The Californias ( Spanish : Las Californias ), occasionally known as the Three Californias or the Two Californias , are a region of North America spanning the United States and Mexico , consisting of the U.S. state of California and the Mexican states of Baja California and Baja California Sur . Historically, the term Californias was used to define the vast northwestern region of Spanish America , as the Province of the Californias ( Spanish : Provincia de las Californias ), and later as a collective term for Alta California and the Baja California peninsula .
133-682: Originally a single, vast entity within the Spanish Empire , administration was split into Baja California ( Lower California ) and Alta California ( Upper California ) following the Mexican War of Independence . As a part of the Mexican–American War (1846–48), the Conquest of California saw the vast Alta California territory ceded from Mexico to the United States. The populated coastal region of
266-633: A Genoese sailor attempting to reach Cipangu (Japan) by sailing west. Castile was already engaged in a race of exploration with Portugal to reach the Far East by sea when Columbus made his bold proposal to Isabella. In the Capitulations of Santa Fe , dated on 17 April 1492, Christopher Columbus obtained from the Catholic Monarchs his appointment as viceroy and governor in the lands already discovered and that he might discover thenceforth; thereby, it
399-423: A 20,000-strong Tlaxcalan army. Three days later, a 50,000-strong Otomi -Tlaxcalan force was defeated by Spanish arquebusier and cannon fire, and a Castilian cavalry charge. Thousands of Tlaxcalans joined the invaders against their Aztec rulers. Cortés's forces sacked the city of Cholula , massacring 6,000 inhabitants, and later entered Emperor Moctezuma II 's capital, Tenochtitlan , on 8 November. Velázquez sent
532-615: A Catholic mission in Monterey. After Portolá left California in 1770, captain Pedro Fages was in charge of the Presidio of Monterey , as the somewhat independent lieutenant-governor of California Nueva (New California) — which, in 1770, became part of Las Californias , and was later split from Baja California to become Alta California . In March 1770 Felipe de Barri , in Baja California,
665-754: A Spanish protectorate following a series of treaties in 1488, 1491, 1493, and 1495. With the Christian reconquest completed in the Iberian peninsula, Spain began trying to take territory in Muslim North Africa. It had conquered Melilla in 1497, and further expansionism policy in North Africa was developed during the regency of Ferdinand the Catholic in Castile, stimulated by Cardinal Cisneros . Several towns and outposts in
798-454: A cigarette. Heavy rains punctuated the winter and spring of 1770–1, but Fages permitted no let-up in the work. His soldiers had to trudge through mud to the forest to chop wood, then drag their mules out of the mud and head home. They had no chance to wash or mend their clothes during the six-day work week; Fages told them to do that on Sundays. On Sundays, they had to carry a week's supply of wood for Fages' kitchen and fetch their own water from
931-513: A crew of sailors. After sailing nearly 200 miles (320 kilometers) beyond San Diego due to cartography errors, the San Carlos doubled back south. It finally arrived in San Diego Bay on April 29, with scurvy-ridden troops and crewmen. Upon recovering from the ill effects of the voyage, Fages set about carrying out the instructions of José de Gálvez . Along with Miguel Costansó , he reconnoitered
1064-554: A different venue. Columbus's second voyage in 1493 had a large contingent of settlers and goods to accomplish that. On Hispaniola, the city of Santo Domingo was founded in 1496 by Christopher Columbus's brother Bartholomew Columbus and became a stone-built, permanent city. Non-Castilians, such as Catalans and Aragonese , were often prohibited from migrating to the New World. Following the settlement of Hispaniola, Europeans began searching elsewhere to begin new settlements, since there
1197-588: A force led by Pánfilo de Narváez to punish the insubordinate Cortés for his unauthorized invasion of Mexico, but they were defeated at the Battle of Cempoala on 29 May 1520. Narváez was wounded and captured and 17 of his troops were killed; the rest joined Cortés. Meanwhile, Pedro de Alvarado triggered an Aztec uprising following the massacre in the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan , during which 400 Aztec nobles and 2,000 onlookers were killed. The Castilians were driven out of
1330-488: A latitude south of Cape Bojador , a compromise was worked out and incorporated in the Treaty of Tordesillas , dated on 7 June 1494, in which the world was split into two dividing Spanish and Portuguese claims. These actions gave Spain exclusive rights to establish colonies in all of the New World from north to south (later with the exception of Brazil, which Portuguese commander Pedro Álvares Cabral encountered in 1500), as well as
1463-473: A letter to padre Palóu, in which he reported: "[About] six months ago Eulalia suddenly called me one morning with a thousand protests, tears, and humility and asked my pardon for all the past. She voluntarily confessed that everything had been a pretense and falsehood and that she herself had bribed the Indian girl to take part in the plot… Thank God we are now living in union and harmony." The place Fages entered in
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#17328377509011596-479: A missionary, to escort any woman, even the governor's wife. Instead, Palóu spent a whole day trying to dissuade Eulalia from going to Mexico, pointing out all the hardships the trip would entail. Eulalia finally relented and agreed to stay in Monterey. Apparently dissatisfied with that resolution, Fages threw bureaucratic obstacles in the way of Palóu boarding the ship that would carry him to Mexico, delaying Palóu's departure until November. In January 1787, Fages wrote
1729-504: A new visitador , José de Gálvez , was dispatched from Spain with authority to organize and expand the fledgling province. The more ambitious province name, Las Californias , was established by a joint dispatch to the King from Viceroy de Croix and visitador José de Gálvez, dated January 28, 1768. Gálvez sought to make a distinction between the Antigua ('old') area of established settlement and
1862-731: A number of revolts across the Spanish Habsburg's domains, including their Spanish kingdoms. During the Habsburg rule, the Spanish Empire significantly expanded its territories in the Americas, beginning with the conquest of the Aztec Empire ; these conquests were achieved not by the Spanish army, but by small groups of adventurers—artisans, traders, gentry, and peasants—who operated independently under
1995-480: A psychological portrait of Eulalia Callis in her mercurial relationship with her husband Pedro Fages. Bartlett also sets the tensions between Eulalia and Pedro within the complex interplay between Spanish military officers and Franciscan missionaries in Alta California. Pedro Fages appears as a minor character in the 1955 film Seven Cities of Gold , which presents a fanciful and historically inaccurate account of
2128-848: A result of the marriage politics of the Catholic Monarchs (in Spanish, Reyes Católicos ), their Habsburg grandson Charles inherited the Castilian empire in the Americas and the possessions of the Crown of Aragon in the Mediterranean (including all of south Italy ), lands in Germany, the Low Countries , Franche-Comté , and Austria , starting the rule of the Spanish Habsburgs. The Austrian hereditary Habsburg domains were transferred to Ferdinand ,
