Lesson 4 A Chain of Missions
Stage 4
Lesson Overview
• Lesson Objective
Through participating in a simulation, students will discover the
decision-making processes that the Spanish used in selecting a mission
site. Through research and designing posters, students will indicate
what they know about the history of the California missions.
• Time Required
One to two 45-60 minute sessions for the simulation
One to two 45-60 minute sessions for research and posters, with most
work assigned as homework
• Materials Required
Markers and colored pencils
Poster board
Writing paper or access to a word processor
Cardboard pieces
Tape
Scissors
Tempera paint and brushes
Research materials on the California missions, print, video and on-line
Reproducibles:
“Land Cards”
“Native American Cards”
“Situation Cards”
“A Good Place for a Mission”
“The Missions of California”
Past Ports
Connection
Students visit
California’s 21 missions.
Background Information
Just as they did in Florida, the Southwest, Baja California and Mexico,
the Spanish began establishing missions in California. They believed that
a well-organized mission system would help them be successful in claiming
the land. Through the mission system they could convert the indigenous
people to Christianity and teach them Spanish ways of life. They believed
that if the Native Americans became civilized, in their opinion, and left
their old lifeways, they would be better Spanish subjects—loyal and
willing to work hard for the Spanish. The Spanish also believed that the
Indians would provide them with an excellent source of labor and the
fruits of this labor would make them wealthy. This wealth would further
strengthen the Spanish hold on the land. Presidios were established along
with each mission to help protect the valuable mission from any sort of
harm, ranging from uprisings of the Indians to foreign invaders.
As the Spanish cruised the California coastline and traversed the
central valley, they were watchful for ideal sites for missions. They
Curriculum
Connection
Decision-making skills
Deductive reasoning
Persuasive speaking and
writing
Research skills
Graphic design
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Did You Know?
?
Several of the Native
American tribes living along
the Southern coast of
California did not give
themselves tribal names.
They referred to one
another by their village
names. The Spanish gave
them tribal names, typically
based upon the mission the
Indians lived near.
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considered the site’s location, natural resources, and climate; as well as
the skills and attitudes of the Native Americans. When a suitable
location was found, a mission was built. Between 1769 and 1823,
twenty-one California missions were built, primarily along the Pacific
Coast, stretching from the California-Mexico border in the south to just
north of San Francisco. At the places where the coastal mountains made
mission construction impossible, the Franciscan priests located their
missions inland, in the central valley.
California’s missions became very successful. Often several
hundred neophytes (Indians recruited to live and work on the mission)
worked on a single mission. Such a large labor force was able to produce
many farm products and other goods made from plants and animals.
Soon the missions became so large and so wealthy that their lands
seemed to form a continuous chain throughout California.
While some Indians came to mission life willingly, others did not
come by choice. Using objects unfamiliar to native people, such as glass
beads and mirrors, the priests got the Indian people’s attention and
began to slowly build their trust or lured them to the mission with
promises of more of these unusual objects. Other Indians came to the
missions as more and more of their hunting and gathering grounds were
lost to missions; they needed to feed their families. Living and working
on the missions provided shelter and food, rather than suffering
starvation. Lastly, other Indian people came to the missions because
they were captured by the missionaries or by other Indians who hoped
that by siding with the Spanish their lives would be spared. Once living
on the missions, the dramatic change in lifestyle and exposure to
European disease, for which they had little immunity, killed many of the
indigenous people. This meant that the Spanish had to find more Native
Americans to run their growing missions.
Activities
Where to Build a Mission
1. Make one copy of each set of cards. If possible, copy each set of cards
on different colored paper to help students easily discriminate the
different card decks.
2. Share the Background Information and discuss it with students.
3. After drawing cards that describe the various attributes of a possible
mission site, students will work in small groups to decide whether to build
a mission at the site. This process will simulate the decision-making
processes the Spanish missionaries used in choosing mission sites.
4. Review the reproducible, “A Good Place for a Mission” with students
before they begin working. Discuss briefly the criteria the Spanish used
in choosing a mission site. Also invite students to offer any other criteria
they think would be important in choosing a mission site.
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5. Divide students into six groups. Each group receives one card from
each of the three sets, which give them information about their possible
site.
6. Next, using the guiding questions on the reproducible, “A Good Place
for a Mission” students talk about the pros and cons of their site, how
they might deal with the challenges, and then they make a final decision
about whether to establish a mission on the site.
7. Encourage students to also use the information they learned in Stage
Four Lessons 1 and 2 about the natural areas, climate and indigenous
people of California to help guide their thinking.
8. Students then present their decisions, describing the site and what led
them to their final decisions.
9. Allow an opportunity for students to ask each group clarifying
questions or offer another opinion on their decision.
