Architecture Of The California Missions Essay

The arrive of Father Junipero Serra in the Sacred Expedition in 1769 contributed to the expansion of the Spain's Catholic religion in California and the disappearance of the Native culture. As a tradition, King Carlos III tried to expand the Enlightenment rationality in all the Spain's provinces; he wanted the natives from his conquered lands to have an education and speak their language. To continue with this custom, Father Serra traveled to California to build nine missions by the coast, and by 1823 his successors had raised the number to twenty-one. One of the purposes of the missions was to educate natives about Spanish traditions through Spain's Catholic padres since they considered natives as irrational; this means that the California's

For example,one of the most recent disaster was a fire in 1926 (from“Fact Cards California ,Missions ,Mission Santa Clara De Asis”). How this affected the mission was that it made the mission more stable over the years. For example, when the first version of the mission was made of logs and then moved on to more stable materials like adobe bricks. Next, you will learn about the routine of the native americans and about which tribes were brought to this mission.

The Spanish in contact with California occurred in the mid 1530s when Cortez’s men ventured to Baja California. They began to sail north to Alta California and established 21 missions. The expedition to Alta California was the last greatest expansion of Spain’s empire in North America. The missions were a series of religious and military settlements established by the padre. The Spanish constructed the missions to gain control and power over the land in California. San Francisco Solano Mission was the last mission established in Sonoma, the Valley of the Moon, resulted an important historical event in California and the existence of the California flag. The Spanish arrival to California created a major impact to the lives of the native Indians, and there were many significant events occurred among the Spaniards, the native Indians, and the Americans before California became a part of America.

The Spanish began their long-term occupation in California in 1769. California and its Spanish Colonization were different from earlier efforts to simultaneously introduce missionaries and colonists in their world conquest schemes. Organized by the driven Franciscan administrator Junipero Serra and military authorities under Gaspar de Portola, they journeyed to San Diego to establish the first of 21 coastal missions.

My mission is named in honor of Saint Francis Solano, he was a Spanish Franciscan Missionary in Peru and Paraguay. It is the twenty-first and last of the California missions. It was founded by Fray Jose Altimira on July 4, 1823. Mission Sonoma, it’s shaped like a square of long buildings, forming a quadrangle, made of adobe bricks and wood. In one corner was the church, adjacent was living quarters and parallel were the workshops, kitchen, and storage. In addition, there were orchards, gardens, vineyards, fields of grain, a grist mill, houses for the soldiers and Indian families, a jail, a cemetery, and an infirmary.

I’ve attended Catholic school for a majority of my education, from first through twelfth grade and throughout my journey within the catholic school education system I feel as though I have the obligation and right to inform you of the lack of information provided to fourth grade students on the history of the California missions.

In the early 1700's, the country of Spain sent many explorers to the western world to claim land and find riches. When California was founded by several Spanish explorers, like Cabrillo, and De Anza, Spain decided to send missionaries to build missions. There are a total of 21 missions built in California. Mission Santa Ines was the 19th mission and was built to share the European God with the Indians and how to eat and dress like Europeans. Father Tapis wanted to make the Indians Christians and

Spanish settlers built the Mission San Antonio de Valero, named for St. Anthony of Padua, on the banks of the San Antonio River around 1718. They also established the nearby military garrison of San Antonio de Béxar, which soon became the center of a settlement known as San Fernando de Béxar (later renamed San Antonio). The Mission San Antonio de Valero housed missionaries and their Native American converts for some 70 years until 1793, when Spanish authorities secularized the five missions located in San Antonio and distributed their lands among local residents.Beginning in the early 1800s, Spanish military troops were stationed in the abandoned chapel of the former mission. Because it stood in a grove of cottonwood trees, the soldiers called