2261-512: A series of quarrels, Eulalia broke off relations with Pedro. When Pedro seemed unfazed by the separation, Eulalia accused him of consorting with an Indian maidservant of their household. Threatening divorce, Eulalia left the house. In February 1785, Fages sought the advice of the friars at Mission Carmel . Friar Matías de Santa Catalina Noriega concluded that Eulalia still had the obligation to live with her husband and tried to persuade her to reunite with Pedro. Eulalia refused, and appealed her case to
2394-638: A small cloak of rabbit or hare skin, which does not fall below the waist. The women wear a short apron of red and white cords twisted and worked as closely as possible, which extends to the knee. Others use the green and dry tule interwoven, and complete their outfit with a deerskin half tanned or entirely untanned, to make wretched underskirts which scarcely serve to indicate the distinction of sex, or to cover their nakedness with sufficient modesty. In November 1770, Fages led an expedition from Monterey by land to San Francisco Bay . Rather than follow Portolá's difficult trail around Monterey Bay to Santa Cruz and along
2527-643: A surprise attack in Cajamarca that resulted in the massacre of thousands of Incas. This conquest facilitated the establishment of the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1542, allowing Spain to exert control over territories in western South America, comprising present-day Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and parts of Chile and Argentina. In the subsequent years, Spanish explorers and conquistadors ventured into northern South America, where they established settlements in present-day Venezuela and Colombia. Philip II of Spain (r. 1556–98) oversaw
2660-659: A surviving heir, probably the Crown of Aragon would have been split from Castile, which was inherited by Charles, Ferdinand and Isabella's grandson. Ferdinand joined the League of Cambrai against Venice in 1508. In 1511, he became part of the Holy League against France, seeing a chance at taking both Milan —to which he held a dynastic claim—and Navarre . In 1516, France agreed to a truce that left Milan in its control and recognized Spanish control of Upper Navarre , which had effectively been
2793-435: The arbitristas . The natural resource abundance provoked a decline in entrepreneurship as profits from resource extraction are less risky. The wealthy preferred to invest their fortunes in public debt ( juros ). The Habsburg dynasty spent the Castilian and American riches in wars across Europe on behalf of Habsburg interests, and declared moratoriums (bankruptcies) on their debt payments several times. These burdens led to
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#17328377509012926-701: The American Revolutionary War , Britain ceded both Floridas back to Spain as part of the Treaty of Paris . Spain had recaptured West Florida in 1781 through military operations. Both Floridas were ceded to the United States in 1819 as part of the Adams-Onís Treaty . Louisiana was ceded back to France in 1801 in the Treaty of Aranjuez . The Bourbon monarchy implemented reforms like the Nueva Planta decrees , which centralized power and abolished regional privileges. Economic policies promoted trade with
3059-723: The Cape Verde islands (1476), conquering the city of Ceuta in the Tingitan Peninsula in 1476 (but retaken by the Portuguese), and even attacked the Azores islands, being defeated at Praia . The turning point of the war came in 1478, however, when a Castilian fleet sent by King Ferdinand to conquer Gran Canaria lost men and ships to the Portuguese who expelled the attack, and a large Castilian armada—full of gold—was entirely captured in
3192-715: The Caribbean Islands , half of South America , most of Central America and much of North America . The Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation —the first circumnavigation of the Earth—laid the foundation for Spain's Pacific empire and for Spanish control over the East Indies . The influx of gold and silver from the mines in Zacatecas and Guanajuato in Mexico and Potosí in Bolivia enriched
3325-523: The Carmel River some six miles away; clean their weapons; and pass inspection. This work regime lasted a year and a half. Fages' soldiers viewed him as a tyrant, until complaints by the soldiers persuaded padre president Junípero Serra to intervene. Serra told Fages that, as a Christian, he had to observe the sabbath and let his men rest on Sundays. The soldiers raped the Indian women and took them as concubines . At Serra's urging, Fages punished some of
3458-891: The Carmel mission in 1787, Fages described the area's Indians as the laziest, most brutish and least rational of all the natives discovered between San Diego and San Francisco. He reckoned those qualities — along with the foggy and windy climate, shortage of potable water, high death rate, and language barriers — accounted for the painfully slow progress of mission Carmel. Concerned over the shortage of skilled artisans in his domain, governor Fages proposed in 1787 that artisans imprisoned in Mexico City and Guadalajara have their sentences commuted to exile in California — provided they serve out their terms at presidios or missions and then stay on as settlers. New Spain's rulers did not act on Fages' proposal. Fages
3591-604: The Council of the Indies and Casa de Contratación , the two highest bodies in metropolitan Spain for the government of the empire in the New World, as well as royal government in the Indies. Portugal obtained several papal bulls that acknowledged Portuguese control over the discovered territories, but Castile also obtained from the Pope the safeguard of its rights to the Canary Islands with
3724-500: The Crown of Castile , having earlier retaken territory from the Muslims. Following Portugal's earlier completion of the reconquest and its establishment of settled boundaries, it began to seek overseas expansion, first to the port of Ceuta (1415) and then by colonizing the Atlantic islands of Madeira (1418) and the Azores (1427–1452); it also began voyages down the west coast of Africa in
3857-769: The Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia formed to suppress rebellions by Pima and Seri Indians of Sonora. In 1781, Eulalia and Pedro traveled to Arizpe , Sonora, where Eulalia gave birth to her first child, Pedrito. When Fages got reassigned to Alta California as governor in 1782, Eulalia and Pedrito remained in Sonora. Then they traveled to Baja California under military escort. Fages journeyed south to Loreto to pick them up. Departing Loreto in July, they arrived in Monterey in January 1783. In
3990-754: The Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy , was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire , it ushered in the European Age of Discovery . It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas , Africa , various islands in Asia and Oceania , as well as territory in other parts of Europe. It was one of the most powerful empires of
4123-806: The Honduras Company (1714), a Caracas company; the Guipuzcoana Company (1728), and the most successful ones, the Havana Company (1740) and the Barcelona Trading Company (1755). In 1717–18, the structures for governing the Indies, the Consejo de Indias and the Casa de Contratación , which governed investments in the cumbersome Spanish treasure fleets , were transferred from Seville to Cádiz , where foreign merchant houses had easier access to
