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THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

From Hutton Webster's, Early European History (1917); edited for this on-line publication, by ELLOPOS

XXIII. GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY AND COLONIZATION

Em. Macron, Rediscovering the Path to Europe

» Contents of this Chapter

Medieval Geography   * Aids to Exploration   * To the Indies Eastward—Prince Henry and Da Gama   * The Portuguese Colonial Empire   * To the Indies Westward: Columbus and Magellan   * The Indians   * Spanish Explorations and Conquests in America   * The Spanish Colonial Empire   * French and English Explorations in America   * The Old World and the New

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THE CALIFORNIA MISSIONS

The most familiar examples of the Spanish missions are those in the state of California. During the last quarter of the eighteenth century Franciscan friars missions erected no less than eighteen mission stations along the Pacific coast from San Diego to San Francisco. The stations were connected by the "King's Road" [29] which still remains the principal highway of the state. Some of the mission buildings now lie in ruins and others have entirely disappeared. But such a well-preserved structure as the mission of Santa Barbara recalls a Benedictine monastery, with its shady cloisters, secluded courtyard, and timbered roof covered with red tiles. It is a bit of the Old World transplanted to the New.

[29] In Spanish El Camino Real.

SPANISH AMERICAN CIVILIZATION

The civilizing work of Spain in the New World is sometimes forgotten. Here were the earliest American hospitals and asylums, for the use of Indians and negroes as well as of Spaniards. Here were the earliest American schools and colleges. Twelve institutions of higher learning, all modeled upon the university of Salamanca, arose in Spanish America during the colonial period. Eight of these came into existence before the creation in 1636 A.D. of Harvard University, the oldest in the United States. The pioneer printing press in the Western Hemisphere was set up at Mexico City in 1535 A.D.; no printing press reached the English colonies till more than one hundred years later. To the valuable books by Spanish scholars we owe much of our knowledge of the Mayas, Aztecs, and other Indian tribes. The first American newspaper was published at Mexico City in 1693 A.D. The fine arts also flourished in the Spanish colonies, and architects of the United States have now begun to copy the beautiful churches and public buildings of Mexico and Peru.

SPANISH COLONIAL POLICY

The government of Spain administered its colonial dominions in the spirit of monopoly. As far as possible it excluded French, English, and other foreigners from trading with Spanish America. It also discouraged ship- building, manufacturing, and even the cultivation of the vine and the olive, lest the colonists should compete with home industries. The colonies were regarded only as a workshop for the production of the precious metals and raw materials. This unwise policy very largely accounts for the economic backwardness of Mexico, Peru, and other Spanish- American countries at the present day. Their rich natural resources have as yet scarcely begun to be utilized.

 

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THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY: Table of Contents

url: www.ellopos.net/politics/european-history/default.asp

IN PRINT

Cf. The Ancient Greece * The Ancient Rome
Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) * Western Medieval Europe * Renaissance in Italy