Old Spain in new America

Front matter

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Foreword

There seemed to the General Committee of Twenty-eight, to which is committed the choice of topics for the text books for mission study, one outstandingly appropriate subject for 1916 — "The Two Americas."

The national pride in the physical achievement of a completed Panama Canal has crystallized into appreciation of the new problems and greater responsibilities coming to the United States with the easier access to the West Coast of South America, and with the drawing together of all the peoples of the two continents. The continued disturbances in Mexico have aroused more earnest inquiry into the conditions that exist in that unfortunate country, and the reiterated demands for intervention by this government have emphasized its nearness to us.

The Expositions of San Francisco and San Diego have acquainted the people of the North with the advance made by the countries of the Southern Continent : the Pan-American Scientific Congress held in Washington, D. C, in January, 1916, and the Congress on Christian Work in Latin America held at Panama, February, 191 6, have concentrated attention on the Spanish speaking peoples of the two continents and the adjacent islands.

With such introductions what more logical than that vi FOREWORD

the churches should this year study their relation to the Latin- American peoples who are without a knowledge of the Christ?

The Home Mission text book of necessity confines itself to a study of those groups which live under the Stars and Stripes, i. e., the Mexicans living in the United States, and the Spanish speaking peoples of Porto Rico and Cuba. The latter group, being under the protection of this country, has been accepted as Home Mission territory by most of the denominations and is, therefore, included here.

Believing that the Christian Church must be mightily aroused as to its responsibility for the Spanish speaking peoples of the continents, so that spiritual growth may keep pace with material development, the Council of Women for Home Missions, representing the Women's Home Mission Boards of sixteen denominations, prayerfully sends forth this little book, trusting that through its agency there may be awakened a more responsive interest in those peoples who represent " Old Spain " in " New America."

Publication Committee.

Acknowledgment is made to Mr. R. C. Tillinghast, The Congregational Education Society, The Woman's Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church, and The American Missionary Society, for the pictures used as illustrations in this book.

Chapter 1 Page

Period of Exploration and Conquest

Aim of Early Explorers 4

Discovery of America 5

Search for the Fountain of Youth 6

Conquest of Mexico 7

Discovery of the Mississippi River 8

Revolt of the Pueblos 9

Capture of Acoma 12

Settlement of Florida by Menendez 13

Results of Spanish Conquest

Population 14

Mixture of Races 15

Education in Latin America 16

Indian Opposition 17

Why Spanish Efforts in the New World Failed

Advantages of Spain 18

Reasons for Spanish Failure 19

Words of a Spanish Statesman 20

Comparison of Spanish and English Colonization . . 21

Advantages of Saxon Colonization ...... 22

Other Elements Contributed to Strengthen America . 23

The Nineteenth Century

CHAPTER II Missionary Work of the Spaniards

Religious Motive 29

Attitude of Natives 30

vii viii CONTENTS

PAGE

Destructive Policy of Gergy 32

Consecrated Missionaries 34

Second Capture of Acoma • • • 35

The Inquisition 36

Religion of Mexicans 37

The Old Missions 37

Beginnings of Protestant Missions

Early Missionaries 38

Mexican People 41

Hindrances to Missionary Efforts 42

Power of God's Word 43

The Penttentes

A Land of Crosses

CHAPTER III Conditions with Which Missionaries Contend

Superstition and Belief in Witches 54

Power of Priest 55

Customs 58

The Saloon 60

Work of the Churches

Evangelistic 61

Educational 63

Medical 68

Social 70

Results of Missionary Work

In Homes 71

Testimony of Roman Catholics 71

Pupils Sent Out . . . 72

Desire to Help Others 73

Our Missionary Teachers

Is the Work Worth While?

