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It is well known among historians that King Carlos III on 17 August
1780 asked all his "free vassals in America" to make a contribution to
defray expenses of the War with England. This message was heard in
California and the rest of New Spain, just as it was heard in the West
Indies, South America, and all other Spanish lands of America. The
royal decree, requesting the donation, was issued at the Royal Palace at
San Ildefonso, 17 Aug 1780, from The King:
"The insulting tyranny of the English nation has precipitated me into a
war, the exorbitant cost of which has forced me to raise the revenue
exacted from the provinces of our Spanish homeland by a third. I had
hoped not to have to extend this burden to my loyal subjects in America,
even though they would seem to be the principal target of the grasping
avarice of my enemies. Nevertheless, I have always been able to count
on the faithful generosity of the voluntary contributions of those vast
and wealthy colonies. To make this burden as light as possible, I have
resolved to ask for a donativo of one peso from every freeman who is an
Indian or of mixed blood, and two pesos from every Spaniard and those of
the higher class. These last may also pay for their servants and
workers and later discount the amount from their salaries or daily
wages.'
'Therefore, I command all of my royal officials in the Indies to
announce and explain my royal decree so that all of the inhabitants of
the Indies will once again have opportunity to show me their love and
gratitude for the benefits I have bestowed on them. I also charge all
of my church officials there to expedite this project by their
persuasion and good example, for this is my will.'
'All copies of this decree, duly signed by my Secretary of State and
Universal Office of the Indies, who also signs below, shall have the
same force as the original."
'Given at San Ildefonso, on this seventeenth day of August of the year
seventeen hundred and eighty." Signed by I, The King and José de Gálvez
(Minister of the Indies), and certified as a copy of the original by
José de Gálvez.
It took a year for the royal decree to get through the English blockade
and all the bureaucratic channels and reach Commandante General
Cabellero de Croix at Arispe for execution. In August, 1781, he
transmitted the royal decree to each Governor, along with a list of
thirteen instructions from Viceroy Martín de Mayorga for those who
supervised the operation. Commissioners were to be set up for each
jurisdiction, and each had to give his donors a receipt and turn in the
signature of each one, showing the amount he gave, lest the accounts be
pilfered. The eighth instruction forbade commissioners from using any
coercion or showing any displeasure if the prospective donor gave
nothing. The collections were stopped by Commandante General Felipe de
Neve in January, 1784, when he learned the war with England was over.
Any collections after that time were for pledges made earlier. (There
were two problems with Viceroy Mayorga’s instructions for those on the
frontier. The Commissioners for remote areas could not always write;
and when they could, there was frequently no paper available. As making
paper was a monopoly, it was scarce in peace or war.)
From Arispe, Sonora, on 12 August 1781, Commandante General
Theodore de Croix of the Northern Provinces of New Spain dispatched the
message notifying Fray Serra of the terms of this Royal Order. Fray
Serra then notified the missions. Each Spanish citizen over 18 was to
contribute 2 pesos (or Spanish dollars) and each Indian neophyte over 18
was to contribute 1 peso. At the time, this would have been equivalent
to a week's pay. It is certain the message also went to the military
authorities of Alta and Baja California.
(It is not clear how de Croix's message got to Alta California and Fray
Serra. There were no supply ships or packetboats, whatsoever, to Alta
California in 1781. The courier passage from Sonora to San Gabriel had
been closed in July, 1781, by the Yuma uprising, though de Croix had not
learned of this disaster when he prepared the letter. It is most likely
the message was carried by Lt Col Pedro Fages when he was sent to Alta
California to get help to subdue the Yumas and reopen the passage. In
this case the message reached San Gabriel 26 Mar 1782 and was sent from
there to Monterey. The only other courier path was south from Arispe to
San Blas,
then across the Gulf of California to Loreta, then up the Baja
Peninsula, a long and dangerous wilderness trek. In 1781, there was
indeed one supply trip to Loreta in the frigate "Favorita" under Juan
Pantoja, but the timing of this trip has not been recovered. If the
message followed this route, it would have arrived late in 1781 or early
1782.)
