. that they were much
the same as they had been for generations. We now
know that in fact Indian cultures were in a
constant process of transformation.
25Diversity (summarized)
- Most broadly, the American colonies presented an
example of an unprecedented mixing of radically
diverse peoples - African, European, and Indian -
under conditions stressful for all. The colonial
intermingling of peoples and of microbes,
plants, and animals from different continents
was unparalleled in speed and volume in global
history.1 - 1 Alan Taylor, American Colonies, xi.
26The Impact of Disease on the Settlement and
Demographic Transformation of North America
- European settlers brought diseases into North
America which Indians immune system was unable
to fight and thus they died in the thousands. The
introduction of disease or more likely diseases
(including the bubonic plague) preceded the
establishment of permanent English settlements in
the colonies. This precipitated a huge
demographic transformation. In 1770, there were
about 1.6 million Native Americans on the North
American continent and about 330,000 Europeans
and Africans. By 1800, there were about 1.1
million Natives Americans, many of whom now lived
west of the Mississippi and 5.5 million Europeans
and Africans. Disease also killed thousands of
English colonists. The North American continent
was settled literally in a race to replace dead
colonists and Indians with living colonists. As a
result of these massive deaths, between 1492 and
1776, North America lost population, as diseases
and wars killed Indians faster than colonists
could settle. (Alan Taylor, American Colonies,
xi.)
27The Difficulty of Settlement
- Many Native American tribes were nomadic and
lived by foraging, farming, hunting, and fishing.
Unlike the English, French, and Spanish
colonists, they knew how to survive on the North
American continent. Furthermore, many of the
early attempts at settlement were entrepreneurial
ventures by men who did not plan on farming and
foraging. Many colonists relied on the generosity
and help of Native Americans for food and starved
in times of shortage. E.g. The Lost Colony of
Roanoke.
28Cruelty Between the Diverse Groups and Within Them
- Brutality between Native peoples and colonizers
was as much the rule as the exception. Periods of
cooperation and shared thanksgiving celebrated
in our national myths were unfortunately not
common. Indians and colonists were also brutal to
members of their own group. Punishments for
violations of laws were extremely harsh and meant
to set an example. One man who was convicted of
stealing two pints of oatmeal to allay his hunger
was punished by having a long needle thrust into
his tongue to prevent him from ever eating again.
He was then chained to a tree and starved to
death as a lesson to other colonists. Some
English colonizers went off to live with the
Indians and were welcomed by them if they brought
guns or tools. If recaptured by the colonists,
the colonists who had abandoned the settlement
were often tortured before being put to death.
29Systems of Exploitation (Slavery and Indentured
Servitude)
- The relative prosperity of the English colonists
in comparison to their English contemporaries
resulted primarily from the shortage of labor and
abundance of land on the North American
continent. With labor scarce and land plentiful,
free colonists were not forced to work for others
and were eventually able to secure relative
prosperity. But the colonists prosperity was
achieved, in part, by taking lands from Native
Americans. Furthermore, the very conditions that
made for the relative prosperity of the colonists
the scarcity of labor led to the importation
of unfree laborers (slaves) by the thousands.
30Indentured Servitude
- More than half the European immigrants to the
colonies prior to the American Revolution were
indentured servants. Many were criminals. Others
were poor, orphans, or debtors. Indentured
servants signed contracts for right of passage to
North America for four to seven years labor.
Skilled laborers might be able to negotiate a
better contract. Indentured servants were under
the control of a master who could discipline them
with force. They were usually not allowed to
marry or have children. Many indentured servants
fled their masters. Indentured servitude was a
system of labor, not of apprenticeship.
31The Foreignness of Colonial Society (Church and
State)
- Colonial society was foundationally different
than the world that we live. It contained a
different understanding of the relationship of
church and state. There was, as Michael Zuckerman
has put it, totalitarianism of true believers.
The Peaceable Kingdoms of the colonial period
were not theocracies (priests did not rule), but
rather communities of religious uniformity in
which taxation was used to support the Christian
religion, there was compulsory church attendance,
the criminalization of sin, political control of
doctrine and clergy, and exclusion of political
participation for non-believers.
