The Alta California was a weekly publication established at San Francisco on January the 3rd 1849 by Samuel Brannan. It was the first newspaper of any importance issued in California, and arose from a consolidation of the older journals the Star and then Monterey Californian. In 1850 the Alta California commenced daily publication. Research Alta California
Auto da fe (Act of Faith) was the ritual execution of heretics by the Inquisition after a confession had been extracted. The ceremony always took place on a Sunday, but not at regular intervals, maybe once every two, three or four years. The victims were walked in procession wearing the sanbenito, the coroza, the rope around the neck, and carrying a yellow waxcandle in their hand. The sanbenito was a penitential tunic of yellow cloth reaching to the knees and painted on it was a picture of the person who wore it, burning in flames with figures of dragons and devils in the act of fanning the flames. The costume indicated to the watching crowds the wearer was to be burned alive as an incorrigible heretic. If the person was only to do penance, then the sanbenito had on it a cross, and no painting or flames. If the victim was converted just before being led out, then the sanbenito was painted with the flames downward (known as fuego resuelto) and indicated that the wearer was not to be burned alive, but to be first strangled before burning.
At one time the sanbenito were hung up in the churches as monuments to the Inquisition. The coroza was a pasteboard cap, one metre high, ending in a point. On it were likewise painted crosses, flames and devils. Gags were kept on hand in case a victim insulted the tribunal or revealed what had occurred to them as they were led along to the place of execution where a large scaffold was erected.
The stake where the victim was to be burned varied in form, and was either a simple stake mounted in the ground, or was about three metres tall, with a small board near the top where the victim sat and was chained to the stake. Following prayers and attempts to convert the victim to the Roman Catholic faith, burning furzes were thrust into the face until the victim's face was burned before furzes around the base of the stake were ignited and the victim burned to death.
Victims were burned, because the inquisitors were forbidden to 'shed blood', the Roman Catholic church maintaining the line that it is untainted with blood. Research Auto da Fe
A colony is a settlement formed in one country by the inhabitants of another. Colonies may either be formed in dependence on the mother country or in independence. In the latter case the name of colony is retained only in a historical sense. Properly, perhaps, the term should be limited to a settlement which carries on a direct cultivation of the soil, as in the former British colonies of Canada and Australia in contrast to the former in Hindustan or Malta which were the mere superposition on the natives of a ruling race which took little or no part in the general industry of the country.
The motives which lead to the formation of colonies, and the manner of their formation, are various. Sometimes the ambition of extending territory and the desire of increasing wealth have been the chief impulses in colonization; but colonies became a necessity for the redundant population of European states in the 19th century.
Among ancient nations the principal promoters of colonization were the Phoenicians, the Greeks, and the Romans; the greatest colonizers in modern times have been the English and the Spaniards, next to whom may be reckoned the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the French. The Germans during the 19th century contributed largely to the tide of emigration, particularly in the direction of America;
but did little directly as colonizers.
The Phoenician colonies were partly caused by political dissensions and redundant population, but were chiefly commercial, serving as entrepots and ports of repair for Phoenician commerce along the coasts of Africa and Spain, in the latter of which they numbered, according to Strabo, more than two hundred. But it was in Africa that the most famous arose, Carthage, the greatest colonizing state of the ancient world.
The Greek colonies, which were widely spread in Asia Minor and the islands of the Mediterranean, the coasts of Macedonia and Thrace, in South Italy and Sicily, were commonly independent, and frequently soon surpassed the mother states in power and importance.
The colonies of Rome were chiefly military, and while the empire lasted were all in strict subordination to the central government. As the Roman power declined the remains of them amalgamated with the peoples among whom they were placed, thus forming in countries where they were sufficiently strong what are known as the Latin races, with languages (Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian) which are merely modifications of the old Roman tongue.
Before America and the way by sea to the East Indies were discovered, the only colonies belonging to European states were those of the Genoese, Pisans, and Venetians in the Levant and the Black Sea, flourishing establishments on which the mercantile greatness of Italy in those days was largely built.
The Portuguese were the first great colonizers among modern states. In 1419 they discovered Madeira, the Azores, and the Cape Verde Islands; the Congo and the Cape of Good Hope followed; and before the century was out Vasco de Gama had landed at Calicut on the Malabar coast of India. The first Portuguese colonies were garrisons along the coasts where they traded: Mozambique and Sofala on the east coast of Africa, Ormuz and Muscat in the Persian Gulf, Goa and Damao on the west coast of India. Colonies were established in Sri Lanka in 1505, in the Moluccas in 1510. Brazil was discovered in 1499, and this magnificent possession fell to Portugal, and was colonized about 1530. Bad government at home and the subjection of the country to Spain caused the loss of most of the Portuguese colonies.
