1.
United States dollar
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The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common
2.
Troy weight
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Troy weight is a system of units of mass customarily used for precious metals and gemstones. One troy ounce equals 31.1034768 grams exactly, there are only 12 troy ounces per troy pound, rather than the 16 ounces per pound found in the more common avoirdupois system. However, the pound has 7000 grains whereas the troy pound has only 5760 grains. Both systems use the same grain defined by the international yard, therefore the troy ounce is 480 grains, compared with the avoirdupois ounce, which is 437.5 grains. So the troy ounce is about 10% heavier than the avoirdupois ounce, although troy ounces are still used to weigh gold, silver, and gemstones, troy weight is no longer used in most other applications. One troy ounce of gold is denoted with the ISO4217 currency code XAU, troy weight probably takes its name from the French market town of Troyes in France where English merchants traded at least as early as the early 9th century. The name troy is first attested in 1390, describing the weight of a platter, the word troni refers to markets. Watson finds the dialect word troi, meaning a balance in Wrights Dialect Dictionary, troy weight referred to the tower system, the earliest reference to the modern troy weights is in 1414. Many aspects of the weight system were indirectly derived from the Roman monetary system. The Romans used bronze bars of varying weights as currency, an aes grave weighed 1 pound. One twelfth of an aes grave was called an uncia, or in English an ounce, before the adoption of the metric system, many systems of troy weights were in use in various parts of Europe, among them Holland troy, Paris troy, etc. Their values varied from one another by up to several percentage points, troy weights were first used in England in the 15th century, and were made official for gold and silver in 1527. The British Imperial system of weights and measures was established in 1824, the troy ounce in use today is essentially the same as the British Imperial troy ounce, adopted as an official weight standard for United States coinage by Act of Congress on May 19,1828. The British Imperial troy ounce was based on, and virtually identical with, the pre-1824 British troy ounce, the English troy ounce was officially adopted for coinage in 1527. Troy ounces have been used in England since about 1400, before that, various sorts of troy ounces were in use on the continent. The troy ounce and grain were also part of the apothecaries system and this was long used in medicine, but has now been largely replaced by the metric system. The only troy weight in widespread use today is the British Imperial troy ounce, both are currently based on a grain of 0.06479891 gram, with 480 grains to a troy ounce. The British Empire abolished the 12-ounce troy pound in the 19th century, the origin of the troy weight system is unknown
3.
San Francisco Mint
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The San Francisco Mint is a branch of the United States Mint and was opened in 1854 to serve the gold mines of the California Gold Rush. It quickly outgrew its first building and moved into a new one in 1874 and this building, the Old United States Mint, also known affectionately as The Granite Lady, is one of the few that survived the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It served until 1937, when the present facility was opened, within the first year of its operation, the San Francisco mint turned $4 million in gold bullion into coins. The second building, completed in 1874, was designed by Alfred B, mullett in a conservative Greek Revival style with a sober Doric order. Heroic efforts by Superintendent of the Mint, Frank A. Leach, and his men preserved the building, the mint resumed operation soon thereafter, continuing until 1937. In 1961 the Old Mint, as it had known, was designated a National Historic Landmark. It also became a California Historical Landmark in 1974, the given name of The Granite Lady is somewhat of a misnomer as most of the building is made from sandstone. While the base/basement of the building is made of granite, the entire external, the Granite Lady was a marketing term given in the 1970s that stuck. The Old Mint was open to visitors until 1993, in the fall of 2005, ground was broken for renovations that would turn the central court into a glass-enclosed galleria. In 2006 Congress created the San Francisco Old Mint Commemorative Coin, the first phase of renovations were completed in 2011. In 2014, the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society began raising money for the second phase, in 2015, the City of San Francisco looked for a new tenant to renovate and program the space with Activate San Francisco Events being selected as an interim tenant. Until a new tenant is found, the Old Mint will continue to be used for special events, in April 2016, the California Historical Society agreed to undertake the restoration of the building and its preservation as a public space. The new Mint was opened in 1937, beginning in 1955, circulating coinage from San Francisco was suspended for 13 years. In 1968, it took over most proof coinage production from the Philadelphia Mint, from 1975 to 2012, the San Francisco Mint has been used only for proof coinage, with the exception of the Susan B. Anthony dollar from 1979–81 and a portion of the mintage of cents in the early 1980s, the dollars bear a mintmark of an S, but the cents are otherwise indistinguishable from those minted at Philadelphia. In 2012, the San Francisco mint started to mint circulation strike quarters in the America the Beautiful quarter series, marked with an S mintmark and only issued for collectors. From 1962 to 1988, the San Francisco Mint was officially an assay office, the San Francisco Mint is located at 155 Hermann Street, but only admits visitors on rare exception. On May 15,1987, a number of people were allowed to tour the facility
4.