32Foreignness continued (the Individual and
Society)
- Colonial society contained a different
understanding of the relationship of the
individual to society. In these colonial
societies, rights were not conceived of spheres
of autonomy and liberties carried duties with
them. The needs of the few and the one were
subordinated to the needs of the many.
33Foreignness continued (Law and Government)
- Colonial society contained a different
understanding of the purpose of law and the ends
or goals of government. Laws and constitutions
were often designed to enforce belief and to
prohibit behavior that is deemed to be unworthy
of God. Puritans believed that if they did not
punish sinners, God would punish them.
34The Ambiguity and Paradoxical Quality of Colonial
America
- Democracy grew up alongside slavery and in
context of religious authority (particularly in
the form of the New England town meeting and the
congregational organization of churches). - As stated earlier, the conditions that allowed
for prosperity for the free colonists the
abundance of land and the need for laborers
eventually led to the importation of thousands
and thousands of slaves.
35The Ambiguity and Paradoxical Quality of Colonial
America
- Religious toleration grew from the splintering of
biblical commonwealths. Many colonists had come
in search of religious liberty, but did not
intend to grant it. They came to promote their
religious orthodoxy and avoid the imposition of
someone elses religious orthodoxy. Religious
toleration expanded only as dissenters fled and
created their own colonies and (later) as
diversity (at least among Protestant groups)
expanded and made religious orthodoxy difficult
to impose. - Finally, the colonists had unprecedented freedom
in the New World. Who was to regulate them? But
this freedom came at the expense of terror,
insecurity, and insularity.
36- The Settlement of the
- North American Continent
37- Spanish Conquest and Colonization
38Spanish Colonization of North America
- The Spanish Empire in the 16th century exceeded
the size of the Roman Empire at its zenith. By
1550, Spanish territories included the Caribbean
and large sections of North and South America,
including Mexico and Peru. In the initial decades
of the 16th century, the Spanish established gold
mines, cattle ranches, and sugar plantations in
the Caribbean (especially in Cuba and
Hispaniola), but the populations of these areas
declined rapidly because of disease and overwork.
This led the Spanish to engage in slave raids and
the conquest of natives peoples throughout
central America, especially in Mexico but also on
the coasts of North and South America.
39(No Transcript)
40Americas First Conquistadors,1492-1536
- Christopher Columbus
- Hernán Cortés
- Francisco Pizarro
- Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo
- Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
- Juan Ponce De León
- Cabeza de Vaca
- Hernando De Soto
-
41The Conquistadors
- The most famous of the slave raids and conquests
by conquistadors was Cortezs conquering of the
Aztecs in the 1520s. In the 1530s, Francisco
Pizarro conquered the Inca empire and explored
the western coast of South America and Peru. The
Spanish also conquered the Mayans during the
1540s. Cortez, Pizarro, and the other
conquistadors were able to defeat the native
peoples of Latin America despite being greatly
outnumbered because of the superior technology of
Spanish weapons, their use of dogs and horses,
the help of local allies, and (most importantly)
because of disease.
42Explorations of Land that would Become the United
States
- Legends of great cities of gold and the desire to
exploit the labor of the natives, also led to
extensive expeditions into the territory that
would become the United States. The most famous
of these legends, spread by Cabeza de Vaca, was
of the seven golden cities of Cibola. - Pounce De Leon began his exploration of Florida
in 1513. - In 1528, Cabeza de Vaca traversed the Southwest,
first as an adelantado, then as a slave, and
eventually as a healer for the Indians. - In the 1530s, Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo explored
the Pacific Coast all the way to Oregon. - In expeditions begun in 1539 and 1543, Hernando
de Soto and Francisco Vasquez de Coronado engaged
in separate conquistador expeditions into
American southeast (Soto) and southwest
(Coronado).
43Justifications of Exploration and Conquest
- Spanish, French, and British colonization efforts
were justified on the basis of a particular view
of Native Americans as barbarians and
uncivilized. These beliefs were rooted
primarily in three propositions 1) natives
religion (which was characterized by Europeans as
superstition) 2) land use (many tribes were
nomadic and did not settle and use the same land
year after year) 3) gender relations (in many
tribes women performed much of the manual labor
including harvesting crops). These beliefs and
practices were foreign to Europeans and
considered backward by them. By Christianizing
the natives and forcing them to adopt new social
and religious practices, the Europeans believed
that they were bringing freedom to them.