CONTENTS ix CHAPTER IV

PAGE

Three Glimpses of Cuban History

Days of Splendor 79

Ten Years' War ., . 81

Cuba Libre 82

Cuba of To-day

Geography and Climate 84

Who Are the Cubans of To-day? 85

Cuban Character 86

Internal Improvements Begun by United States . . 88

Education in Cuba . . .. . - 89

Religious Work in Cuba

Intolerance of Spain 90

Evangelistic Work ........... 92

Educational Work 94

Cubans in the United States

CHAPTER V Under the Power of Spain

Discovery and Colonization ......... 101

Diego Columbus . . . . 103

Coming of the Negroes .......... 104

Better Days 104

Freedom of the Slaves . 104

Spanish Misrule .. M 105

Government ....... 105

Physical Conditions 107

Sanitation and Health 108 x CONTENTS

PAGE

Development of Education in Porto Rico

Educational Conditions Under Spanish Occupation . no

Growth of Schools Under United States .... no

Religious and Moral Condition of the Porto Ricans

Under Spanish Domination 112

Protestant Entrance 114

Church Comity 114

Missionary Work 115

Encouragements 116

Effect on the Catholic Church 116

Social Service

Religious Settlements 118

Orphanages 120

Medical Work 120

The Symbol of Liberty

CHAPTER VI Missionary Work Among Spanish Speaking Peoples

Evangelistic Results 127

Educational Results 128

Medical and Social Work 128

General Results

Awakened Peoples 130

A Christian Sabbath 131

Comity . . . 132

Larger Aims for the Future

Better Understanding of Spanish-Americans . . . 133

Better Knowledge of Spanish 134

Better Knowledge of Mexicans in United States . . 135

Leaders of Their Own People 136

Educational Work 138

More Work for the Homes 138

Extension of Medical Work 139

Opportunity God's Call to Action

Call to Cuba and Porto Rico Answered 140

CONTENTS xi

PAGE

Home Missions Our Defense 141

A Lost Opportunity 141

What Can We Do? 142

The Bearing on Home Missions 143

The Church's Problem 145

Concerning the Great Southwest 149

Population . 149

Cuban Facts 150

Porto Rican Figures 152

Protestant Missions to Spanish Americans . . . .153

Cuba 153

Porto Rico 154

In the Southwest 155

BIBLIOGRAPHY 160

ILLUSTRATIONS

Mission of San Xavier del Bac .... Frontispiece

PAGE

Map of Spanish Possessions at Time of Louisiana Purchase 26

The Penitentes . 44

Southwestern Desert 50

Santiago de Cuba 66

Typical Porto Rican Mountain Home 114

Public School at Arecibo 114

Modern Mission School in the Southwest .... 130

Day Nursery in Porto Rico 130

Preface

The marked difference between Saxon and Latin America cannot be due wholly to climate or to race. There must be contributing causes that have removed the stimulus from the people of Latin America ; there must have been a fundamental lack in their system that would account for their lack of progress. As the religious faith of a nation largely determines its progress and its destiny, it seems legitimate to ask whether the form of Christianity introduced long ago has not proved itself inadequate to create a civilization that would develop the best qualities of those who accepted it.

Great honor is due those early missionaries of the Roman Catholic Church, who came with the explorers and adventurers, and who alone mitigated to the Indians the severities of the conquerors. They planted many missions but they committed the fatal error of adapting Christian worship to the beliefs and practices of pagan tribes. Instead of Christianizing paganism, they allowed their Christianity to become paganized. In the place of patiently teaching right thinking and right living to the Indians, the more expeditious method was adopted of having the converts conform mechanically to a system differing but slightly from that they had always practiced. The Roman Catholic

xiii xiv PREFACE

Church did so many wonderful things in the two Americas that it is impossible not to grieve that there should not have been that deeper knowledge of truth that would have laid in this hemisphere the foundation of a spiritual and vital religion.

The Protestant founders of this nation brought with them high ideals and a true knowledge of spiritual things ; the nation they founded has often failed at the testing times, but those ideals have ever been before it and toward them it has striven. The churches thus established have sought the highest development of the individual, they have demanded that his personal acceptance of Christian truths and his transformed life shall conform; they have sought a regenerated social conscience and works that should show to a doubting world the truth of their professions.

The mission of the Protestant Church is not to destroy the Roman Catholic Church, but to bring it into cooperation with all Christian forces on the one foundation Christ Jesus, and for the one work, to make Him known as King and Lord. Recognizing the splendid men and women of that communion, we are yet face to face with the fact that its system, left to itself, is one that breeds paralysis.