The message was clearly in Alta California in mid 1782, where Fray
Serra and Governor Felpe de Neve managed the collections of the
donations so that everyone paid. Each Presidio therefore developed a
roster of its soldiers for 1782, although the records do not indicate
the rosters were simply to record donations. Each mission was to draw
up a padron of all the Indian males eighteen years and older within its
jurisdiction, along with an account of the produce turned over to the
governor and sold by him for cash. This was the only way to do it as
the colony operated on a barter economy and the Indians had no money at
all. So the contributions were not in currency as we know it but in
accounting records which were converted into cash after the records were
received and approved in Mexico.
We can also accurately fix the timing of the contributions to the year
1782 because Governor de Neve made up the deficit of contributions, and
he left Alta California with Lt Col Fages in mid 1782 to attack the
Yumas. Governor de Neve did not return to Alta CA as he was promoted to
become Inspector General of the Internal Provinces (Provincias Internas)
while on the campaign, and he proceeded on to that post in Northern
Mexico from the Colorado River. A few months later, he replaced
Theodore de Croix as Commandante General. Also, as Santa Barbara
Presidio and Mission San Buenaventura each contributed, and each was
founded in 1782, it seems they could only have done so by late summer.
In the fall of 1782, San Diego and San Juan Capistrano were still
requesting relief from the contribution. When Governor de Neve made up
the deficit of contributions from various installations, he probably
covered San Diego and San Juan Capistrano, expecting to be reimbursed
later; however, no such expectation has been identified in the records.
So, the contributions from the missions had been arranged in the
accounts by late 1782, so that when he received and approved them, the
Procurator in Mexico City could make the actual cash contribution to the
War fund. If, as Bancroft indicates, all the funds went to Commandante
General Theodore de Croix, Governor de Neve probably took them, along
with all other dispatches, when he went in mid-1782 to supervise the
joint military operations against the Yumas. As noted above, de Neve
did not return to California.
When de Croix announced on 7 Dec 1782 that the amount of the collections
was $4216, this differed from the Alta California records which showed
$2683. Bancroft indicated the difference was made up by Governor de
Neve, and it is possible this difference was part of the negotiations
between de Croix and de Neve when de Neve turned over the Governorship
of California to Lt Col Fages and became Inspector General of the
Internal Provinces. In just a few months, de Neve became Commandante
General of the Internal Provinces. The records could have gone on to
Mexico City in Dec 1782 or early 1783. If, however, the accounts were
actually sent on the last packetboat to leave Alta California in 1782,
they would have arrived first at San Blas; and from there, sent overland
to Mexico City, probably arriving there in early 1783. Then, after
studying the accounts, the Procurator could have converted them into
cash for the war fund some time in 1783.
Actually, some contributions were made in California in 1784, noted by
Fray Serra as a year after the war was over. These 15 pesos in the
accounts were for 15 neophyte Indians who had run away and were not
present when the first records were made. They had been captured and
returned to the missions, so the fathers believed they should be
included in the contribution records. This scrupulous accounting leaves
no doubt that all the contributions were made in good faith, and that
such contributions throughout the Spanish dominions helped the Spanish
King Carlos defray expenses of the war, thus supporting the American
Colonies in the overall fight with England. On 1 July 1784, a few weeks
before his death, Fray Serra mentioned an envelope entitled: "Reports,
Inventories, and Census List of San Gabriel Mission," which he had
received; so a census list was certainly made for San Gabriel, but the
period which it covered was not noted. It had to be 1782 or 1783.
The timing of the Alta California contributions relative to world events may be of interest. We forget today that Alta California was one
year behind in world events, and six months behind in Mexico events. It
vied with Manila to be the end of the Spanish world. We may note that
the virtual end of land hostilities in the American Colonies was the
Cornwallis surrender at Yorktown on 19 Oct 1781, probably before or
about the time the request for contributions was received in Alta
California. The preliminary articles of peace between the American
Colonies and England were signed 30 Nov 1782, before General de Croix
announced on 7 Dec 1782 the amount collected to be $4,216. Hostilities
between Spain and England ceased in January, 1783, after a treaty was
signed at Versailles, probably before the accounts could reach Mexico
City and be converted to cash for the war fund. The only remaining
major action before the general peace treaty of 3 Sep 1783 was a July,
1783 naval battle between the English and French in the Indian Ocean.
