1. Read Chapters 1-3 in Rawls. 

Questions:

1) Rawls argues that California Indians had little technology and no metal implements because they were geographically and culturally isolated.  He argues that other theories are racist.  Do you agree or disagree and why?  What other non-racist explanations are possible?  What is it about Mesoamerican culture (e.g. Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas) that tends to disprove his thesis?  You will need to conduct independent research on this.

2)  Rawls argues that there were widespread religious cults among California Indians.  What is the difference between such cults and “normal” Native American religion?  Research and discuss at least one California Indian practice that you would consider cultish, unusual, or in some other way highly interesting.

3) Rawls states that Indians who practiced self-mutilation upon their encounter with Drake “undoubtedly regarded the Englishmen as relatives who had returned from the dead.”  How does he know this? Does he give us a contradictory thesis in that same paragraph?

 

2. Read Chapters 3-4 in Rawls

Questions:

1) Why would Cortes have reported to the king an expectation of finding an island of Amazons a few days sail to the northwest?

2) Rawls argues that Drake must have landed at Point Reyes because only there does one find “white banks and cliffs” resembling England’s.  Does this ring true?  Why or why not?

3) What tests did Columbia University run on Drake's plate to confirm it was genuine?

4) Why did the Spanish try to set up at Monterey even after Viscaino’s map maker was hung for a fraudulent map depicting it as having a wind sheltered harbor, and even after discovering the San Francisco Bay?

5)  Why was California considered an unattractive place to live?

6) What is the status of “Father Serra’s” quest for sainthood?

7) Was mission Soledad really the farthest inland mission in California?

 

3. Read Rawls Chapter 5

Questions:

1)  Would you consider the Mexican period to be the “the halcyon days” in California?  Discuss mission secularization, rancho life, and the administrative and military situation in California during this period. 

 

4. Read Rawls Chapter 6

Questions:

When and why did east coast Americans first become interested in California?  How did Richard Henry Dana and John Marsh increase this interest?  How did east coast Americans become interested in overland voyages to California?  Rawls mentions several incidents of violence between European Americans and Indians.  Was one group morally superior to the other in these conflicts?

 

5. If Mexicans had discovered gold in the Mother Lode, would they have signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?

 

6. Continue to read Rawls Chapters 8 through 11 critically.  Analyze any questions that arise in your mind in chapters 9-11.  Do additional research as necessary.

 

7. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo guaranteed Mexican landholdings in California.  Why, then, did so many Mexicans lose their land in California?  At page  149, Rawls states that the federal law of 1790 that allowed only free whites to be naturalized was a “deep flaw in the application of American Ideals of Democracy.”  Analyze the extent to which this statement is true.

 

8. Read Rawls chapters 12-14.  Was the coming of the railroad a good thing for California? Why or why not?

 

9. Read Rawls chapters 15-19.  Critique.

 

10. Read Rawls chapters 20-24.  Critique.

 

11. Read Rawls Chapters 25-26. Critique.

 

12. Read Rawls chapters 27-28. Critique.

 

13. Read Rawls chapters 29-30. Critique.