44Spanish Justifications of Exploration and
Conquest
- The Spanish justified their conquests on the
basis of efforts to Christianize and civilize
natives. The most shocking practice of the Aztecs
that justified their slaughter in the eyes of the
Spanish was their uncompromising and frequent use
of human sacrifice. The Aztecs believed that the
fertility of the earth depended upon their rites
of human sacrifice. Spanish goals of conversion
overlapped the Protestant Reformation and were
paradoxically strengthened by it. As the
Reformation spread, the need for the most
thoroughly Catholic nation Spain to convert
natives to Catholicism was strengthened.
45The Maxim of the Conqueror Must be to Settle
- Large numbers of more ordinary Spaniards also
came in search of the opportunity of a better
life. 225,000 came in the 16th century and over
750,000 in the three centuries of Spanish rule in
Latin America. Unlike Britain, Spain did not
allow its religious dissenters to emigrate.
Indeed, non-Spaniards and non-Christians were not
allowed to come to Spanish colonies.
46The Growth of the Spanish Empire
- The Spanish built their empire in the Caribbean
and North and South America between 1519 and 1550
and it continued to expand thereafter. By 1574,
there were over 300 Spanish towns in the
Americas. The Spanish empire was a urban
civilization an empire of towns. The center of
the Spanish empire in North America was Mexico
City a vast and complex city built on the ruins
of the ancient Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. The
urban centers of the Spanish empire far exceeded
in complexity and population those established by
the British. (Taylor, American Colonies, 54, 61
Foner, Give Me Liberty, 23).
Tenochtitlan
47The Structure of Spanish Authority
- King
- Council of the Indies (body in charge of colonial
administration). - Viceroys
- Local Governors (Initially the adelantados (a
de- lant- todd- os) who had financed the
exploration and settlement of the land) - There were no elective assemblies in the new
territories.
48The Black Legend
- The Spanish treated natives Mayans, Incas, and
Aztecs with infamous cruelty, slaughtering
thousands. The reality of that cruelty but also
the desire of the other European imperial powers
(the French, English, Portuguese, and Dutch) to
justify their own imperialism and cruelty led to
the creation of the belief that the Spanish were
particularly savage in their treatments of native
peoples. The British, French, and Dutch argued
that their colonization would be in the name of
humanity because the Spanish were so cruel. They
would liberate natives from the cruelty of the
Spanish. This became known as the Black Legend.
Actually, the Spanish were no more or less cruel
than other Europeans, but had greater opportunity
since they arrived first.
49The Natives as a Pool of Forced Labor
- The Spanish, unlike British colonists in North
America, were able to force the indigenous Indian
populations of the regions into labor on their
behalf. The large numbers of these Indians they
always outnumbered the colonists - meant that
African slaves did not have to be imported.
Instead, tens of thousands of native Indians were
forced to work in gold and silver mines and on
large scale farms called haciendas.
50The Entire Human Race is One
- The most outspoken critic of Spanish policy with
the natives was of course the Dominican priest
Bartoleme de las Casas. In A Very Brief Account
of the Destruction of the Indies, Las Casas
recounted the massacre of natives that attended
Spanish colonization. The Indians, Las Casas
argued, are totally deprived of their freedom
and were put in the harshest, fiercest, most
terrible servitude and captivity. Las Casas also
argued that the natives were rational beings, not
beasts and should be given the full rights of
Spaniards. Las Casas writings had the effect of
spreading the idea of the Black Legend. Even
though he argued for the reform of the Spanish
system, his writings were taken up by Spains
rivals and used to suggest their unique cruelty.
The Indians are totally deprived of their
freedom and were put in the harshest, fiercest,
most terrible servitude and captivity
51Were the Natives Slaves?
- Were the natives slaves? They certainly were not
free. They were forced to labor for others and
not allowed to collect the fruits of that labor.
But unlike the English, the Spanish envisioned
their eventual assimilation and gave them rights.