The Spanish- American peoples offer wonderful possibilities to those communions that are ready to meet them with vital, transforming truths ; there must be a close union of all the forces that are Christian to carry to a successful conclusion one of the greatest tasks of the Church.

I

" My men grow mutinous day by day, My men grow ghastly wan and weak."

The stout mate thought of home; a spray Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek.

" What shall I say, brave Admiral, say, If we sight naught but seas at dawn ? "

" Why, you shall say at break of day,

1 Sail on ! sail on ! sail on, and on ! ' "

Joaquin Miller.

" And while he held above his head the conquering flag of Spain,

He waved his glancing sword and smote the waters of the main;

For Rome! For Leon! For Castile! thrice gave the cleaving blow,

And thus Balboa claimed the sea four hundred years ago."

T. B. Read.

The early maps of the United States showed west o£ the Missouri River a vast stretch of country extending to and beyond the Rockies marked " The Great American Desert." The steady progress of civilization has redeemed that desert and it is now the great granary of the North American continent. The utilization of the streams, the opening of the fountains held in reserve by the bountiful Creator, and the planting of forests to conserve the rainfall, have made the " desert " the happy dwelling place of throngs of prosperous people. Millions of acres of the public domain are still unredeemed, and await the action of the government in developing their resources to make them the fit habitation of the millions who will yet come to our shores.

Scattered throughout this great region are the missions of the Protestant Church to the Mexicans, one of our great Spanish speaking peoples. To understand the Mexican of the United States as he now presents himself, we must know the elements of which he is composed. We cannot, in our discussion of the Mexican missionary problem in the United States, separate it from the problem in old Mexico. The problem was created while yet our whole Southwest was under the Mexican flag, or, farther back, under that of Spain. The Spanish population within the boundaries of the United States is the product of Spanish activity in exploration and colonization in the sixteenth century, and the character and condition of the people must be interpreted in the light of the character, teachings, and conditions of that age.

Old Spain has left her impress upon the whole Southwest. Spanish names cling to villages and towns ; the language and religion of Spain are to a great extent the language and religion of today; the results of her persecution and oppression are everywhere visible. It is the Spain of Philip the Second, the Spain that has not been touched to any degree by the spirit of modern progress, the Spain that is not in harmony with American ideals or American ideas of intellectual or spiritual growth. The churches of America have no greater task than the transformation by the teachings of the Gospel of this bit of Old Spain into a region that shall possess the highest ideals of the New America.

Period of Exploration and Conquest

Aim of the Early Explorers. The fifteenth century was distinguished as a period of great physical activity among men. There were voyages, discoveries, and explorations ; there were many new inventions, chief among them the mariner's compass. Two trade routes between Europe and the East had been used for centunes, but the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453 closed the northern route while the southern was practically under the control of Venice. The other powers hoped to find a new way to the Indies, and Portuguese navigators, by following the coast of Africa, finally reached their goal. The new theory advanced that the earth was round led others to believe they would achieve success by sailing westward. The Discovery of America. Columbus was the first to try to prove that such a route was possible. The story of his attempt to equip an expedition, of the courage of the leader, and of the despair of the sailors is familiar to all. Columbus did not realize his desire; but he opened to the world a new continent. The great navigator was received with the highest honors by the Spanish when he returned from his first voyage with trophies of conquest, and men were eager to embark with him on succeeding voyages. As the Pope, whose authority was recognized by most rulers, had granted Portugal the land she had discovered along the African coast, Spain asked that the countries in the west be guaranteed to her. The Pope was desirous of peace, and decided that Spain should hold all the lands west of a line three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands that were not already claimed by some Christian power, while Portugal was to have possession of the eastern regions. Many men accompanied Columbus on his second and third voyages and colonies were established in the islands discovered by him, but there was great disappointment in Spain because the riches they had expected were not found.

His popularity later declined and he became an object of derision; by the common people he was called the "Admiral of Mosquito Land," and broken-hearted, practically disgraced, he died in poverty.