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4256-507: The Italian Wars beginning in 1494. Following Spanish victories at the Battles of Cerignola and Garigliano in 1503, France recognized Ferdinand's sovereignty over Naples through a treaty. After the death of Queen Isabella in 1504, and her exclusion of Ferdinand from a further role in Castile, Ferdinand married Germaine de Foix in 1505, cementing an alliance with France. Had that couple had
4389-796: The Kingdom of Naples , the Kingdom of Sicily , the Kingdom of Sardinia , and the Duchy of Milan through the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559. Italy became the core of Spain's power. By the mid-17th century, Spain's global empire burdened its economic, administrative, and military resources. Over the preceding century, Spanish troops had fought in France, Germany, and the Netherlands, suffering heavy casualties. Despite its vast holdings, Spain's military lacked essential modernization and heavily relied on foreign suppliers. Nevertheless, Spain possessed abundant bullion from
4522-654: The New World in 1493, Portugal and Castile divided the world by the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), which gave Portugal Africa and Asia, and the Western Hemisphere to Spain. The voyage of Columbus, a Genoese mariner, obtained the support of Isabella of Castile, sailing west in 1492, seeking a route to the Indies. Columbus unexpectedly encountered the New World , populated by peoples he named "Indians". Subsequent voyages and full-scale settlements of Spaniards followed, with gold beginning to flow into Castile's coffers. Managing
4655-485: The Nueva ('new') unexplored areas to the north. At that time, almost the only explored and settled areas of the province were around the former Jesuit missions but, once exploration and settlement of the northern frontier began in earnest, the geographical designations Alta ('upper') and Baja ('lower') gained favor. The single province was divided in 1804, into Alta California province and Baja California province. By
4788-539: The San Joaquin Valley is a California Historical Landmark number 291 signed on June 27, 1938. The spot is now on California State Route 166 , about 20 miles south of Bakersfield, California . The California Historical Landmark reads: The novel Mistress of Monterey: A Story of Lost Romance in Eighteenth Century California by Virginia Stivers Bartlett (1933, reprinted by Event Horizon Press) draws
4921-518: The Seven Years' War . In May 1767 Fages, commissioned as a lieutenant in the newly formed Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia , set sail from Cádiz along with a company of light infantry, voyaging to New Spain (Mexico). He and his men served under Domingo Elizondo in Sonora . In 1769, Fages was selected by visitador ( Inspector general ) José de Gálvez to lead a detachment of soldiers on one of
5054-523: The War of the Spanish Succession , as various European powers contested his claim to the throne. The conflict concluded with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, allowing Philip, the first Bourbon king of Spain, to retain the throne but resulting in territorial losses for Spain: Gibraltar , Menorca , the Spanish Netherlands and Spanish Italy. In 1763, after the Seven Years' War , Spain ceded both East Florida and West Florida to Great Britain while gaining Louisiana from France. However, in 1783, following
5187-436: The early modern period , becoming known as " the empire on which the sun never sets ". At its greatest extent in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Spanish Empire covered over 13 million square kilometres (5 million square miles), making it one of the largest empires in history. Beginning with the 1492 arrival of Christopher Columbus and continuing for over three centuries, the Spanish Empire would expand across
5320-409: The province of the Californias under Gaspar de Portolá . Fages claimed the governorship after Portolá's departure, acting as governor in opposition to the official governor Felipe de Barri , and later served officially as fifth (1782–91) governor of the Californias. Fages was born in Guissona , Spain. In 1762 he entered the light infantry in Catalonia and joined Spain's invasion of Portugal during
5453-421: The 29th State of Mexico as Baja California . 1984 . Baja California Sur became a Mexican state. The Baja California Peninsula is bordered on three sides by water, the Pacific Ocean (south and west) and Gulf of California (east); while Alta California had the Pacific Ocean on the west and deserts on the east. A northern boundary was established by the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. That boundary line remains
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5586-428: The 31st of the United States. 1853 . The Gadsden Purchase transferred addition territory from Mexico to the United States. 1853 . William Walker led a force that attempted to capture the Baja California Territory and Sonora to create an independent Republic of Sonora . Walker was defeated by Mexican forces led by Antonio Meléndrez . 1864 . Nevada became the 36th of the United States. 1876 . Colorado became
5719-448: The 38th of the United States. 1890 . Wyoming became the 44th of the United States. 1896 . Utah became the 45th of the United States. 1912 . New Mexico became the 47th of the United States. 1912 . Arizona became the 48th of the United States. 1931 . Baja California Territory was divided into the Territory of Baja California Norte and the Territory of Baja California Sur . 1952 . The Territory of Baja California Norte became
5852-406: The Americas instead. Thus, the limitations imposed by the Alcáçovas treaty were overcome and a new and more balanced division of the world would be reached in the Treaty of Tordesillas between both emerging maritime powers. Seven months before the treaty of Alcaçovas, King John II of Aragon died, and his son Ferdinand II of Aragon , married to Isabella I of Castile , inherited
5985-477: The Americas, which played a crucial role in both sustaining its military endeavors and meeting the needs of its civilian population. During this period, Spain displayed limited military interest in its overseas colonies. The Criollo elites (colonial-born Spaniards) and mestizo and mulatto militia (of mixed Indigenous-Spanish and African-Spanish descent) provided only minimal protection, often assisted by more influential allies with vested interests in maintaining
6118-446: The Austrians at the Battle of Bitonto in 1734 during the War of the Polish Succession , and during the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–42) thwarted British efforts to capture the strategic cities of Cartagena de Indias , Santiago de Cuba and St. Augustine by defeating a British combined army and navy force, although Spain's invasion of Georgia also failed. The British suffered 25,000 dead or wounded and lost nearly 5,000 ships during
6251-413: The Aztec capital, suffering heavy losses and losing all of their gold and guns during La Noche Triste . On 8 July 1520, at Otumba , the Castilians and their allies, without artillery or arquebusiers, repelled 100,000 Aztecs armed with obsidian-bladed clubs. In August, 500 Castilians and 40,000 Tlaxcalans conquered the hilltop town of Tepeaca , an Aztec ally. Most of the inhabitants were either branded on
6384-409: The Canaries, recognized the Portuguese monopoly of fishing and navigation along the whole west African coast and Portugal's rights over the Madeira , Azores and Cape Verde islands [plus the right to conquer the Kingdom of Fez ]." The treaty delimited the spheres of influence of the two countries, establishing the principle of the Mare clausum . It was confirmed in 1481 by the Pope Sixtus IV , in