Indeed, the Spanish more freely intermarried with
the native populations. Relatively few women from
Spain came from the colonies. As early as 1514
the Spanish government approved of such
marriages. The mestizos (messtazos) were
formed from such a union.
52Were the Natives Slaves?
- Furthermore, in 1542, in large part because of
Las Casas writings and efforts on behalf of the
Indians, Spain adopted the New Laws setting
forth the proposition that Indians could no
longer be enslaved. This was not universally
obeyed and it was hard to enforce. Still, it was
in effect.
53Reform of the Encomienda System
- In 1550, the Encomienda system was abolished.
This system had given to the first settlers in an
area the right to Indian lands and the right to
forced labor from them. The Encomienda system was
replaced by the Repartimiento system in which
residents of the village were legally free, were
given access to land, had to be paid for their
labor, and could not be sold. Still, they were
required to labor (for some pay) for a fixed
period on behalf of the Spanish.
54Royal Orders for the New Discoveries
- In 1573, aware of the cruelty leveled against
native populations by conquistadors and of the
reputation that it had given the Spanish, the
Crown issued the Royal Orders for the New
Discoveries. These orders argued that
Christianity could be spread without force or
injury to natives. These orders exposed a long
standing rift between conquistadors on the one
hand and the Franciscan priests and the Crown on
the other about the necessity of massacres in the
subjugation of native populations. As adelantados
(A DE- LAN- TODD O - a military title given
directly by the crown), the conquistadors had to
finance their own expeditions and were charged
with subduing native cultures. In exchange for
accomplishing these tasks, they were named the
governors of the area that they conquered and
were allowed by the Crown to keep a large
percentage of the fruits of the raids (slaves,
gold,etc). They thus wanted a quick profit and
believed that it was necessary to use violence
freely against natives to intimidate and
subordinate them.
55Pacification
- In contrast, the Crown and the Church (especially
Franciscan priests) wanted to Christianize the
natives and draw a steady, long-term profit from
their labor. They were thus less enthusiastic
about plunder. The Royal Orders for the New
Discoveries stated that Christianity could be
spread peacefully and charitably or without
force or injury to natives. This edict
established the policy of pacification
(conversion without violence).
56Gold and Silver to Spain and to French Pirates
- Whether by conquest or pacification, the
conquistadors raids and Spanish military
expeditions led to the enslavement of thousands
of native peoples who, in turn, were put to work
mining precious metals. Between 1500 and 1650,
according to Alan Taylor, the Spanish shipped
about 181 tons of gold and 16,000 tons of silver
back to Spain. The problem, however, was that
much of this gold and silver was taken back from
the Spanish by English and especially French
pirates. During the 1550s, French pirates reduced
by half the revenues that the Spanish crown took
from the New World. This piracy was actually a
form of state sponsored piracy encouraged and
rewarded by the governments of these countries.
(Taylor, American Colonies, 63.)
57- St. Augustine
- (San Agustin)
58St. Augustine (San Agustin) The First Permanent
Settlement in North America
- Most important, state sponsored piracy and the
rivalry between the French and the Spanish led in
1565 to the first permanent settlement St.
Augustine, Florida - in the territory that would
later become the United States. St. Augustine is,
in the words of the historian Eric Foner, the
oldest site in the United States continuously
inhabited by European settlers and their
descendants. (Foner, Give Me Liberty, 30). In
1564, French Huguenots established a colony on
what is now the St. Johns River near
Jacksonville, Florida. This was known as Fort
Caroline. It lasted only a year. Fort Caroline
was both a haven for religious dissenters
escaping sectarian fighting between Catholics and
Protestants and a French outpost to launch
attacks against Spanish vessels. Spanish vessels
shipping gold to the mother country were
particularly vulnerable as they passed along the
coast of Florida.
59St. Augustine (San Agustin) The First Permanent
Settlement in North America
- A French colony in the Spanish territory of
Florida was unacceptable to the Spanish crown,
but one established to raid Spanish ships was
unthinkable. The crown therefore dispatched a
Spanish naval officer named Pedro Menendez de
Aviles to Florida, named him governor of the
territory, and ordered him to raze Fort Caroline.