Soon after the Portuguese the Spaniards commenced the work of colonization. In 1492 Columbus, on board of a Spanish vessel, discovered the island of San Salvador. Haiti, or San Domingo, Porto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba were soon colonized, and before the middle of the 16th century Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, New Granada (Colombia), Peru, and Chili were subdued, and Spain took the first rank amongst the colonizing powers of Europe. But the Spaniards never really attempted to develop the industrial resources of the subject countries. The pursuit of mining for gold or silver occupied the colonists almost exclusively, and the enslaved natives were driven to work themselves to death in the mines. Cities were founded, at first along the coasts, for the sake of commerce and as military posts; afterwards also in the interior, in particular in the vicinity of the mines, as Vera Cruz, Cumana, Porto Bello, Carthagena, Valencia, Caracas; Acapuico and Panama, on the coast of the Pacific; Lima, Goncepcion, and Buenos Aires. The colonial intercourse with Spain was confined to the single port of Seville, afterwards to that of Cadiz, from which two squadrons started annually - the galleons, about twelve in number, for Porto Bello; and the fleet, of fifteen large vessels, for Vera Cruz. When the power of Spain declined, the colonies declared their independence, and thus were formed the republics of Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chili, etc. Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippine Islands passed to the United States in 1898; the Caroline Islands, etc, were sold to Germany in 1899; and by 1900 hardly any colony remained to Spain.
The hate of Philip II, who prohibited Dutch vessels from the port of Lisbon, forced the Dutch to import directly from India or lose the large carrying trade they had acquired. Several companies were soon formed, and in 1602 they were united into one, the Dutch East India Company, with a monopoly of the East Indiatrade and sovereign powers over all conquests and colonies in India. The Dutch now rapidly deprived the Portuguese of nearly all their East Indian territories, settled a colony at the Cape of Good Hope in 1650, established a West India Company, made extensive conquests in Brazil between 1623 and 1660, which were soon lost, and more permanent ones on some of-the smaller West India Islands, as San Eustatia, Curacoa, Saba, etc. The growing power of the British and the loss of Holland's independence during the Napoleonic wars were heavy blows to the colonial power of the nation. But the Dutch still possesed numerous colonies in the East Indies at the start of the 20th century, among which the more important were Java, Sumatra, Dutch Borneo, the Molucca Islands, and part of New Guinea, also several small islands in the West Indies, and Surinam.
No colonizing power of Europe had a career of such uniform prosperity as Great Britain. The English attempts at colonization began nearly at the same time with the Dutch. After many fruitless attempts to find a north-east or north-west passage to the East Indies, English vessels found their way round the Cape of Good Hope to the East Indies in 1591. The East India Company was established in 1600. English commerce with India, however, was not at first important, and they possessed only single factories on the continent up until the beginning of the 18th century. The ruin of the Mogul Empire in India after the death of Aurengzebe in 1707 afforded the opportunity for the growth of British power, as the British and French were compelled to interfere in the contentions of the native princes and governors. The French appeared at first to maintain the superiority; but the British in turn got the upper hand, and the victory of Clive at Plassey in 1756 laid the foundation of an exclusive British sovereignty in India. By the middle of the next century the British territory embraced, with the exception of a few dependent states, nearly the whole of India, and this vast territory was still under the government of the East India Company - a mercantile company, controlled indeed by parliament, but exercising many of the most important functions of an independent sovereignty. On the suppression of the Indian mutiny in 1857-1858 the government of India was transferred to the crown by act of parliament in 1858.
The discoveries of the Cabots, following soon after the voyages of Columbus, gave the English crown a claim to North America, which, though allowed to lie dormant for nearly a century, was never relinquished, and which, in the reign of Elizabeth I, led to colonization on a large scale. Walter Raleigh's settlement on Roanoke Island (North Carolina) in 1585 failed to become permanent, but in 1607 the colonists sent out by the London Company to Chesapeake Bay founded Jamestown, on the James River, in Virginia. The next great settlement was that of the Pilgrim Fathers, who landed on the 21st of December 1620, in Massachusetts Bay. The colonization of New Hampshire, Maine, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island, soon followed. In the State of New York and the Hudson River Territory the British found the Dutch already in possession; but in 1664 they seized the colony of New Amsterdam by force, changing its name to New York in honour of James, Duke of York. Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn, and colonized with Quakers in 1682; Maryland in 1631 by a party from Virginia; Carolina in 1670 and Georgia in 1732 by colonies from England.