California Gold Rush
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The California Gold Rush began on January 24,1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutters Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States, the Gold Rush initiated the California Genocide, with 100,000 Native Californians dying between 1848 and 1868. By the time it ended, California had gone from a thinly populated ex-Mexican territory to the state of the first nominee for the Republican Party. The effects of the Gold Rush were substantial, whole indigenous societies were attacked and pushed off their lands by the gold-seekers, called forty-niners. The first to hear confirmed information of the rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands, and Latin America. While most of the newly arrived were Americans, the Gold Rush attracted tens of thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia, agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers. San Francisco grew from a settlement of about 200 residents in 1846 to a boomtown of about 36,000 by 1852. Roads, churches, schools and other towns were built throughout California, in 1849 a state constitution was written. The new constitution was adopted by vote, and the future states interim first governor. In September,1850, California became a state, at the beginning of the Gold Rush, there was no law regarding property rights in the goldfields and a system of staking claims was developed. Prospectors retrieved the gold from streams and riverbeds using simple techniques, although the mining caused environmental harm, more sophisticated methods of gold recovery were developed and later adopted around the world. New methods of transportation developed as steamships came into regular service, by 1869 railroads were built across the country from California to the eastern United States. At its peak, technological advances reached a point where significant financing was required, Gold worth tens of billions of todays dollars was recovered, which led to great wealth for a few. However, many returned home with more than they had started with. The Mexican–American War ended on February 3,1848, although California was firmly in American hands before that, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided for, among other things, the formal transfer of Upper California to the United States. The California Gold Rush began at Sutters Mill, near Coloma, on January 24,1848, James W. Marshall, a foreman working for Sacramento pioneer John Sutter, found shiny metal in the tailrace of a lumber mill Marshall was building for Sutter on the American River. Marshall brought what he found to John Sutter, and the two tested the metal. However, rumors started to spread and were confirmed in March 1848 by San Francisco newspaper publisher
5.
Jo Mora
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Joseph Jacinto Jo Mora was a Uruguayan-born American cartoonist, illustrator and cowboy, who lived with the Hopi and wrote extensively about his experiences in California. He was an artist-historian, sculptor, painter, photographer, illustrator, muralist and he has been called the Renaissance Man of the West. Mora was born on October 22,1876 in Montevideo, Uruguay and his father was the Catalonian sculptor, Domingo Mora, and his mother was Laura Gaillard Mora, an intellectual born in the Bordeaux region of France. Luis Mora, who would become an acclaimed artist and the first Hispanic member of the National Academy of Design, the family entered the United States in 1880 and first settled in New York City, and then Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Jo Mora studied art at the Art Students League of New York and he also studied with William Merritt Chase. In Boston, he worked as a cartoonist for a called the Boston Evening Traveller. In the spring of 1903, Mora arrived in Solvang, California and he stayed at the Donohue Ranch. He made plans to travel to the Southwest to paint and photograph the Hopi and he spent time at the Mission Santa Inés, those photographs are now maintained by the Smithsonian Institution. Mora visited many Spanish missions in California that summer by horseback and he followed the Mission Trail, also called the Kings Highway. From 1904 to 1906, Mora lived with the Hopi and Navajo near Oraibi and he took photographs, painted and otherwise recorded the daily life of these Native Americans, including the Hopi Snake Dance. He learned the Native languages and made detailed drawings of what he observed, in 1907, Mora returned to California and married Grace Needham. Their son, Joseph Needham Mora, was born on March 8,1908, the Moras moved to San Jose, California, where Mora continued his work. In 1915 he served on the International Jury of Awards at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, in 1925, he designed the commemorative half dollar for the California Diamond Jubilee. During this period he illustrated a number of books, made large murals. Beginning in 1937, Mora wrote and illustrated books about the West. In 1939, a Works Progress Administration project was completed, with Mora bas-relief sculpture adorning the King City High School Auditorium building, in 1921 the Mora family moved their primary residence to the largest art colony on the West Coast, Carmel-by-the-Sea. He was extremely active in the Carmel community and served on the board of directors of the Carmel Art Association and he co-established Carmel’s first private art gallery which was operated by resident artists. In 1931 Jo, his wife, and daughter Patricia moved to nearby Pebble Beach into a newly built home
6.