Menendez eventually accomplished this goal and
executed some 300 Frenchmen in two separate
massacres. Menendez then founded St. Augustine
about 40 miles south of where Fort Caroline had
been. (Take a minute and read A French
Connection.)
60St. Augustine The First Permanent Settlement in
North America
- In addition to serving as a base to thwart French
piracy, St. Augustine was also to serve as a base
for recovering gold lost to native Indians who
had plundered ship wrecked vessels and taken
Spanish seamen captive. With these goals in mind,
Menendez also built seven other posts along the
Gulf and the Atlantic shores, including Santa
Elena (at what is now Port Royal Sound in South
Carolina.)
61St. Augustine The First Permanent Settlement in
North America
- In 1570, Menendez even established a Jesuit
mission in the Chesapeake Bay near what would
become Jamestown. This mission, however, was soon
overtaken by Native Americans. The Spanish never
established a permanent settlement in the
Chesapeake. This left the Chesapeake region open
to English colonization.
62St. Augustine The First Permanent Settlement in
North America
- Isolated and subject to both Indian and French
attack, the settlements that Menendez established
never lured colonists. Indeed, by 1574, only San
Agustin and Santa Elena remained and the later
was evacuated in 1587. Instead of colonization,
Spanish authorities turned to conversion. This
was done by establishing a series of missions
that ran north into what is now Georgia, in north
central Florida, and on the Gulf coast.
63St. Augustine The First Permanent Settlement in
North America
- Although it was periodically attacked and proved
to be a burden to the Spanish crown, St.
Augustine remained in place for many decades.
Furthermore, the Spanish missionaries remained in
place and influential for many years.
64- New Mexico and the Rio Grande
65New Mexico
- In addition to colonizing St. Augustine and
creating a mission system throughout Florida and
the Gulf coast, the Spanish also colonized the
Rio Grande in the area that is now New Mexico.
The most famous city to come out of this is Sante
Fe. Colonization of this area was pursued in
order to obtain new subjects and tax payers,
promote pacification of the natives, and
prevent European rivals from occupying this
territory as a base for attack. Here, as in many
areas of North America, myths of rich cities with
streets of gold also fueled expeditions and the
general effort to colonize. The more concrete and
sober but ultimately also far fetched hope -
was to find places to establish silver mines.
66Don Juan De Onate
- In 1598, Don Juan de Onate was named the
adelantado for the Rio Grande Valley and was
charged with pacifying this area and founding the
colony of New Mexico. In the spring of 1598,
Onate led 500 colonists (including 129 soldiers
and 7 Franciscan friars) into the northern Rio
Grande Valley in order to pacify the native
Pueblo Indians, find mineral wealth, and exploit
their labor. The colonists initially occupied a
Pueblo village of the natives and made increasing
demands upon them, taking their crops, clothes,
and housing. By January 1599, a rebellion had
already taken place in which Onates nephew and
ten other soldiers were killed.
67Swift and Cruel Retribution
- Onate ordered swift and cruel retribution. Over
800 of the Pueblo natives were put to death. Many
others were put on trial. Eventually, all males
over 12 were sentenced to twenty years of
slavery. Any males over 25 also had a foot
severed off in order to prevent them from
escaping.
68Don Juan De Onate
- Onate engaged in numerous expeditions in search
of fabulous treasures. These proved to be
fruitless and drained his authority and
credibility. Eventually, many of the colonists
fled back to Mexico. Meanwhile, the Friars
reported Onates incompetence and cruelty to the
Crown. He was removed from office as the governor
of the province by the Viceroy in 1607.
69Santa Fe
- Eventually a new governor was named and was
ordered to establish a city outside of the Pueblo
settlements. This new city became Santa Fe. In
order not to provoke the natives, the new
governor employed only 50 soldiers. The effort
was redirected toward pacification and the
Friars were allowed to pursue this goal.
70Santa Fe
- The New Mexico Santa Fe colonization experiment
was never really successful. At its zenith, there
were only 1000 colonists. The colony was
difficult to supply with goods. Distance also
made exports impractical. Only a limited number
of elites ever had even decent lives. These were
the families who had been given - in direct
contraction of official policy - encomienda
rights to native land, labor, and tribute
despite. Otherwise, Santa Fe was known as a place
of danger and poverty.