The Search for the Fountain of Youth. Ponce de Leon was one of the many whose desire for wealth and adventure led them to the New World. He was governor of Porto Rico, but, losing the favor of the King, was removed from his office. The desire for gold had not been satisfied and a still greater desire possessed him. De Leon had heard strange stories of the land where there was a Fountain of Immortality. It seemed to him well worth while to seek out this fountain, to bathe therein, and then live to enjoy the wealth and power he felt sure would be in the new land. The King of Spain gave his consent to the undertaking, appointing de Leon governor for life of the country he planned to discover. An expedition was fitted out at great expense. The men sailed from island to island searching for the fountain and for gold, and on Easter Sunday, 1513, called by the Spaniards " Pascua de Flores," the coast of Florida was sighted. Three days later the men landed, and because of the day when it was first seen, and the profusion of beautiful flowers and foliage, de Leon named the land Florida. The search for the Fountain of Immortality was continued unsuccessfully and de Leon, bitterly disappointed, returned to Porto Rico. A few years later he went back to his province of Florida only to receive a mortal wound from the arrow of one of the Indians who opposed his landing. His entire wealth was lost in this

SPAIN IN AMERICA J

last expedition and sick, old, and impoverished, he returned to Cuba to die.

The Conquest of Mexico. Spanish history of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries records stories of adventure and romance that seem almost incredible to people of the twentieth century, but it tells no more desperate nor exciting tale than that of the expedition of Cortez against Mexico in 15 19. When this Spanish youth first came to the New World he attracted the attention of the secretary of the governor of Cuba who told him that the governor would doubtless settle a good estate upon him. The confident boy answered, " But I came to get gold, not to till the soil like a peasant." Rumors had reached Cuba of the cities and people who lived just west of them, whose empire contained all the gold, silver, and jewels the Spaniards had been seeking. Cortez was chosen to lead an expedition against the land, and prepared for the voyage with tireless energy, only to find as the time to embark drew near that the jealous governor had decided to take the appointment from him. Cortez hastened his preparations and slipped away in the night.

He spent some months sailing westward along the coast of the mainland, and then with eleven ships landed on the southern shore. Cortez was fearless, a leader who admitted no possibility of defeat. To make sure that there should be no temptation to withdraw from the attempt, all but the best one of the ships were beached and burned at the place of landing, which was named Vera Cruz. The inhabitants of the country were greatly alarmed at the approach of strangers, and their ruler, Montezuma, sent presents to the invaders with the request that they turn back. Cortez moved steadily forward. His guns and horses, which were seen then for the first time by the Aztecs, terrified them and they were ready to believe Cortez the war god of their legends. With remarkable tact he was soon in control of the country, Montezuma trusting him absolutely. Unfortunately Cortez had to return to Vera Cruz for a time, and his substitute was so cruel that the people rose against the Spanish. Cortez, on his return, persuaded Montezuma to try to pacify his subjects. They were stilled for a few months but later broke out more fiercely than before against the white men, Montezuma himself being killed in this uprising. Cortez immediately made the attempt to lead his men out of the capital, Tenochtitlan, under cover of the darkness, but did not escape the Aztecs who attacked from all sides.

The bloody struggle of that night has few parallels in history. It has been called ever since Noche Triste, the " doleful night." Although his forces had been fearfully reduced, Cortez did not despair, but by a most daring attack within a few days regained control of the city, adding new territory to the empire of Spain.

Discovery of the Mississippi River. One of the adventurers of the day who had joined an expedition to Peru was Hernando de Soto. When he started on his journey he was almost penniless but he returned a man of great wealth. With others, de Soto begged royal permission to attempt again the colonization of Florida, for he believed that the gold and silver that were in other parts of the New World must be found in Florida as well. Having obtained the consent of the King, he prepared a fleet of nine vessels, carrying almost a thousand men, as well as horses, swine, and bloodhounds. Men of birth were eager to share the adventures of this well known leader. Troops were landed at Tampa Bay and the ships went to Havana for provisions. Like most of the Spaniards, de Soto treated the Indians cruelly and was hated by them in return. His forces moved farther and farther westward in their useless search for gold, finding instead " fighting, fever, and famine." Some adventurers had reached the mouth of the Mississippi ; de Soto was the first to explore the river above the entrance to the Gulf. His party crossed it and wandered many miles beyond, only to return disappointed to its banks. The leader, discouraged by misfortunes, died and was buried in the great river he had discovered. The few survivors of the expedition sailed down the Mississippi and found protection among Spanish settlers in Mexico.