Close Ups of the California Missions
1. Share the reproducible, “The California Missions” with students. Use
the map of California created in Stage One, Lesson 3 to note the location
of these missions.
2. Students will each choose a mission from the list that they would like
to learn more about. Each student will then create a presentation to
teach others about the mission. Presentations may be posters, 3-D
models or written reports. Students should include in their presentations
information about the history of their mission, effects on the native
people, conflicts in or around the mission, etc.
3. This project may work well as a multi-day homework assignment.
When projects are completed, have students share their presentations
with each other.
4. Discuss similarities and differences among the missions.
Extensions
☞
• Create a model of a mission which shows architectural details such as
bell towers, arches, columns, stucco, etc. You may wish to use cardboard
or foam core, salt dough or sugar cubes. An excellent source for building
ideas is Projects and Layouts from the series, California Missions, by
Libby Nelson and Kari A. Cornell, Lerner Publications, 1998.
• Today missionaries are at work in many third world countries around
the world. Research to learn about where missionary activity is
happening today. In your written report, include your opinions on
whether missionaries should be allowed into these countries and include
your reasons for your opinions.
• Learn about the missions today. How have they been preserved?
How are they used today? If you are near a mission site, arrange a field
trip to visit the site.
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Journal Prompts and Processing Questions
• Draw a role card from the deck created in Stage One and write about
the missions from the perspective of the role. Consider these questions
when you write:
• If you lived on a mission, what would your life have been like?
Describe a typical day.
• If you lived near a mission, describe how the mission affected your
day to day life?
• If you visited a mission as an explorer, what were your impressions?
• Do you think the mission founders used good judgement in
deciding where to set up missions? Explain your thinking.
• Do you think that the purposes served by the missions are
justifiable? Explain your thinking.
• What would be the most exciting thing about living on the mission
from your point of view? Explain.
• What would be the most difficult thing about living on the mission
from your point of view? Explain.
• How did you go about deciding whether to build a mission on your
site? What factors weighed most heavily for you in making your
decision? Were all members in your group in agreement about what to
do? If not, what process did you use to come to a decision? How did this
process affect the dynamics of your group? In other words, did you use
a process in which people felt okay with the final decision? Explain what
happened.
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Evaluation
Content: Students’ decisions should be based upon the information they
learned in Stage Four, Lessons 1 and 2 and the Background Information
for this lesson. Look for evidence of this understanding in their written
notes on the reproducible, “A Good Place for a Mission” and in their
discussions.
Process: Note students’ skills in using inference and deductive
reasoning when making decisions about their mission sites. Also note
their skills in weighing options and solving problems, their abilities to
present their ideas verbally in small and large groups, and their skills in
reaching group agreements.
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Land Cards
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Mountains border the site you have
come across, so there are places where
it is quite hilly and the soil has rocks in
it. The site is also near a deep and wide
river. Several different plant species
grow in the area and there are a large
number of small game animals. The
river also seems to be abundant with
fish.
The site you have come across has
rolling hills and is heavily forested.
There are some open spaces in the
forest and the site is near a swiftly
flowing river. The woods and open
spaces are rich with plant life,
especially wild berries and acorns.
Small animals are numerous and the
river seems to be full of fish.
The site you have come across has
wide-open areas and gently rolling
hills. However, it is located on the east
side of the mountains and is not near a
large source of water. Plant life seems
a bit more sparse; there are not as
many different kinds of plants. There
are some small animals like rabbits
and fox in the area.
The site you have come across has
wide-open spaces that you think will be
suitable for farming and grazing
animals; and it is close to the mouth of
a river and the ocean coast. The open
spaces are lush with green grass.
The river and the ocean are abundant
sources of fish and shellfish.
The site you have come across appears
to be fairly arid. Plants are small, low
to the ground. A river flows through
the area and its flood plain is lush and
green and has a diversity of plant
types. However, the flood plain is
narrow. The river seems to have some
fish and around the flood plain there
are larger animals like deer that come
to drink and eat.
The site you have come across has
wide-open spaces, but has very rocky
soil. A chain of low hills separates the
land from the ocean coast. The open
spaces are fairly grassy, but there is
not a wide diversity of plant life. A
small stream flows through the area,
but the fish in the stream are too small
to eat. Mainly small animals inhabit
the area.
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Native American Cards
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The Native Americans living near the
site where you’d like to build your
mission seem highly intelligent, having
developed many useful hunting (and
fishing, if you’re near water)
techniques. However, they seem highly
suspicious of you and are not easily
tempted by your gifts of glass beads
and other trinkets.
The Native Americans living near the
site where you’d like to build your
mission seem to live quite comfortably.
