OSHER 970 - Spanish Colonialization of Those Areas of the United States Called the Spanish Borderlands

Explorers and settlers from Spain were the first Europeans to investigate major areas of the United States. They came as early as 1513, and for three centuries explored and settled Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Their contributions to the various aspects of American life—including language, religion, architecture, music, foods, and economics, to name a few—are varied and profound. The Spaniards' influence on the first Americans, however, is not totally positive, and the history of the Spanish borderlands is marred by controversial treatment of the Indians with whom they met and sometimes brutally treated. This course will examine both the positive and negative impacts of Spanish historic presence within the areas of the United States they touched upon.