6517-499: The Christian conquest of the Muslim Emirate of Granada , completed in 1492, for which Valencia-born Pope Alexander VI gave them the title of the Catholic Monarchs . Ferdinand of Aragon was particularly concerned with expansion in France and Italy, as well as conquests in North Africa. With the Ottoman Turks controlling the choke points of the overland trade from Asia and the Middle East, both Spain and Portugal sought alternative routes. The Kingdom of Portugal had an advantage over
6650-437: The Duchy of Milan in northern Italy since 1741, but faced the opposition of Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia , and warfare in northern Italy remained indecisive throughout the period up to 1746. By the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chappelle , Spain gained (indirectly) Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla in northern Italy. Pedro Fages Pedro Fages (1734–1794) was a Spanish soldier, explorer, and first lieutenant governor of
6783-401: The Emperor's brother, whereas Spain and the remaining possessions were inherited by Charles's son, Philip II of Spain , at the abdication of the former in 1556. The Habsburgs pursued several goals: "I learnt a proverb here", said a French traveler in 1603: "Everything is dear in Spain except silver". The problems caused by inflation were discussed by scholars at the School of Salamanca and
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#17328377509016916-421: The Indies trade. Cádiz became the one port for all Indies trading (see flota system ). Individual sailings at regular intervals were slow to displace the traditional armed convoys, but by the 1760s there were regular ships plying the Atlantic from Cádiz to Havana and Puerto Rico , and at longer intervals to the Río de la Plata , where an additional viceroyalty was created in 1776. The contraband trade that
7049-418: The Kumeyaay as "lazy idlers," noted that "they have bestowed great affection upon Don Pedro Fages and they also respect him very much. They have invited him at various times to be with their women, an expression of friendship that the rest have not merited. " Costansó recounts a demonstration Fages arranged to prove the superiority of Spanish firearms. Armed with bows and arrows tipped with "very sharp flints,"
7182-402: The Kumeyaay men initially viewed the Spaniards' guns as "simple sticks." Fages ordered a leather target erected at a practical distance. The Indians fired their arrows, which had only a "mild effect" on the leather. Fages then ordered his best marksmen to shoot at the same target. "Upon hearing the noise and seeing the destruction so close at hand, the Indians changed their expressions and some of
7315-422: The Monterey presidio had been built, sending along a simplified map. Fages had also started a large vegetable garden with an irrigation supply, and three plots dedicated to growing wheat, barley, rice and beans. He described the Indians of the Monterey/Carmel area as having well-proportioned bodies but feeble spirits. He also described their dress: Nearly all of them go naked, except a few who cover themselves with
7448-412: The North African coast were conquered and occupied by Castile between 1505 and 1510: Mers El Kébir , Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera , Oran , Bougie , Tripoli , and Peñón of Algiers . On the Atlantic coast, Spain took possession of the outpost of Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña (1476) with support from the Canary Islands , and it was retained until 1525 with the consent of the Treaty of Cintra (1509). As
7581-437: The Portuguese power, but also to take possession of this lucrative commerce. The Crown officially organized this trade with Guinea: every caravel had to secure a government license and to pay a tax on one-fifth of their profits (a receiver of the customs of Guinea was established in Seville in 1475—the ancestor of the future and famous Casa de Contratación ). Castilian fleets fought in the Atlantic Ocean, temporarily occupying
7714-469: The Spanish Americas, exploring and describing it for the first time from a modern scientific point of view between 1799 and 1804. In his work Political essay on the kingdom of New Spain containing researches relative to the geography of Mexico he says that the Amerindians of New Spain were wealthier than any Russian or German peasant in Europe. According to Humboldt, despite the fact that Indian farmers were poor, under Spanish rule they were free and slavery
7847-403: The Spanish crown and financed military endeavors and territorial expansion. Another crucial element of the empire's expansion was the financial support provided by Genoese bankers, who financed royal expeditions and military campaigns. In 1700, Philip V became king of Spain after the death of Charles II , the last Habsburg monarch of Spain, who died without an heir. His ascension triggered
7980-516: The Spanish had reached Tlatelolco's center, raising their new flag atop the city's twin towers. Having exhausted their gunpowder, they attempted a catapult breach but failed. On 3 August, 12,000 more civilians were killed in another city section. Alvarado's destruction of the aqueducts forced the Aztecs to drink from the lake, causing disease and thousands of deaths. Another major assault occurred on 12 August, during which many thousands of non-combatants were massacred in their shelters. The following day,
8113-416: The Spanish overseas empire in the Americas and the Philippines. The settlement gave spoils to those who had backed a Habsburg for the Spanish monarchy, ceding European territory of the Spanish Netherlands , Naples , Milan , and Sardinia to Austria ; Sicily and parts of Milan to the Duchy of Savoy , and Gibraltar and Menorca to the Kingdom of Great Britain . The treaty also granted British merchants
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#17328377509018246-428: The U.S. remained under military authority, pending creation of civilian government through territorial designation and/or statehood. Baja California in Mexico was established as the Baja California Territory after the War. It was split by the Congress into Northern and Southern territories. Seven new U.S. states were created entirely or partly from land formerly included in The Californias. 1850 . California became
8379-433: The balance of power and safeguarding the Spanish Empire from falling into enemy hands. With the 1700 death of the childless Charles II of Spain , the crown of Spain was contested in the War of the Spanish Succession . Under the Treaties of Utrecht (11 April 1713) ending the war, the French prince of the House of Bourbon , Philippe of Anjou, grandchild of Louis XIV of France, became King Philip V of Spain . He retained
8512-415: The beginning of Catalan participation in the Spanish slave trade , and the rapidly growing textile industry of Catalonia which by the mid-1780s saw the first signs of industrialization. This saw the emergence of a small, politically active commercial class in Barcelona . This isolated pocket of advanced economic development stood in stark contrast to the relative backwardness of most of the country. Most of
8645-526: The bishop. When Fages returned from a trip to Baja California — during which time Eulalia lived at mission Carmel — she finally agreed to move back into her husband's house. In August 1785, aging friar Francisco Palóu arrived at Monterey from mission Santa Clara , planning to return to Mexico and retire. Fages confided to Palóu that Eulalia still felt unhappy in his house and still wanted to return to Mexico. He asked Palóu to escort Eulalia as far as Guadalajara . Palóu objected that it would be improper for him,