Even though you don’t agree with their
ways of life, they seem well-fed, use
beautiful animal skins for clothing,
weave colorful baskets and have lots of
stored food. They appear cooperative
and hard working.
The Native Americans living near the site
where you’d like to build your mission
seem to live a very different life than you.
They wear few clothes and gather their
food from the environment, rather than
grow it. The people seem to just be getting
by from your point of view. They seem
friendly, and have offered to share food
and shelter with you. You are not sure
though, how willing they will be to follow
your commands at the mission.
The Native Americans living near the site
where you’d like to build your mission
seem to live a very different life than you.
They wear few clothes and gather their
food, rather than grow it. The people
seem to just be getting by from your point
of view. They do not seem to trust you and
look at you suspiciously. You believe they
have even stolen some of your supplies,
because a couple of crates of food and
household items are missing.
The Native Americans living near the site
where you’d like to build your mission
seem to live quite comfortably. They seem
well-fed, their children seem happy and
they seem to learn new things very
quickly. Some of the people have been
quite friendly towards you, offering food
and shelter, while others have treated you
with suspicion. The differences in how the
Indian people view you are causing
conflict in their village.
The Native Americans living near the
site where you’d like to build your
mission seem to live quite peacefully.
They have good relations with the
other neighboring tribes. They have a
simple life style and seem to hunt and
gather just enough food to feed their
families with little left over for storage.
You notice that they have made use of
Spanish tools, like knives, and wonder
where they have gotten these.
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A Good Place for a Mission
Criteria for Choosing a Mission’s Location
Having a thriving mission system was important to the Spanish. From a religious
perspective, it meant that the friars (priests) were doing what they perceived as
God’s work in converting people to their religious views. To the government it meant
that they had a firmer hold on the land. So careful thought went into choosing most
mission sites. Following is a list of considerations that the Spanish may have used in
choosing a mission site:
Location
• Is the site near water (either the ocean or a river) so that supplies and people could
be transported to and from the mission?
• If the site is on the ocean, is there a harbor so that visiting ships could rest safely if
a storm came up?
• If the mission is on a river, is it navigable (meaning could you maneuver a boat on
the river)?
• If the site is not on the water, could it be easily accessed on foot or horseback?
• Is the terrain conducive to farming? If not, could it easily be prepared for
farming?
• Is the terrain conducive for grazing animals? Could grazing lands easily be
created?
• Are there food sources available around the site?
Native Americans
• Do the people have skills that would benefit the mission?
• Do they have other resources that would benefit the mission?
• Do they seem open to being converted?
• If they do not seem open to converting to Christianity of their own free will, does it
seem that other methods of conversion would be successful?
• Once the mission is established, what is your prediction about how hard the people
will work?
Pros and Cons
After your group has taken one card from each card deck (Land, Native Americans,
and Situations) talk together about the possibility of using this site as a mission.
Use the questions to help guide your discussion.
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A
Make a list of the pros (advantages or benefits) and cons (disadvantages or problems)
of establishing a mission at this site.
Pros
Cons
__________________________________ __________________________________
__________________________________ __________________________________
__________________________________ __________________________________
__________________________________ __________________________________
__________________________________ __________________________________
__________________________________ __________________________________
__________________________________ __________________________________
__________________________________ __________________________________
__________________________________ __________________________________
__________________________________ __________________________________
Do you believe that your list of pros is greater than your list of cons? Is it the other
way around or are both lists relatively equal? Explain your thinking.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What are the three to four biggest concerns you have about establishing the mission
at this site? What ideas do you have for dealing with or alleviating these concerns?
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Given your lists of pros and cons and your ideas about how to deal with the
challenges, what will you do? Will you choose to use this site for your mission?
Explain your decision and back it up with evidence that supports it.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
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B
The Missions of California
Mission
San Diego de Alcalá
Founding Date
July 16, 1769
San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo
June 3, 1770
San Antonio de Padua
July 14, 1771
San Gabriel Arcángel
September 8, 1771
San Luis Obispo de Tolosa
September 1, 1772
San Francisco de Asís
June 29, 1776
San Juan Capistrano
November 1, 1776
Santa Clara de Asís
January 12, 1777
San Buenaventura
March 31, 1782
Santa Bárbara Virgen y Martir
December 4, 1786
La Purísima Concepción de Maria Santisma
December 8, 1787
Santa Cruz
August 28, 1791
Nuestra Señora de la Soledad
October 9, 1791
San José
June 11, 1797
San Juan Bautista
June 24, 1797
San Miguel Arcángel
July 25, 1797
San Fernando Rey de España
San Luis Rey de Francia
September 8, 1797
June 13, 1798
Santa Inés Virgen y Martir
September 17, 1804
San Rafael Arcángel
December 14, 1817
San Francisco Solano
July 4, 1823
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