Clash of Cultures & the Discovery of Gold      123456

Forced Conversion and Enslavement of Native People

Missions were also training camps of sorts where Indians were forced to learn European customs and give up their native traditions. Spanish missionaries believed that the Indians were like children who needed to be taught how to live what the Franciscans considered a more "civilized" and "mature" way of life. They forced the coastal Indians to change their religion, dress, language, and food, and to worship a Christian God.

The Spanish monarchy argued that converting the Indians would help build a new society in California without the use of violence. But brute violence was used by the missionaries to force the Indians to adopt Spanish ways and become slave laborers. Native Californians faced beatings, imprisonment, starvation, and even execution if they resisted. Many died from the harsh treatment, as well as from diseases such as measles, smallpox, and syphilis that had been brought by the Europeans.