Assignment 4a

A conquest is, anything acquired by conquering, as a nation, a territory, or spoils.  There have been numerous conquests throughout history, most notably the Spanish Conquest.  In February of 1519 Hernando Cortez and his Spanish Fleet invaded Meso-America and conquered the Aztecs, ultimately gaining control of Tenochtitlan and the surrounding areas.  Other conquests involved the Norman Conquest of England, led by William the Conquerer in 1066. I chose to research the California Missions.  There are twenty one California Missions, extending along the California coastline.  Between 1769 and 1823 Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan order established a series of missoions along the California coastline.  There goal was to spread their Catholic faith among the indiginous tribes (Native Americans) of the region.  They wanted to convert the Natives into Spanish colonial citizens.  They began to educate and attempted to civilize the locals, but ultimately failed.   Like many of the imperialists of the time, Spain was at the forefront of expansion.  Their northern most territory, "Alta California" would be one of their final conquests and prove to be one of the toughest.   The Jesuits under the order of King Charles III, had already established 15 missions in Baja California.  Jose de Galvez was ordered to, "Occupy and fortify San Diego and Monterey for God and the King of Spain."  This is how the current missions of California came to be.   The first mission was established in San Diego, "Mission San Diego de Alcala."  Galvez gave permission to Junipero Serra  and Gaspar de Portola to lead the expidition.  There were around 300,000 Natives who occupied California at the time.  Converting them proved to be a daunting task and it was.  Although they were successfull in many attempts there were often roadblocks they had to overcome.  One of the set-backs occured in 1806, with an epidemic of measels.  One quarter of the Native San Francisco Bay Area population died from this horrific illness.  In the end their goal was never fully met, but perhaps their reward was to come after they passed.  Today, the missions of California are revered for their design and historical relevence.  They are the most visited historic monuments. I chose to write about the California Missions because I have been fascinted by them for a long time.  I have seen many of them first hand and marvel at their intricate design and what an important piece of California history they are.  Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo is among my favorite missions, because of it's Moorish influence and beautiful location. I used the video provided on California Missions and wikipedia.com.  These are credible sources because they are very informational with facts comaparable to other sites, proving to be valid.  Wikipedia's information is current and extensive allowing for fluidity.