In the 18th century, what is now California was populated mostly by Native Americans. Late in the century, Franciscan missions sponsored by Spain and the Roman Catholic church played an important role in establishing European settlement in the region. The Spaniards, who had already colonized parts of Mexico to the south, wanted to protect those colonies and extend their influence northward. The Roman Catholic church wanted to convert Native Americans to Christianity. The mission system supported both goals. The first Franciscan mission in California (Mission San Diego de Alcalá) was established by Father Junípero Serra in what in now San Diego. Fifty-four years later in 1823, the Franciscans founded their last of 21 missions at San Francisco Solano. Each mission had an armed presidio to protect it. Each sought to teach the Native Americans both Christianity and European farming methods. Many of the mission churches remain today as living examples of

The Mission Santa Clara is a historical California site that is laid in the center of the Santa Clara University. In 1777, it established and founded by the Franciscan Order. The mission’s purpose was to be the sister mission to Mission Dolores that is in San Francisco. Due to Mexico withdrawing from the Spanish Empire, the King of Spain and his Viceroy, the ones sponsoring the missions, were no longer in power. The Mexican government didn’t have enough resources and was not interested to maintain and upkeep the distant missions, removing the Spanish Franciscans. With little funds, the mission perished slowly until the ownership of the mission was passed over to the Society of Jesus, also called the Jesuits, in 1851. They made Santa Clara college and today, Mission Santa Clara is used as a student chapel and opened to the public.

Junipero Serra became involved with the missions when the Jesuits were expelled from New Spain and Serra was chosen to take over the missions. He had a complete new vision for the missions that included forcing the natives to live on the mission and attend mass twice everyday. Women were to be separated from men so that there would be no possibility of sin in the missions. Serra’s ultimate goal for the missions was to convert as many natives as possible because he believed in the power and greatness of his religion(Castillo 55-70). In his lifetime, Serra founded nine missions and converted around 5,000 natives in present day California(PBS.org). Spain was more than pleased with Serra’s work with the missions because they felt it gave Spain control over Alta California. They encouraged the missions and began sending more friars to aid in the process that Serra had created(Castillo 70-75).

The Alamo itself was a Spanish Mission, which had a main purpose of converting natives in the area to Catholicism, the official Spanish religion. The time period in which it was establish along with several other missions was during the Spanish Mission Period, which lasted from the early to late 18th century. The Alamo’s original name was San Antonio de Valero in honor of Saint Anthony de Padua (Official Alamo Website). It changed locations several times before it finally was moved to its current location in 1724. It was the first of five Spanish missions in the current San Antonio area and was home to many Spanish missionaries and Indian converts. However, converting natives was not it’s only purpose. It also served to convert the natives to the Spanish way of life in order to create a self-sufficient population that could grow and sustain it-self as loyal Spanish subjects to keep other European powers out of this area. But this strategy did not last for long. Near the end of the 18th century, the Indian convert population had dwindled because of increased exposure to new diseases carried by Europeans.

Most Californians are introduced to the California Mission system in one of two ways: in their early education, or when they first visit a mission. Unfortunately, both methods are prone to simplification or bias in conveying the history of the missions. What this has led to is Californians who are ignorant of the history of the land they walk on. Consequently, visitors to the missions treat them as mere tourist attractions, instead of trying to embrace and understand the complex issues the missions represent.

Pablo Tac wrote a journal describing a mission, that he grew up in as a young adult, located in the southern part of California. The flat landscape became the building grounds for this gigantic man-built mission. In Tac’s journal, he talks about this Indian tribe, called the Quechnajuichom, who inhabited the land. Tac describes the surrounding area with villages splattered all around, accordingly a road that connects the mission to the Presidio in San Diego, where the General of California stayed. The people that made up this holy land included Quechnajuicnom, Spaniards, English, and Anglo-Americans.

The history of religion in the United States comes a long way dating from the early 1600s when the first pilgrim settlers came to this country. It has been noted that these settlers were highly influenced by the Protestant faith which led to a community level of influence in this country as well. The faith of theses settlers were motivated from the New World of Europe where they practiced their religion in a peaceful environment. Later in history, it was noted that people of Spanish decent started the famous network of the Catholic missions in California. When California became a part of the United States, Catholic churches and institutes were formed. These churches and institutes were also formed in New Orleans and Louisiana.