(The Admirals did not know the war was over.) No Spanish or Americans
were involved.
There seems to be no utility in tracing the funds beyond the time they left Alta California in late 1782. They were undoubtedly used to
defray expenses caused by the war, exactly as planned. Once aggregated
with other contributions in Mexico City, it is not possible to say which debts the California contributions paid. With equal validity, one could
suggest they paid for Chapultepec gunpowder shipped up the Mississippi River to Americans, or they repaid the loans made by Havana citizens to
support the Chesapeake Bay/Yorktown operations, or for building forts at
San Blas or Manila, or supporting Central American operations against the British, or for attacking British at Gibraltar, or for paying the
Spanish and French troops waiting to invade Jamaica. And, like Andrew Jackson's battle and victory at New Orleans in 1815, the Alta California
contributions were made carefully and faithfully; but they had no effect on the war, which was already over. (It is also likely Felipe de Neve
was never reimbursed for any funds he advanced to cover the shortages in contributions. He died as Commandante General of the Internal Provinces
in 1786 and left no wife nor children.)
What is of interest today is finding the mission censuses or lists of Indian neophytes who were over 18 at each mission. This would give a
valuable record for genealogists working on California Indian ancestry. The list of pobladores who contributed would also be of interest. These
lists or censuses could also be used to support applications by descendants to join historical societies. However, as a general
statement, we can say every male over 18 in Baja and Alta California, who could be accounted for in military or mission activities, was
credited with a voluntary contribution at the time. It is possible that the names of collecting Commissioners will be found, along with the
amounts each collected. It seems unlikely that more specific records of individual contributors will ever be found. But they may exist.
Because of the way the contributions were handled, the records are most likely in the financial accounts for each mission,
presidio, and pueblo for 1782, 1783, and 1784. It seems that very few of these accounts have been translated and published; indeed, few may
survive. Some are at the Santa Barbara Mission Archives, some are in the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley, and some have been filmed by the
LDS. Others may be in records of the Commandantes General of the
Provincias Internas of New Spain or the records of San Blas in the Archives in Mexico City. Herein lies an opportunity for someone fluent
in Spanish to make a scholarly reputation.
References:
Robert Archibald. The Economic Aspects of the California Missions. Washington, DC, Academy of American Franciscan History, 1978.
Bancroft, Hubert Howe. History of California, Vol 1 (18), pp 426-428, Santa Barbara, Wallace Hebberd, 1884. (Bancroft references Provincial
State Papers, Benicia Military, MS ii:5; iii:11, 27-29; and viii:4; then Provincial State Papers, MS, iv:76; then Provincial Records MS ii:70,
74-75. Presumably, these records are at the Bancroft Library.)
Beilharz, Edwin A. Felipe de Neve - First Governor of California, San Francisco, California Historical Society, 1971. This study covers the
critical years from 1777 until 1782 from the viewpoint of the first governor to actually hold the title and live in Monterey.
Kieran McCarty, pp 51-56, Chapter 12, "Arizona's Contribution," Desert Documentary: The Spanish Years, 1767-1821, Arizona Historical Society,
Historical Monograph, No. 4, Tucson, AZ, 1976.
Mildred L. Murry, Spanish Mysteries and Missions During the American Revolution: A Resource Guide for Teachers, pp 25-29, 59. Blankenship
and Murry, 1996.
Antonine Tibesar, Writings of Junipero Serra, Vol IV, pp 119, 147, 187, 213, 277. Washington, DC, Academy of American Franciscan History,
MCMLXVI (1966).
Francis J. Weber. "California Participation in the Spirit of 1776," Southern California Quarterly, Vol LVIII, #2, (Summer, 1976), pp
137-142. Most of the references of this article were found in the Santa Barbara Mission Archives.
CARevCont.doc, 28 May 1998, revised 3 Aug 2004, Granville W. and N. C. Hough
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