Colonies were early established in the West India Islands, including Barbados, half of St. Christopher's in 1625, and soon after many smaller islands. Newfoundland was taken possession of in 1583, colonized in 1621 and 1633. Canada was surrendered to Britain at the Peace of Paris in 1763. In 1764 began the disputes between Britain and its North American colonies, which terminated with the acknowledgment of the independence of the United States, Canada remaining a British dependency.
Australia was discovered in the beginning of the 17th century. The first Australasian settlements of Britain were penal colonies. New South Wales, discovered in 1770, was established as a penal colony in 1788; Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land), discovered by Tasman in 1642, followed in 1803; West Australia, also first used as a penal settlement, became a free colony in 1829; Victoria was colonized in 1835, and made an independent colony in 1851; South Australia was settled in 1836. In 1851 the discovery of gold in Victoria gave a great impetus to the Australian Colonies. Queensland was made a separate colony from N.ew South Wales in 1859. New Zealand, discovered by Tasman in 1642, began to be used for whale-fishery about 1790, was settled in 1839, and made a colony in 1840. In 1874 the Fiji Islands, and in 1884 part of New Guinea, were annexed as crown colonies. In South AfricaCape Colony, first settled by the Dutch in 1652, finally became a British colony in 1815. Natal followed in 1843. Later annexations were Bechuanaland in 1885, Zululand in 1887, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1888-89, and the Orange River Colony and Transvaal in 1900. In Western Africa were the colonies of the Gold Coast, Gambia, and SierraLeone - ancient possessions of the British crown; with Lagos and Nigeria acquired in 1885 and after. Other possessions were British East Africa (Kenya), with Uganda and Somaliland. Gibraltar was acquired in 1704, Malta in 1800.
According to their government relations with the crown the colonies were arranged under three heads: (1.) Crown colonies, in which the crown had the entire control of legislation, while the administration was carried on by public officers under the control of the home government. (2.) Colonies possessing representative institutions but not responsible government, in which the crown had no more than a veto on legislation, but the home government retained the control of public officers. (3.) Colonies possessing representative institutions and responsible government, in which the crown had only a veto on legislation, and the home government had no control over any officer except the governor. All colonies were, however, disabled from such acts of independent sovereignty as the initiative in war, alliances, and diplomacy generally.
France was somewhat late in establishing colonies. Between 1627 and 1636 the West Indian islands of St Christopher's, Guadeloupe, and Martinique were colonized by private persons. Champlain was the pioneer of the French in the exploration of the North American continent, and founded Quebec in 1608. Colbert purchased several West India islands, as Martinique, Guadeloupe, St Lucia, etc, and sent out colonists in 1664 to Cayenne. In 1670 the East India Company formed by Colbert founded Pondicherry, which became the capital of extensive possessions in the East Indies. At the beginning of the 18th century France had extensive settlements in Canada, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, the most flourishing of the West India islands, and she seemed to have a prosperous career before her in India. Ere long, however, the rival interests of British and French colonists brought about a conflict which terminated in the loss of Canada and other North American possessions, as well as many of the West India Islands, while the dominion of India passed into the hands of the British.
During the 19th century Germany made an effort to take rank as a colonial power, and acquired in Africa the territories of Damaraland, Great Nama Land, etc, on the south-west coast, north of Cape Colony; the Cameroons District; a large portion of territory formerly claimed by the Sultan of Zanzibar, extending inland to Victoria Nyanza, etc; also in the Pacific a portion of New Guinea, then subsequently called Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, the BismarckArchipelago, Marshall Islands, etc.
In sculpture, a colossus is a statue of enormous magnitude. The Asiatics, the Egyptians, and in particular the Greeks, have excelled in these works. The most celebrated Egyptian colossus was the vocal statue of Memnon in the plain of Thebes, supposed to be identical with the most northerly of two existing colossi (60 feet high) on the west bank of the Nile.
Among the colossi of Greece the most celebrated was the Colossus of Rhodes, a brass statue of Apollo 70 cubits high, esteemed one of the wonders of the world, erected at the port of Rhodes by Chares, 290 or 288 BC. It was knocked down by an earthquake about 224 BC. The statue was in ruins for nearly nine centuries, when the Saracens, taking Rhodes, sold the metal, weighing 720,900 lbs, to a Jew, about 653. There is no authority for the popularly-received statement that it bestrode the harbour mouth, and that the Rhodian vessels could pass under its legs.