Revolt of the Pueblos. Some of these adventurers^ who had been unsuccessful in their journey ings, excited the Spaniards in Mexico with tales of the " seven cities of Cibola " that were filled with treasures of gold. A priest first went north and found the cities, now believed to have been the villages of the Zuni Indians in the present New Mexico. On his return the Spaniards, always indefatigable in their pursuit of treasure, planned an advance on the country under Coronado. It would be interesting to follow the intrepid Spanish explorers through the region now formio OLD SPAIN IN NEW AMERICA

ing the states of New Mexico, Arizona, and California, but neither space nor the purpose of this volume will permit. The history of exploration has hardly a parallel to the courage and tenacity of purpose that characterized this invading army. Tourists today speak of the hardships and discomforts of a summer trip across the desert in a Pullman, but these men cheerfully explored those desert places, carrying provisions and water, suffering hunger and thirst, heat and cold without impairment of discipline or abatement of courage. The motives were mixed: the adventurers were lured by lust for gold, the patriots were animated by the desire to add to the glory of the Church and Crown, the priests by the desire to convert the natives to the faith of the Church.

Everywhere the Indians received them kindly, but the Spaniards in most cases grossly abused the hospitality. A few examples will suffice to reveal the causes that finally led to the revolt of the Pueblos and a most desperate attempt on their part to rid their land of the invaders.

Coronado's expedition into what is now New Mexico took place in 1540, and, coming to their villages at the beginning of winter, he not only quartered his soldiers upon the natives and consumed their winter's supplies, but demanded of them one hundred pieces of cotton for his men. Without giving them time either to weave the goods or to collect them from others, he sent out collectors with a company of soldiers and stripped the Indians of the clothing they were wearing.

In one of the villages the camp-master, Lope de

SPAIN IN AMERICA n

Samaniego, was killed by an Indian arrow, and his death was avenged by hanging every Indian belonging to the place.

An officer insulted the wife of a prominent Indian, but Coronado gave no heed to the complaint of the husband. At length the Indians resolved to protect themselves, so, barricading their pueblos, 1 they made war upon the Spaniards. The battle that followed was a desperate one, but finally superior arms and discipline prevailed, and the Indians, worn by the long defense and smoked out of their houses, came out and called for quarter. Two of the Spanish officers responded by crossing their arms, the Indian sign of inviolable friendship. On seeing this, the Indians threw down their arms and surrendered. Who was to blame for the infamous treachery that followed is not clear, but Coronado's orders were that none should be spared. He directed that two hundred stakes be driven into the ground and that the Indians be burned alive. The historian says that no protest was made by the two officers who had pledged their sacred honor for the safety of the captives.

The " seven cities of Cibola " were never found, although Coronado advanced as far north as Kansas. When de Soto and his followers were in their most desperate straits, Coronado and his men without doubt were but a short distance from them. Had the leader pushed a little farther east, " he might have shaken

1 The Pueblo Indians were named from their peculiar style of communal dwelling, built from two to five stories high around a court, and easily defended.

hands with de Soto and with him wept tears of disappointment " over their accumulation of misfortunes.

The Capture of Acoma. On a lofty, perpendicular rock, having on the summit an area of about seventy acres of arable land, was located the " Sky City " of Acoma which may to-day be reached by driving from Laguna. A half century after the expedition of Coronado and the revolt of the Indians, Don Juan Onate visited New Mexico to make another attempt to establish Spanish authority. Pueblo after pueblo submitted, offering no resistance. On October 27, 1598, he camped at the foot of the cliffs on which Acoma was built. The chief men came down and invited Onate and his followers to visit them. They finally consented, and barely escaped annihilation at the hands of the Indians. The refusal of Onate to enter the Estufa, or underground Council House, was all that saved them. The Indians had concealed a band of armed warriors in the darkness, prepared to avenge the sufferings of their countrymen in the other pueblos.

