2023-09-13 04:20:21
Felipe de Neve was a key figure in the discovery and establishment of the California Empire for the Spanish crown, a year before the declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776, formed at that time by 13 colonies, later states, all in the east of the continent.
In reality, the Californian lands had already been discovered in the 16th century; but It was Felipe de Neve who established settlements, He created towns and made the wild and unknown lands self-sufficient.
He September 4, 1781 founded “The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the Porciúncula River.” The name has its origins in a tradition from the 13th century, when Saint Francis of Assisi received the divine order to build a chapel on a small piece of land (porziuncola, in Italian) in honor of the mother of Christ.
The Spanish Crown
The Spanish kings They thought that the English or Portuguese would invade the distant western lands of the new continent, since they assumed that they were practically uninhabited and believed that they were exposed to being taken over by other kingdoms.
For this reason Philip V, who ruled between 1700 and 1746, encouraged Hispanic expansion along the entire west coast, from the desert of California to the snows of Alaska, order confirmed by Charles III, who ruled between 1759 and 1788, who signed a royal decree in 1765 that He ordered to continue advancing north as much as possible, creating new missions.
The expansion Towards the south of the California Empire it was in charge of José Bernardo de Gálvez y Gallardo, who following royal orders creates 17 new settlements including in Texas, New Mexico and Sinaloa.
It is the same Carlos III who appoints Governor of the Viceroyalty of the Empire of California to Felipe de Neve, almost forcing it since in reality “no one wanted to settle in those extreme lands that were still little explored and dangerous,” as historian Vicente G. Olaya says.
The new governor had with an army of 146 soldiers, and had to ensure the security of 18 missions which extended over an area of approximately two million square kilometers. In a report he complained that “shotguns are of different calibers and do not offer any security and sabers are completely useless, short and brittle and we have very few spears.”
The Angels
A great challenge was the insurgencies of the native peoples, who were neither as docile nor as friendly as those on the east coast. Felipe de Neve first fought the tribes, but faced with the possibility of being defeated, he preferred to change his strategy. and live with them. Promoted interculturality and threatened his soldiers with severe punishment for any abuse once morest the native peoples, carrying out an equitable distribution of lands among civilians, since it was common for soldiers to keep the best lands.
At the time of its founding Los Ángeles was made up of 14 mestizo, mulatto, indigenous and peninsular families, which ended in mixed marriages.
The relationship between Spaniards and Indians unleashed complaints from the religious, since the settlers did not force the natives to be baptized, nor to stay at night in the town or speak Spanish.
Saint Joseph of Guadalupe
Felipe de Neve founded San José de Guadalupe (today San José) as governor in 1777, trying to expand the domains of his Empire.
This cost him not to return to Spain, nor see his family ever once more. He died in the town he had created three years before, “Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the Porciúncula River.”
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