Among the colossi of Phidias were the Olympian Zeus and the Athena of the Parthenon; the former 60 feet high and the latter 40 feet.
The most famous of the Roman colossi were the Jupiter of the Capitol, the Apollo of the Palatine Library, and the statue of Nero, 110 or 120 feet high, and from which the contiguous amphitheatre derived its name of Colosseum.
Among modern works of this nature is the colossus of San Carlo Borromeo, at Arona, in the Milanese territory, 60 feet in height; the 'Bavaria' at Munich, 65 feet high; the statue of Hermann or Arminius near Detmold, erected in 1875, 90 feet in height to the point of the upraised sword, which itself is 24 feet in length; the height of the figure to the point of the helmet being 55 feet;
the statue of Germania, erected in 1883 near Rudesheim, a figure 34 feet high, placed on an elaborately-sculptured pedestal over 81 feet high; and Bartholdi's statue of Liberty presented to the United States by the French nation, and which measures 104 feet or to the extremity of the torch in the hand of the figure 138 feet. It is erected at New York harbour on a pedestal 114 feet, is constructed for a lighthouse with what was at one time was one of the most powerful fixed lights in the world, and stands 317 feet above mean tide. Research Colossus
The ISO (International Standards Organisation) assigns a two character code to each country name. These codes are used by Internet 'whois' databases (these two character abbreviations are the whois country codes) and also other applications.
Missiones were Spanish religious establishments conducted by Franciscan friars for 'the civilization and conversion' of the Indians in Mexico and California. The first mission founded in California was at San Diego, in 1769; a second was established at Monterey a few months later. Before many years had elapsed there was a line of twenty-one prosperous missiones between San Diego and Point Reyes. In 1834 there were 30,650 Indians connected with the missiones. The property of the missiones was very extensive. Their decline began in the attempt at secularisation by the Spanish Government. The priests had absolute control over the Indians, treating them more like slaves than free men. Research Missiones
The Ostend Manifesto was a declaration made by Ministers of the United States in 1857 that Cuba must belong to the USA. In 1852 France and Great Britain, fearful of the filibustering expeditions against Cuba and the possible future favour of the United States toward such expeditions, suggested a tripartite convention in which each should disclaim all intention to obtain possession of Cuba and should discountenance such intention by another power. On October the 9th, 1854, the American Ministers to Great Britain, France and Spain, James Buchanan, John Y Mason and Pierre Soule, met at Ostend and drew up the Ostend Manifesto. This declared that a sale of Cuba to the United States would be advantageous to both governments; but that if Spain refused to sell, it was incumbent upon the Union to 'wrest it from her' (that is to invade it and take it by force), rather than see it Africanised like San Domingo. Research Ostend Manifesto
The Pan-American Congress was an international conference of representatives from the United States and from seventeen States of Central and South America, which assembled at Washington, on October the 2nd, 1889, on the invitation of the United States. Its purpose was to adopt some plan of arbitration for the settlement of disputes, and plans for the improvement of business intercourse and means of communication between the countries. San Domingo was the only State to refuse the invitation. The delegates were taken on a tour of inspection through the Union, prior to assembling for the business convention. Nothing very definite was arrived at in the convention, which was of value chiefly through its exposition of the commercial status and resources of the various countries. The Bureau of American Republics was established at the suggestion of this convention. Research Pan-American Congress
A presidio was a military settlement made by the Spanish in California. They were massive forts, the chief being at Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Monterey and San Diego. That of Los Angeles was the first established, it being begun some time before 1795, but the later forts were of more importance. Regular armed forces were placed in these fortresses, and villages grew up around them. They were primarily intended to protect the religious missions, but the soldiers and friars were in constant collision. The commander of a presidio exercised no little influence in the management of the province. Research Presidio
In 1869 the desirability of San Domingo (Hispaniola island) as a coaling station for US vessels and other American interests there caused a movement toward the annexation of that republic to the United States. President Grant sent General Babcock to examine into the matter and, on his favourable report, a treaty was concluded on November the 29th,1869. The Senate rejected the treaty on June the 30th, 1870, and the movement became generally unpopular. Grant still persisted and Congress concurred in sending a commission, consisting of Wade, White and Howe, to examine the matter in 1871. Their report was favourable, but Congress continued to disapprove of annexation. Grant abandoned the question in a special message in April, 1871. Research San Domingo Question
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Alta California