Grizzly bear
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The grizzly bear, less commonly known as the silvertip bear, is a large subspecies of brown bear inhabiting North America. Scientists generally do not use the name grizzly bear but call it the North American brown bear, on average bears near the coast tend to be larger while inland Grizzlies tend to be smaller. The Ussuri brown bear inhabiting Russia, Northern China, and Korea is sometimes referred to as black grizzly although it is a different subspecies from the bears in America, meriwether Lewis and William Clark named it to be grisley or grizzly, which could have meant grizzled or fear-inspiring. Nonetheless, after study, naturalist George Ord formally classified it in 1815 – not for its hair. Classification has been revised along genetic lines, there are two morphological forms of Ursus arctos, the grizzly and the coastal brown bears, but these morphological forms do not have distinct mtDNA lineages. Brown bears originated in Eurasia and traveled to North America approximately 50,000 years ago, in the 19th century, the grizzly was classified as 86 distinct species. However, by 1928 only seven grizzlies remained and by 1953 only one species remained globally, however, modern genetic testing reveals the grizzly to be a subspecies of the brown bear. Rausch found that North America has but one species of grizzly, therefore, everywhere it is the brown bear, in North America, it is the grizzly, but these are all the same species, Ursus arctos. Kodiak grizzly bears were also at one time considered distinct, therefore, at one time there were five different species of brown bear, including three in North America. Most adult female grizzlies weigh 130–180 kg, while males weigh on average 180–360 kg. Average total length in this subspecies is 198 cm, with a shoulder height of 102 cm. Newborn bears may weigh less than 500 grams, in the Yukon River area, mature female grizzlies can weigh as little as 100 kg. One study found that the weight for an inland male grizzly was around 272 kilograms. For a female, these average weights would be 136 kilograms inland and 227 kilograms coastal, on the other hand, an occasional huge male grizzly has been recorded which greatly exceeds ordinary size, with weights reported up to 680 kg. A large coastal male of this size may stand up to 3 metres tall on its hind legs, although variable in color from blond to nearly black, grizzly bear fur is typically brown with darker legs and commonly white or blond tipped fur on the flank and back. A pronounced hump appears on their shoulders, the hump is a way to distinguish a grizzly bear from a black bear. Aside from the distinguishing hump a grizzly bear can be identified by a dished in profile of their face with short, rounded ears, whereas a black bear has a straight face profile and longer ears. A grizzly bear can also be identified by its rump, which is lower than its shoulders, a grizzly bears front claws measure about 2-4 inches in length and a black bears measure about 1-2 inches in length
7.
United States commemorative coin
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The United States has minted numerous commemorative coins in remembrance of particular persons, places, events, and institutions. These coins are legal tender but are not intended for general circulation, many consider the 1848 2½ dollar gold piece counter stamped CAL to be the first U. S. commemorative coin, as it commemorated the finding of gold in California. Most standard lists begin with the 1892 half dollar commemorating the 400th anniversary of Columbus voyage to America, the following year, the Columbian Exposition quarter dollar featuring Queen Isabella of Spain was issued. In 1925, a commemorative 50-cent coin was released that showed Robert E. Lee, the U. S. Mint was criticized for commemorative issues of dubious recognition and seemingly endless mint runs. As an example of the latter, the Oregon Trail Memorial 50-cent piece was minted 8 years during a 14-year span, multiple unrelated commemoratives also were minted in many years, diminishing the significance of commemorative issues. The period of Early Commemoratives ended with the 1954 issues of the Washington–Carver 50-cent piece, circulating commemorative coins have been somewhat more unusual in the United States. These are coins that are minted to commemorate a person, place, event, or institution. In 1932, the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington, the mint produced a circulating commemorative, in 1934, it became the regular issue coinage design. In 1975 and 1976, the Washington quarter was used to commemorate the United States Bicentennial with a circulating commemorative. The Kennedy half-dollar and Eisenhower dollar also featured commemorative designs for circulation during these two years. More recently, the State Quarters program began in 1999 with five different circulating commemoratives each year, in 2007, six quarters commemorating the District of Columbia, two commonwealths, and three territories were added to the program for issue in 2009. In 2009, four commemorative one cent pieces were issued to mark the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, when this program is completed,23 years will have passed in which all quarters minted were commemorative. The value of coins depends primarily upon the condition, scarcity. Early United States commemorative coins Modern United States commemorative coins Complete histories of over 50 US Commemoratives
8.