In November of the same year the " Sky City " was again visited by another Spanish force under Juan de Zaldivar, and when they were scattered about the village the Indians suddenly attacked from all sides; of the whole band four only escaped by a daring leap from the cliff, fortunately striking upon great sand heaps below.

In January of the following year a brother of Zaldivar made an attack upon Acoma and after a most bloody battle succeeded in capturing the place, but only after nearly all the defenders were killed. Acoma was later repeopled by the Indians, but they never were friendly to their Spanish conquerors.

The Settlement of Florida by Menendez. After several attempts at colonization in Florida the Spaniards appear to have abandoned the effort. In 1564 Admiral Coligny, the great French commander, planned to place there a colony of French Huguenots. The site selected was the mouth of the St. John's River. Here the colonists built a fort and began the exploration of the interior of the country. Lawless and discontented adventurers greatly hampered the better class in their efforts to develop their holdings, and it was only when in August, 1565, Jean Ribaut came with several hundred new colonists, among them many artisans, that the attempt at colonization appeared to offer prospects of permanency.

Unfortunately for the future of that land, the Spaniards decided to make another attempt to colonize Florida. News of the French expedition reached Spain while Pedro Menendez de Aviles was preparing to sail with his force of 2,500 men. He landed in Florida in September of that same year, and took formal possession in the name of the crown of Spain. A surprise night attack gave them possession of the French fort ; the scattered French were defeated and captured in detail. In response to their offer of surrender if their lives would be spared, Menendez writes : " I answered that they might give up their arms and place themselves at my mercy and I would deal with them as the Lord should command me." He declined an offer of 50,000 ducats for their safety, and " conscientiously " put them to the knife in cold blood. One account relates that one detachment was captured and hanged with this inscription above them, " Not as Frenchmen, but as Lutherans."

Two years later an expedition of Frenchmen under Dominic de Gourges recaptured the fort taken from the French, and all the Spaniards who escaped the sword were hanged with this inscription above them, " Not as Spaniards, but as traitors, robbers, and murderers." So were the wrongs of the French avenged.

Results of Spanish Conquest

Population. Dr. Bourne quotes from the report of Juan Lopez de Velasco to the Council of the Indies in 1576. "Velasco enumerates in the New World some two hundred Spanish cities and towns with some mining settlements. These towns, together with the stockfarms and plantations, contained one hundred and sixty thousand Spaniards of whom about four thousand were encomenderos, — i. e. lords of Indian serfs — the rest settlers, miners, traders, and soldiers. Of Indians there were probably about eight or nine thousand villages, inclusive of tribes or parts of tribes, containing one million five hundred thousand men of tribute-paying age (fifteen to sixty), or an approximate Indian population of about five million, not counting the considerable number who escaped taxation, either because not yet reduced to village life or because they hid away. The Indians were divided into three thousand seven hundred repartimientos belonging to the king or to private persons. In addition there were about forty thousand Negro slaves and a large number of mestizos and mulattoes.

" The great mass of the Indians were nominally Christians and were living as civilized men, and their numbers were increasing."

If the figures of Velasco are correct, one cannot help wondering what became of that great Indian population. Did they become decimated by slavery and abuse as did the Indian population of Porto Rico?

Mixture of Races. The Indians of Latin America, whose blood, mingled with that of their Spanish conquerors, flows in the veins of the great mass of the population south of the Rio Grande, had attained before the coming of the white man a higher degree of civilization than had the Indians of North America. They were proficient in agriculture, while their knowledge of astronomy was astonishing. They had never learned to use an alphabet, but had invented a picture writing. They cast gold and silver vases. Some of the treasures sent to Spain by the conquerors are now in the American Room of the British Museum.

To-day some of the proudest statesmen of Mexico boast of the purity of their Indian blood. Benito Juarez, the one reverenced above all others as liberator because his indomitable courage and masterful leadership thwarted the attempt of Austria, France, and Rome to establish a monarchy on the ruins of the Republic, was of pure Indian blood, and this same blood predominated in Porfirio Diaz, Mexico's most brilliant president