8778-427: The bulls Romani Pontifex dated 6 November 1436 and Dominatur Dominus dated 30 April 1437. The conquest of the Canary Islands , inhabited by Guanche people, began in 1402 during the reign of Henry III of Castile , by Norman nobleman Jean de Béthencourt under a feudal agreement with the crown. The conquest was completed with the campaigns of the armies of the Crown of Castile between 1478 and 1496, when
8911-408: The causeway at Tlacopan by the armies of Alvarado and Cristóbal de Olid . While fighting on the causeway, the Spanish and their allies came under attack from both sides by Aztecs firing arrows from canoes. Thirteen Spanish brigantines sank 300 out of 400 enemy war canoes sent against them. The Aztecs tried to damage the Spanish vessels by hiding spears beneath the shallow water. The attackers breached
9044-429: The city and engaged in fighting with the Aztec defenders in the streets. The Aztecs defeated the Spanish-Tlaxcalan forces at the Battle of Colhuacatonco on 30 June 1521. Following this Aztec victory, 53 Spanish prisoners were paraded to the tops of Tlatelolco 's highest pyramids and publicly sacrificed . In late July, the attackers resumed their assaults, resulting in the massacre of 800 Aztec civilians. By 29 July,
9177-445: The city fell and Cuauhtémoc was captured. At least 100,000 Aztecs died during the siege, while 100 Spaniards and up to 30,000 of their Indigenous allies were killed or died from disease. The fall of Tenochtitlan marked the beginning of Spanish colonial rule in Mexico, leading to the establishment of the Viceroyalty of New Spain in 1535. In 1532, Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire by capturing its leader Atahualpa during
9310-415: The coast, Fages found an easier route through present-day Salinas and the Santa Clara Valley (today's U.S. Route 101 ). Fages' new trail became the preferred route, and missions were later established along that road at Mission San Juan Bautista , Mission Santa Clara , and Mission San Jose . From the southern end of the bay, Fages pushed on another day to the farthest camp used by Portolá's scouts of
9443-399: The colonies, enhancing Spanish influence in the Americas. Socially, tensions emerged between the ruling elite and the rising bourgeoisie, as well as divisions between peninsular Spaniards and Creoles in the Americas. These factors ultimately set the stage for the independence movements that began in the early 19th century, leading to the gradual disintegration of Spanish colonial authority. By
9576-631: The colonization of the Philippines, which began in 1565 with the arrival of Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi , making him ruler of one of the first true globe-spanning empires. His victory in the War of the Portuguese Succession led to the annexation of Portugal in 1580, effectively integrating its overseas empire—encompassing coastal Brazil and African and Indian coastal enclaves—into Spain's domain. Philip II also reaffirmed Spanish control over
9709-506: The corn and meal. The soldiers supplemented their diet by gathering wild herbs and hunting geese on Sundays. They also traded what goods they had such as ponchos, knives, daggers, and handkerchiefs for food from the Indians. News of the soldiers' harsh treatment and poor conditions gradually reached Mexico, and Alta California became an undesirable assignment. In late June 1771, Fages wrote to viceroy Carlos de Croix in Mexico to inform him that
9842-529: The crown's encomienda system. Defying the opposition of Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar , the governor of Hispaniola, Hernán Cortés organized an expedition of 550 conquistadors and sailed for the coast of Mexico in March 1519. The Castilians defeated a 10,000-strong Chontal Mayan army at Potonchán on 24 March and emerged triumphant against a larger force of 40,000 Mayans three days later. On 2 September, 360 Castilians and 2,300 Totonac Indigenous allies defeated
9975-542: The decisive Battle of Guinea . The Treaty of Alcáçovas (4 September 1479), while assuring the Castilian throne to the Catholic Monarchs, reflected the Castilian naval and colonial defeat: "War with Castile broke out waged savagely in the Gulf [of Guinea] until the Castilian fleet of thirty-five sail was defeated there in 1478. As a result of this naval victory, at the Treaty of Alcáçovas in 1479 Castile, while retaining her rights in
10108-655: The detriment of interests in the colonies, undermined creole elites' loyalty to the crown. When French forces of Napoleon Bonaparte invaded the Iberian peninsula in 1808, Napoleon ousted the Spanish Bourbon monarchy, placing his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne. There was a crisis of legitimacy of crown rule in Spanish America, leading to the Spanish American wars of independence (1808–1826). The Spanish Bourbons' broadest intentions were to reorganize
10241-464: The division but demoted the former provinces to territories, due to populations too small for statehood. In 1836, the designation Las Californias was revived, reuniting Alta and Baja California into a single departamento ( department ) as part of the conservative government reforms codified in the Siete Leyes (Seven Laws). The Seven Laws were repealed in 1847, during the Mexican–American War , and
10374-631: The east, Fages' group climbed the slopes of Mount Diablo and became the first Europeans to see the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta , the Central Valley of California and the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Seeing that it was impossible to cross the wide river without boats, the party looped around to return to San Jose through today's Contra Costa County (roughly following today's I-680 highway). Messengers from Monterey met
10507-485: The easternmost parts of Asia. The Treaty of Tordesillas was confirmed by Pope Julius II in the bull Ea quae pro bono pacis on 24 January 1506. The Treaty of Tordesillas and the treaty of Cintra (18 September 1509) established the limits of the Kingdom of Fez for Portugal, and the Castilian expansion was allowed outside these limits, beginning with the conquest of Melilla in 1497. Other European powers did not see
10640-479: The exclusive right to sell slaves in Spanish America for thirty years, the asiento de negros , as well as licensed voyages to ports in Spanish colonial dominions and openings. Spain's economic and demographic recovery had begun slowly in the last decades of the Habsburg reign, as was evident from the growth of its trading convoys and the much more rapid growth of illicit trade during the period. (This growth
10773-451: The expanding empire became an administrative issue. The reign of Ferdinand and Isabella began the professionalization of the apparatus of government in Spain, which led to a demand for men of letters ( letrados ) who were university graduates ( licenciados ), of Salamanca , Valladolid , Complutense and Alcalá . These lawyer-bureaucrats staffed the various councils of state, eventually including
10906-652: The face with the letter "G" (for guerra, the Spanish word for "war") and enslaved by the Spanish, or sacrificed and eaten by the Tlaxcalans. Cortés returned to Tenochtitlan in 1521 with a new invasion force and laid siege to the Aztec capital in May, which was suffering from a smallpox epidemic that killed thousands. The new emperor, Cuauhtémoc , defended Tenochtitlan with 100,000 warriors armed with slings, bows, and obsidian clubs . The first military encounter occurred after an advance along
