Week 4 Project 4a

1. The Colonial Era in Latin America should be considered the region’s formative years: the norms, laws, conflicts and movements of the time were profoundly influential in determining the character of the area today. The Spanish are only the most famous of the European powers that fought over territories and colonies, but the Portuguese, British, Dutch, French and others were also involved. (http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/coloniallatinamerica/Latin_American_History_
The_Colonial_Era_15211810.htm)


2. California Missions: Interesting Facts

a. The chain of 21 missions along California's El Camino Real ("The Royal Highway") represent the first arrival of non-Native Americans to California. The missions are: San Diego de Alcalá, San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, San Antonio de Padua, San Gabriel Arcángel, San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, San Francisco de Asís, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Clara de Asís, San Buenaventura, Santa Bárbara, La Purísima Concepción, Santa Cruz, Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, San José, San Juan Bautista, San Miguel Arcángel, San Fernando Rey de España, San Luis Rey de Francia, Santa Inés, San Rafael Arcángel, San Francisco Solano. (http://missions.bgmm.com/)

b. The Mission closest to us is San Francisco Solano in Sonoma. It is the 21st Mission founded on July 4, 1892, by Father Jose Altimira. It was the only mission founded after Mexico's independence from Spain. (http://missions.bgmm.com/)

c. If the pope ever came to San Diego he would be housed in the mission because it has a basilica, which "after the Roman Empire became officially Christian, the term came by extension to refer to a large and important church that has been given special ceremonial rites by the Pope." ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica)


3. I chose this topic because I am interested in California Missions, and I never really learned much about them in school. I would also love to visit each one because I love history and these missions are a very influential part of California history and Latin America history.

In the video 10-year-old Isabelle gives us a tour of the first mission, San Diego de Acala. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3dSbpkWGmo&feature=related.

The website I found was http://missions.bgmm.com/. It is the main website for the California Missions. It gives a brief background on the missions in general and there is an interactive map of California with each mission maped out. If you click on the name of the Mission it takes to you a site that discusses the story behind that Mission.

4. My sources were: http://missions.bgmm.com/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3dSbpkWGmo&feature=related