Enlightenment or enslavement, or perhaps both: Such is the story of the Spanish missions established in Alta California, from San Diego to San Francisco, from 1769 to 1823. Spain claimed California in the 1500s, but no one was there to watch the store and the Spanish Crown had concerns about others taking possession. The concept was simple enough: Concentrate California’s 300,000 indigenous peoples in missions manned by the Catholic Church, convert them to Christianity, teach farming and other trades, and then use the missions to control California. A grand idea, perhaps, but one with unintended consequences: Indigenous cultures were obliterated, Native Americans were essentially forced into slavery, and by 1834 disease and other factors reduced California’s population to a scant 20,000 people.
La Purisima Mission (Misión La Purísima Concepción De…