11039-514: The fifteenth century. Its rival Castile laid claim to the Canary Islands (1402) and retook territory from the Moors in 1462. The Christian rivals Castile and Portugal came to formal agreements over the division of new territories in the Treaty of Alcaçovas (1479), as well as securing the crown of Castile for Isabella whose accession was challenged militarily by Portugal. Following the voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492 and first major settlement in
11172-605: The foundation of the Spanish monarchy. The union of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon joined the economic and military power of Iberia under one dynasty, the House of Trastámara . Their dynastic alliance was important for a number of reasons, ruling jointly over a number of kingdoms and other territories, mostly in the western Mediterranean region, under their respective legal and administrative status. They successfully pursued expansion in Iberia in
11305-564: The huge and fearsome California grizzly bear . Fages himself joined the hunt, and earned his nickname El Oso ("the bear") while hunting bears near San Luis Obispo . Fages' first tenure as commander in Monterey ended in 1774, after he quarreled with Father Junípero Serra , president of the Alta California missions . He was replaced as lieutenant-governor by another veteran of the Portolá expedition, Fernando Rivera y Moncada . In 1777, Fages
11438-518: The improvements were in and around some major coastal cities and the major islands such as Cuba, with its tobacco plantations , and a renewed growth of precious metals mining in South America. Agricultural productivity remained low despite efforts to introduce new techniques to what was for the most part an uninterested, exploited peasant and laboring groups. Governments were inconsistent in their policies. Though there were substantial improvements by
11571-543: The institutions of empire to better administer it for the benefit of Spain and the crown. It sought to increase revenues and to assert greater crown control, including over the Catholic Church. Centralization of power (beginning with the Nueva Planta decrees against the realms of the Crown of Aragon ) was to be for the benefit of the crown and the metropole and for the defense of its empire against foreign incursions. From
11704-495: The integrity of the closed Spanish mercantile system and established thriving sugar colonies. At the beginning of his reign, the first Spanish Bourbon, King Philip V, reorganized the government to strengthen the executive power of the monarch as was done in France, in place of the deliberative, Polysynodial System of Councils. Philip's government set up a ministry of the Navy and the Indies (1714) and established commercial companies,
11837-500: The islands of Gran Canaria (1478–1483), La Palma (1492–1493), and Tenerife (1494–1496) were subjugated. By 1504, more than 90 percent of the indigenous Canarians had been killed or enslaved. The Portuguese tried in vain to keep secret their discovery of the Gold Coast (1471) in the Gulf of Guinea , but the news quickly caused a huge gold rush. Chronicler Pulgar wrote that the fame of
11970-514: The lands adjoining it for the Spanish Crown. The Catholic Monarchs had developed a strategy of marriages for their children to isolate their rival, France. The Spanish princesses married the heirs of Portugal, England and the House of Habsburg . Following the same strategy, the Catholic Monarchs decided to support the Aragonese house of the Kingdom of Naples against Charles VIII of France in
12103-427: The late 18th century, Spain was still an economic backwater. Under the mercantile trading arrangements it had difficulty in providing the goods being demanded by the strongly growing markets of its empire, and providing adequate outlets for the return trade. From an opposing point of view according to the "backwardness" mentioned above the naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt traveled extensively throughout
12236-614: The mainland was Santa María la Antigua del Darién in Castilla de Oro (now Nicaragua , Costa Rica , Panama and Colombia ), settled by Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1510. In 1513, Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama , and led the first European expedition to see the Pacific Ocean from the West coast of the New World. In an action with enduring historical import, Balboa claimed the Pacific Ocean and all
12369-594: The mid-1820s, Spain had lost its territories in Mexico, Central America, and South America. By 1900, it had also lost Cuba , Puerto Rico , the Philippine Islands , and Guam in the Mariana Islands following the Spanish–American War . With the marriage of the heirs apparent to their respective thrones Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile created a personal union that most scholars view as
12502-455: The more excessive incidents of sexual abuse, but it did not stop. The two men did not get along and Serra soon made plans to move the mission across the peninsula to Carmel. Weekly rations for the soldiers consisted of two gallons of corn, a pound of beans, a pound of pinole , half a pound of panocha , and four pounds of meat. The meat, delivered in barrels from the galleon San Antonio , often proved too putrid to eat. Weevils infested some of
12635-461: The more timid ones left, giving very clear signs of their surprise and fear." On July 14, 1769, Fages set out from San Diego with a party of 74 men on the Portolá expedition to locate Monterey Bay . The party included Catalan volunteers, leather-jacketed soldiers, Christian Indians from Baja California, and friars Juan Crespí and Francisco Gómez, along with other military officers. During this time he
12768-637: The northern boundary of the U.S. states of California, Nevada, and the western part of Utah. Inland regions were mostly unexplored by the Spanish, leaving them generally outside the control of the colonial authorities. Mountain ranges of the Peninsular Ranges , eastern Transverse Ranges , and the Sierra Nevada , along with the arid Colorado Desert , Mojave Desert , and Great Basin Desert in their eastern rain shadows , served as natural barriers to Spanish settlement. The eastern border of upper Las Californias
12901-524: The nucleus of Loreto , first permanent settlement and first administrative center of the province. The Jesuits went on to found a total of 18 missions in the lower two-thirds of the Baja California Peninsula . In 1767, the Jesuits were expelled from the missions, and Franciscans were brought in to take over. Gaspar de Portolá was appointed governor to supervise the transition. At the same time,
13034-707: The only Spanish expeditions ever to use the trail. Pedro Fages returned to Monterey in 1777, appointed Governor of the Californias, replacing Felipe de Neve . Monterey replaced Loreto as the capital of the Californias in that year, the Loreto military governorship being replaced by a presidio commander and a civil administrator. In 1804, Las Californias was officially split into Alta California and Baja California . During Fages' second tenure as governor, two missions were founded: Mission Santa Barbara (December 4, 1786) and La Purisima Mission (December 8, 1787). Reporting on
13167-545: The papal bull Æterni regis (dated on 21 June 1481). However, this experience would prove to be profitable for future Spanish overseas expansion, because as the Spaniards were excluded from the lands discovered or to be discovered from the Canaries southward —and consequently from the road to India around Africa —they sponsored the voyage of Columbus towards the west (1492) in search of Asia to trade in its spices , encountering