Silver coin
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Silver coins are possibly the oldest mass-produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks, the ancient Persians used silver coins between 612-330 BC. Before 1797, British pennies were made of silver, as with all collectible coins, many factors determine the value of a silver coin, such as its rarity, demand, condition and the number originally minted. Ancient silver coins coveted by collectors include the Denarius and Miliarense, while more recent collectible silver coins include the Morgan Dollar, other than collectors silver coins, silver bullion coins are popular among people who desire a hedge against currency inflation or store of value. Silver has a currency symbol of XAG under ISO4217. The earliest coins of the world were minted in the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor around 600 BC. The coins of Lydia were made of electrum, which is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, the concept of coinage, i. e. stamped lumps of metal of a specified weight, quickly spread to adjacent regions, such as Aegina. In these neighbouring regions, inhabited by Greeks, coins were made of silver. As Greek merchants traded with Greek communities throughout the Mediterranean Sea and these early Greek silver coins were denominated in staters or drachmas and its fractions. More or less simultaneously with the development of the Lydian and Greek coinages, the Chinese coins, however, were a different concept and they were made of bronze. The coins of the Greeks were issued by a number of city states. The coinage systems were not entirely the same from one place to another, however, the so-called Attic standard, Corinthian standard, Aiginetic standard and other standards defined the proper weight of each coin. Each of these standards were used in places throughout the Mediterranean region. In the 4th century BC, the Kingdom of Macedonia came to dominate the Greek world, the most powerful of their kings, Alexander the Great eventually launched an attack on the Kingdom of Persia, defeating and conquering it. Greek coins were now issued by kings, and only to an extent by cities. Greek rulers were now minting coins as far away as Egypt, the tetradrachm was a popular coin throughout the region. This era is referred to as the hellenistic era, while much of the Greek world was being transformed into monarchies, the Romans were expanding their control throughout the Italian Peninsula. The Romans minted their first coins during the early 3rd century BC, the earliest coins were - like other coins in the region - silver drachms with a supplementary bronze coinage
9.
68th United States Congress
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It met in Washington, D. C. from March 4,1923 to March 4,1925, during the last months of Warren G. Hardings presidency, and the first years of his successor, Calvin Coolidge. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Thirteenth Decennial Census of the United States in 1910, both chambers had a Republican majority. August 2,1923 – President Warren Harding died and Calvin Coolidge became President of the United States September 22,1923, coal Commission Act April 26,1924, Seed and Feed Loan Act May 19,1924, World War Adjusted Compensation Act, Sess. 157,43 Stat.121 May 24,1924, Rogers Act May 26,1924, Immigration Act of 1924, Sess. 190,43 Stat.153 May 29,1924, Indian Oil Leasing Act of 1924 June 2,1924, Indian Citizenship Act of 1924,233,43 Stat.253 June 2,1924, Revenue Act of 1924, Sess. 234,43 Stat.253 June 3,1924, Inland Waterways Act of 1924 June 7,1924, Pueblo Lands Act of 1924 June 7,1924, Oil Pollution Act of 1924, Pub. L. 316,43 Stat.604 June 7,1924, Clarke–McNary Act, the count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this Congress, and includes members from vacancies and newly admitted states, when they were first seated. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the Changes in membership section. % President, Calvin Coolidge, until August 3,1923, cummins Majority leader, Charles Curtis Majority whip, Wesley L. Jones Republican Conference Secretary, James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. Rouse This list is arranged by chamber, then by state, Senators are listed in order of seniority, and Representatives are listed by district. Skip to House of Representatives, below Senators were elected two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, the names of members of the House of Representatives elected statewide on the general ticket or otherwise at-large, are preceded by their district numbers. The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress, montgomery Methodist, elected April 11,1921 Clerk, William T. The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, the Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. Biographical Directory of the U. S. Congress U. S. House of Representatives, House History U. S. Senate, Statistics and Lists Official Congressional Directory for the 68th Congress, Official Congressional Directory for the 68th Congress, 1st Session. Official Congressional Directory for the 68th Congress, 2nd Session, Official Congressional Directory for the 68th Congress, 2nd Session. Official Congressional Directory for the 68th Congress, 2nd Session
10.
