Assignment 4a

Conquest means that one group of people takes control of another group of people and takes all their power away from them. While before they were in charge of their own governments and lives, in a conquest, the invading people take power and control the people they invaded. Colonialism is when one country controls another group of people, who are not actually a part of the invaders country. The land and people are still a separate land and people, but they are controlled (or owned) by the invaders. After a conquest, when the people are under the control of the invaders, they are a colony of the invaders. There were many conquest and a lot of colonialism in Latin America and the Caribbean.

There are 21 California missions, with the first one established in 1769 by Father Junipero Serra in San Diego. The last mission, San Francisco de Solano, was not established until 1823. In those years, the Franciscans were able to turn California into a totally different land. It went from being the Native American's land to Spain's land, because the missions had control of the Native Americans and their lifestyle had been changed forever. The Camino Real, or Royal Road, was created and connected all the missions that spanned more than half of California. Spaniards and Mexicans moved to California in even greater numbers and made the land their own. There is a huge and obvious influence of both Spain and Mexico in California today. Although Californians may believe that they are purely American, I think that many do not realize how much influence they have from the past rulers of the state. It is amazing how quickly and how much Spain changed California and influenced its future.

Each mission was largely self-sustaining. The Native Americans at each mission worked all day on the various goods that the mission produced. Wheat, corn, vegetables, cattle, sheep, vineyards, and orchards were all grown or raised at each mission. The missions also had blacksmiths, used the tallow and leather from cows, weaved, and had a large workforce to clean and care for the mission. The missions were able to give supplies to other missions when they needed help, care for visitors when they came, and trade for anything they did not make. The mission economy was successful most years and provided the missions with work for the Native Americans, which was considered important to their becoming civilized, and enough good for everyone to live relatively comfortably at the mission.

Today, each one of the 21 original missions is open for the public to visit. While each one has been at least partially rebuilt due to the numerous disasters that have ruined the missions, such as fire and earthquakes, they have been rebuilt as accurately and originally as possible. Most have a museum with artifacts from the mission and information on the specific mission. They are some of the oldest buildings in California and have a lot of history behind them. Each mission is distinct in its history, architecture, and personality, but there is a clear connection in all of them. Most are still used a churches with services held each week.

I chose this topic because I love the California missions. I actually spent my honeymoon traveling California and visiting missions. I love to learn more about the missions (both the good and bad parts) and enjoy sharing information about them with other people. Many people forget about them after the 4th grade, but I think they are important to California's history, because they changed so much. My video is on the architecture and design of the missions, and has some good footage on both(http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5458145529129335922&ei=JCDoSIaAEJnWqAOLstzhBA&q=California+missions+video&vt=lf&hl=en). My article has general, yet thorough, information on the missions (http://www.cuca.k12.ca.us/lessons/missions/history/generalhistory.html). It discusses the founding, local Native Americans, economy, community, secularization, and present use.

The video comes from Encyclopaedia Britannica, one of the leading encyclopedias in the world. They publish well research and reviewed information. The article was written by Rob Garretson for his Master's degree. It is from the Cucamonga school district website. As Rob Garretson is a semi-expert, since he has received a related education and studied the missions, and a school recommends the article, it is credible.