13300-409: The party during its return, informing Fages and Crespí of an emergency. The other Spanish colony, at San Diego, was suffering from severe food shortages. Crespí immediately set out with a pack train to deliver food, but this left Monterey also suffering. The Spaniards had not so far had much luck as hunters in California but, in desperation, Fages ordered that the soldiers set out in small parties to hunt
13433-413: The plural Californias by Spanish colonial authorities. California historian Theodore Hittell offered the following explanation: In very early times, while the country was supposed to be an island or rather several islands, it was commonly known by the plural appellation of "Las Californias" (The Californias). Afterwards, when its peninsular character was ascertained, it was called simply California; but
13566-542: The port and inland areas of San Diego, exploring especially today's Mission Valley . In his letter reporting to Gálvez, Fages observed of the local Kumeyaay Indians : "…They appear to be docile and alert. We have made very good friends with them and we are never lacking some little rabbits, hares, and fish that they bring to us. We give them some glass beads. But they value very highly any kind of cloth — no matter how poor it might be — since in exchange for some that I had, I received some furs and nets." Costansó, while branding
13699-547: The pregnant señora gobernadora , feigned ignorance of governor Fages' insistent requests. They referred the matter to Serra, who seconded their circumspect posture. So Eulalia's second child, María del Carmen, was born in San Francisco in August 1784. After Eulalia returned to Monterey from San Francisco, she kept pressing her husband to give up his career in California and return to Mexico. Fages wanted to stay on as governor. After
13832-428: The previous year, at San Lorenzo Creek in modern Hayward, on the eastern shore of the bay. From there, scouts ranged a few miles farther north, to a point where the view opened up, and they became the first Europeans to see the entrance to the great bay (although from the opposite side of the bay), a vantage on the slopes above the bay in modern Oakland . Fages set out north from Monterey again in 1772. The expedition
13965-403: The rural Bajío faced rising land prices, falling wages. Eviction of many from their lands resulted. With a Bourbon monarchy came a repertory of Bourbon mercantilist ideas based on a centralized state, put into effect in the Americas slowly at first but with increasing momentum during the century. Shipping grew rapidly from the mid-1740s until the Seven Years' War (1756–63), reflecting in part
14098-619: The same amount of bread as any European city, with 363 kilograms of bread per person per year in comparison to the 377 kilograms consumed in Paris. Caracas consumed seven times more meat per person than in Paris. Von Humboldt also said that the average income in that period was four times the European income and also that the cities of New Spain were richer than many European cities. Bourbon institutional reforms under Philip V bore fruit militarily when Spanish forces easily retook Naples and Sicily from
14231-485: The same time the old plural name of The Californias was revived, but with a more definite signification than before. The first attempted Spanish occupation of California was by the Jesuit missionary Eusebio Kino , in 1683. His Misión San Bruno failed, however, and it was not until 1697 that Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó was successfully established by another Jesuit, Juan María de Salvatierra . The mission became
14364-552: The ships of the Gaspar de Portolá-led expedition to found San Diego , California. Lieutenant Fages sailed from Guaymas to the Baja California port of La Paz . On January 9, 1769, he boarded the galleon San Carlos , captained by Vicente Vila and bound for San Diego. Also on board were Franciscan friar Fernando Parrón, engineer and cartographer Miguel Costansó , surgeon Pedro Prat, and 25 soldiers under Fages' command along with
14497-462: The split of the two Californias was restored. Following Mexico's defeat in the war, most of the former Alta California territory was ceded on 2 February 1848 to the United States, under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . The new Mexico–United States border was established slightly to the north of the previous Alta-Baja border, and the terms Las Californias and Alta California were no longer formally used. The areas acquired by
14630-420: The spring of 1784 Pedro and Eulalia, now pregnant, traveled north — Eulalia being carried in a litter — to San Francisco. There they met up with padre president Junípero Serra. Eulalia found the weather in San Francisco unpleasant and wanted to move to Santa Clara . Fages repeatedly asked the friars running mission Santa Clara to grant Eulalia hospitality there. The friars, feeling it improper for them to host
14763-597: The success of the Bourbons in bringing illicit trade under control. With the loosening of trade controls after the Seven Years' War, shipping trade within the empire once again began to expand, reaching an extraordinary rate of growth in the 1780s. The end of Cádiz's monopoly of trade with the American colonies brought about very important changes, particularly a rebirth of Spanish manufactures. Most notable of those changes were both
14896-416: The territory so designated was unlimited in extent. When the expeditions for the settlement of San Diego and Monterey marched, it was understood that they were going, not out of California, but into a new part of it. The peninsula then began to be generally spoken of as Antigua or Old California and the unlimited remainder as Nueva or New California, subsequently more commonly called Alta or Upper California. At
15029-587: The territory was admitted into the Union in 1850 as the State of California , while the vast, sparsely populated interior region would only later gain statehood as Nevada , Utah , and parts of New Mexico , Arizona , Wyoming , and Colorado . Today, Californias is a collective term to refer to the American and Mexican states bearing the name California , which share geography, history, cultures, and strong economic ties. There has been understandable confusion about use of
15162-440: The thrones of the Crown of Aragon . The two became known as the Catholic Monarchs , with their marriage a personal union that created a relationship between the Crown of Aragon and Castile, each with their own administrations, but ruled jointly by the two monarchs. Ferdinand and Isabella defeated the last Muslim king out of Granada in 1492 after a ten-year war . The Catholic Monarchs then negotiated with Christopher Columbus ,
15295-570: The time of the 1804 split, the Alta province had expanded to include coastal areas as far north as what is now the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California . Expansion came through exploration and colonization expeditions led by Portolá (1769), his successor Pedro Fages (1770), Juan Bautista de Anza (1774–76), the Franciscan missionaries and others. Independent Mexico retained
15428-522: The treasures of Guinea "spread around the ports of Andalusia in such way that everybody tried to go there". Worthless trinkets, Moorish textiles, and above all, shells from the Canary and Cape Verde islands were exchanged for gold, slaves, ivory and Guinea pepper. The War of the Castilian Succession (1475–79) provided the Catholic Monarchs with the opportunity not only to attack the main source of