71The New Mexico Missions, 1610-1680
- Like Florida, the New Mexico settlement was never
a successful colony but became successful as a
system of missions. By 1628, there were 50
missions in the Rio Grande and Pecos Valley
region.
72Friars, Colonists, Natives, and Nomads
- The ousting of Onate led to a new system of
control in which the crown became more
sympathetic to the goals of Franciscan Friars.
The Friars were backed (in most endeavors ) by
the force of a limited number of Spanish troops.
Nevertheless, the relationships between the four
groups in the region the Friars, the Governor,
the remaining colonists, and the natives were
quite complex.
73The Friars and the Natives
- The Friars and natives lived in a state of
surface serenity and mutual cooperation but
submerged disagreement that could quickly ignite
in violence. The Friars lived lives of sacrifice
and self-denial. Unlike the adelantados and
governor, they did not want the property of the
Pueblo natives but instead their conversion and
their labor to build and maintain the missions.
For their part, the Pueblo natives never really
gave up their traditional religion and its
customs. Instead, they integrated Christian
principles into it as they fit their prior
framework of beliefs. The Friars never seemed to
fully understand or accept this.
74The Governor, Colonists, and Friars
- The Governors and the colonists wanted the
Natives for their labor. The governors and the
colonists had not taken a vow of poverty. Indeed,
the governors needed to recover the money that
they paid for their office. They thus resented
native labor being directed to build and
maintain the missions and not to their ranches.
They also worried that the Friars demanded
conversion of the natives to Christianity too
quickly. They feared that this might cause
revolt.
75The Governor, Colonists, and Friars
- The Friars, however, resented the fact that the
governor often did not enforce Christian
religious practices. They believed rightly
that allowing natives to practice their customary
religious practices would undermine the authority
of the Friars. The Friars also opposed raids that
were ordered by the Governors to capture nomadic
Indians in the surrounding area to sell into
slavery. For the Governors, selling slaves became
the way to make money in this poor and distant
land. But the Governors ordered native Pueblos to
help in these raids. The Friars opposed this
practice vehemently because it undermined their
goals of pacification and because it led the
nomadic Indians to engage in their own raids of
revenge.
761675 Revival of Religious Rituals
- In 1675, the Pueblo natives decided to revive
their traditional religious rituals. These
ceremonies created great fear in the Friars and
the governor and led to a crackdown in which 47
Pueblo religious shamans were arrested and three
hanged (a fourth averted hanging by committing
suicide). The 43 remaining shamans were first
threatened with being sold into slavery. This met
with fierce resistance from the Pueblo natives
who threatened revolt. The 43 shamans were then
publicly whipped and humiliated. One of them was
a then unknown religious leader named Pope.
77The Pueblo Revolt of 1680
- The threat of mass revolt prevented the sale of
the 43 shamans into slavery, but five years later
such a revolt took place. The divisions among the
Spanish authorities suggested to the Pueblo
natives that a rebellion might be successful.
Pueblo natives also resented the Friars
unwillingness to let them practice aspects of
their traditional religion as they resented the
cruelty and exploitation of the governors,
especially as established in the encomienda
system that took natives land, extorted their
labor, and ask tribute from them in the form of
blankets and maize.
78The Pueblo Revolt of 1680
- In August of 1680, led by a charismatic religious
leader named Pope, the 17,000 Pueblo natives in
the Rio Grande engaged in a well-coordinated and
successful rebellion against the Friars and the
governor. The rebels destroyed many of the
missions and returned to their native religious
practices (including polygamy). By the estimate
of one scholar, the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 was
the greatest setback that natives ever inflicted
on European expansion in North America. (Taylor,
American Colonies, 89) Within a couple of weeks,
one hundred years of colonization had been
destroyed. By 1692-1693, the Spanish under a new
governor recaptured New Mexico and Santa Fe.
Still, the Spanish had learned their lesson and
governed the natives in more moderate terms,
allowing them greater economic independence,
demanding less of their labor and resources, and
allowing them to integrate their traditional
religious practices into Catholicism.