Francis Drake
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Sir Francis Drake, vice admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. With his incursion into the Pacific he inaugurated an era of privateering, Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588 and he died of dysentery in January 1596 after unsuccessfully attacking San Juan, Puerto Rico. His exploits made him a hero to the English but a pirate to the Spaniards, King Philip II was said to have offered a reward of 20,000 ducats, about £4 million by modern standards, for his life. Francis Drake was born in Tavistock, Devon, England, although his birth is not formally recorded, it is known that he was born while the Six Articles were in force. Drake was two and twenty when he obtained the command of the Judith and this would date his birth to 1544. A date of c.1540 is suggested from two portraits, one a miniature painted by Nicholas Hilliard in 1581 when he was allegedly 42 and he was the eldest of the twelve sons of Edmund Drake, a Protestant farmer, and his wife Mary Mylwaye. The first son was alleged to have named after his godfather Francis Russell. Because of religious persecution during the Prayer Book Rebellion in 1549, there the father obtained an appointment to minister the men in the Kings Navy. He was ordained deacon and was vicar of Upnor Church on the Medway. Drakes father apprenticed Francis to his neighbour, the master of a used for coastal trade transporting merchandise to France. The ship master was so satisfied with the young Drakes conduct that, being unmarried and childless at his death, Francis Drake married Mary Newman in 1569. She died 12 years later, in 1581, in 1585, Drake married Elizabeth Sydenham—born circa 1562, the only child of Sir George Sydenham, of Combe Sydenham, who was the High Sheriff of Somerset. After Drakes death, the widow Elizabeth eventually married Sir William Courtenay of Powderham. At age 23, Drake made his first voyage to the Americas, sailing with his cousin, Sir John Hawkins, on one of a fleet of ships owned by his relatives. In 1568 Drake was again with the Hawkins fleet when it was trapped by the Spaniards in the Mexican port of San Juan de Ulúa, following the defeat at San Juan de Ulúa, Drake vowed revenge. He made two voyages to the West Indies, in 1570 and 1571, of which little is known, in 1572, he embarked on his first major independent enterprise. He planned an attack on the Isthmus of Panama, known to the Spanish as Tierra Firme and the English as the Spanish Main
11.
Spanish colonization of the Americas
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The Colonial expansion under the crown of Castile was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Catholic faith through indigenous conversions and it is estimated that during the colonial period, a total of 18.6 million Spaniards settled in the Americas and a further 3.5 million immigrated during the post-colonial era. Spains loss of these last territories politically ended the Spanish rule in the Americas, the Catholic Monarchs Isabella of Castile, Queen of Castile and her husband King Ferdinand, King of Aragon, pursued a policy of joint rule of their kingdoms and created a single Spanish monarchy. Even though Castile and Aragon were ruled jointly by their respective monarchs, the Catholic Monarchs gave official approval for the plans of Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus for a voyage to reach India by sailing West. The funding came from the queen of Castile, so the profits from Spanish expedition flowed to Castile, in the extension of Spanish sovereignty to its overseas territories, authority for expeditions of discovery, conquest, and settlement resided in the monarchy. Columbus made four voyages to the West Indiesas the monarchs granted Columbus the governorship of the new territories and he founded La Navidad on the island later named Hispaniola, in what is present day Haiti on his first voyage. After its destruction by the indigenous Taino people, the town of Isabella was begun in 1493, in 1496 his brother, Bartholomew, founded Santo Domingo. By 1500, despite a death rate, there were between 300 and 1000 Spanish settled in the area. The local Taíno people continued to resist, refusing to plant crops, the first mainland explorations were followed by a phase of inland expeditions and conquest. In 1500 the city of Nueva Cádiz was founded on the island of Cubagua, Venezuela, the Spanish founded San Sebastian de Uraba in 1509 but abandoned it within the year. There is indirect evidence that the first permanent Spanish mainland settlement established in the Americas was Santa María la Antigua del Darién, the Spanish conquest of Mexico is generally understood to be the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire which was the base for later conquests of other regions. Later conquests were protracted campaigns with less spectacular results than conquest of the Aztecs, but not until the Spanish conquest of Peru was the conquest of the Aztecs matched in scope by the victory over the Inca empire in 1532. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire was led by Hernán Cortés, the victory over the Aztecs was relatively quick, from 1519 to 1521, and aided by his Tlaxcala and other allies from indigenous city-states or altepetl. These polities allied against the Aztec empire, to which they paid tribute following conquest or threat of conquest, leaving the political hierarchy. The Spanish conquest of Yucatán was a longer campaign, from 1551 to 1697, against the Maya peoples in the Yucatán Peninsula of present-day Mexico. When Hernán Cortés landed ashore at present day Veracruz and founded the Spanish city there on April 22,1519, Spain colonized and exerted control of Alta California through the Spanish missions in California until the Mexican secularization act of 1833. It was the first step in a campaign that took decades of fighting to subdue the mightiest empire in the Americas. In the following years Spain extended its rule over the Empire of the Inca civilization, in the following years the conquistadors and indigenous allies extended control over Greater Andes Region
12.
Spanish missions in California
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The missions were part of a major effort by the Spanish Empire to extend colonization into the most northern and western parts of Spains North American claims. Following a long-term secular and religious policy of Spain in Latin America, Mexico achieved independence in 1821, taking Alta California along with it, but the missions maintained authority over native neophytes and control of vast land holdings until the 1830s. At the peak of its development in 1832, the mission system controlled an area equal to approximately one-sixth of Alta California. The Alta California government secularized the missions after the passage of the Mexican secularization act of 1833 and this divided the mission lands into land grants, which became many of the Ranchos of California. In the end, the missions had mixed results in their objectives, to convert, educate, today, the surviving mission buildings are the states oldest structures, and its most-visited historic monuments. Prior to 1754, grants of lands were made directly by the Spanish Crown. The missions were to be interconnected by a route which later became known as the Camino Real. The detailed planning and direction of the missions was to be carried out by Friar Junípero Serra, work on the coastal mission chain was concluded in 1823, completed after Serras death in 1784. Plans to build a mission in Santa Rosa in 1827 were canceled. The Santa Ysabel Asistencia had been founded in 1818 as a mother mission, in addition to the presidio and pueblo, the misión was one of the three major agencies employed by the Spanish sovereign to extend its borders and consolidate its colonial territories. Each frontier station was forced to be self-supporting, as existing means of supply were inadequate to maintain a colony of any size. California was months away from the nearest base in colonized Mexico, to sustain a mission, the padres required converted Native Americans, called neophytes, to cultivate crops and tend livestock in the volume needed to support a fair-sized establishment. The scarcity of imported materials, together with a lack of skilled laborers, compelled the missionaries to employ simple building materials, although the missions were considered temporary ventures by the Spanish hierarchy, the development of an individual settlement was not simply a matter of priestly whim. The padres blessed the site, and with the aid of their military escort fashioned temporary shelters out of tree limbs or driven stakes and it was these simple huts that ultimately gave way to the stone and adobe buildings that exist to the present. The first priority when beginning a settlement was the location and construction of the church, once the spot for the church had been selected, its position was marked and the remainder of the mission complex was laid out. The cuadrángulo was rarely a perfect square because the missionaries had no surveying instruments at their disposal and it was a doctrine established in 1531, which based the Spanish states right over the land and persons of the Indies on the Papal charge to evangelize them. It was employed wherever the indigenous populations were not already concentrated in native pueblos, the civilized and disciplined culture of the natives, developed over 8,000 year, was not considered. A total of 146 Friars Minor, mostly Spaniards by birth, were ordained as priests, sixty-seven missionaries died at their posts, while the remainder returned to Europe due to illness, or upon completing their ten-year service commitment
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