15561-473: The treaty between Castile and Portugal as binding on themselves. Francis I of France observed "The sun shines for me as for others and I should very much like to see the clause in Adam's will that excludes me from a share of the world." Spanish settlement in the New World was based on a pattern of a large, permanent settlements with the entire complex of institutions and material life to replicate Castilian life in
15694-875: The viewpoint of Spain, the structures of colonial rule under the Habsburgs were no longer functioning to the benefit of Spain, with much wealth being retained in Spanish America and going to other European powers. The presence of other European powers in the Caribbean, with the English in Barbados (1627), St Kitts (1623–25), and Jamaica (1655); the Dutch in Curaçao , and the French in Saint Domingue (Haiti) (1697), Martinique , and Guadeloupe had broken
15827-683: The war. In 1742, the War of Jenkins' Ear merged with the larger War of the Austrian Succession , and King George's War in North America. The British, also occupied with France, were unable to capture Spanish convoys, and Spanish privateers captured British merchant shipping along the Triangle Trade routes and attacked the coast of North Carolina , levying tribute on the inhabitants. In Europe, Spain had been trying to divest Maria Theresa of
15960-524: Was a century of prosperity for the overseas Spanish Empire as trade within grew steadily, particularly in the second half of the century, under the Bourbon reforms. Spain's victory in the Battle of Cartagena de Indias against a British expedition in the Caribbean port of Cartagena de Indias helped Spain secure its dominance of its possessions in the Americas until the 19th century. But different regions fared differently under Bourbon rule, and even while New Spain
16093-526: Was accompanied again by friar Juan Crespí, who kept a daily journal. From his 1770 trail to the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, Fages pushed on past his previous stopping point, seeing for himself the entrance to San Francisco Bay, now known as the Golden Gate . The party continued north along San Pablo Bay but was prevented from going farther north by the Carquinez Strait . Following the bay around to
16226-451: Was defeated in Italy by an alliance of Britain, France, Savoy, and Austria. Following the war, the new Bourbon monarchy took a much more cautious approach to international relations, relying on a family alliance with Bourbon France, and continuing to follow a program of institutional renewal. The crown program to enact reforms that promoted administrative control and efficiency in the metropole to
16359-404: Was little apparent wealth and the numbers of indigenous were declining. Those from the less prosperous Hispaniola were eager to search for new success in a new settlement. From there Juan Ponce de León conquered Puerto Rico (1508) and Diego Velázquez took Cuba . Columbus encountered the mainland in 1498, and the Catholic Monarchs learned of his discovery in May 1499. The first settlement on
16492-407: Was made governor of both Baja and Alta California (1770–75). But, since Monterey was far away, Fages had free rein to run Alta California as acting governor. Taking charge of constructing the Spanish presidio (fort) in Monterey, Fages imposed strict discipline on his soldier-laborers. He decided the amount of work they had to do in a certain time, harshly punishing soldiers caught resting or rolling
16625-665: Was never officially defined under either Spanish or subsequent Mexican rule. The 1781 Instrucciones and government correspondence described Alta California ("Upper California") as the areas to the west of the Sierra Nevada and the lower part of the Colorado River in the Lower Colorado River Valley (the river forms the present day border between the states of California and Arizona). Arizona Territory (1863–1912) Wyoming Territory (1868–1890) Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire , sometimes referred to as
16758-564: Was non-existent, their conditions were much better than any other peasant or farmer in northern Europe . Humboldt also published a comparative analysis of bread and meat consumption in New Spain compared to other cities in Europe such as Paris. Mexico City consumed 189 pounds of meat per person per year, in comparison to 163 pounds consumed by the inhabitants of Paris, the Mexicans also consumed almost
16891-402: Was particularly prosperous, it was also marked by steep wealth inequality. Silver production boomed in New Spain during the 18th century, with output more than tripling between the start of the century and the 1750s. The economy and the population both grew, both centered around Mexico City. But while mine owners and the crown benefited from the flourishing silver economy, most of the population in
17024-570: Was posted to Sonora to fight the Apaches , where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In 1781 he successfully quelled the Quechan (Yuma) Indian revolt and temporarily reopened the Colorado River crossing of the Anza trail at Yuma, Arizona . The Quechan successfully re-closed the trail for the next 50+ years after Fages and his troops departed, ensuring that the two journeys led by Juan Bautista de Anza were
17157-558: Was promoted to captain. Although the party failed to recognize Monterey Bay as they passed it, they explored all the way up the coast to San Francisco. The 74 men returned exhausted to San Diego on January 24, 1770, having had to slaughter and eat their mules on the return trek south. In the spring of 1770, Fages joined the second overland Portolá expedition from San Diego to Monterey , along with friar Juan Crespí , twelve Catalan volunteers, seven leather-jacketed soldiers, two muleteers , and five Baja Christian Indians — aiming to establish
17290-472: Was promoted to colonel in 1789, and resigned his governorship in 1791. Pedro Fages moved back to Mexico City , where he died in 1794. Fages married Eulalia Francesca Josepha Callis on June 3, 1780, in Mexico City. Born October 4, 1758, in Barcelona, Spain , Eulalia was a full generation younger than Pedro Fages. She journeyed to Mexico City with her mother and brother to join her father Agustín Callis, captain of
17423-473: Was slower than the growth of illicit trade by northern rivals in the empire's markets.) However, this recovery was not then translated into institutional improvement, rather the "proximate solutions to permanent problems." This legacy of neglect was reflected in the early years of Bourbon rule in which the military was ill-advisedly pitched into battle in the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–20). Spain
17556-498: Was the first document to establish an administrative organization in the Indies. Columbus' discoveries began the Spanish colonization of the Americas . Spain's claim to these lands was solidified by the Inter caetera papal bull dated 4 May 1493, and Dudum siquidem on 26 September 1493. Since the Portuguese wanted to keep the line of demarcation of Alcaçovas running east and west along
17689-557: Was the lifeblood of the Habsburg empire declined in proportion to registered shipping (a shipping registry having been established in 1735). Two upheavals registered unease within Spanish America and at the same time demonstrated the renewed resiliency of the reformed system: the Tupac Amaru uprising in Peru in 1780 and the rebellion of the comuneros of New Granada , both in part reactions to tighter, more efficient control. The 18th century
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