How did Spain justify building a major port at San Blas, Nayarit?
score:5
The Wikipedia article for San Blas seems to address this(emphasis mine):
San Blas's location was useful and logical, however, because it minimized travel time from Guadalajara and Mexico City without increasing the total distance to the Californias. Also, the area around San Blas had a plentiful supply of hardwoods useful for ship building and repair. Fresh water was also available year round.
The water supply found here was considered important enough to be discussed in this 1870 publication:
The watering place is at the northern extremity of a large open bay south of San Blas the beach is shoal and the casks have to be rolled 300 or 400 yards through the jungle to a stream of water This stream during the spring tides is occasionally brackish but we succeeded in obtaining supplies by immersing the empty cask with the bung in such a position that only the fresh water which of course would be on the surface could enter By rigging triangles with spars in such a position that the boats could go under them to load we succeeded in embarking daily 32 tons of water
North Pacific Pilot: Sailing directions for the West Coast of North America, by J.F. Imray
Upvote:0
Matanchel had been the port of the Baja California Jesuits, with the inland community of Tepic the commercial center. My research indicates that the mercantile supports of the Jesuits had some interest in contraband trade in that area at the mouth of the Gulf: silver flowing from Sinaloa to the English in Jamaica via Panama, the Manila galleon coming in via Cape San Lucas through Cape Corrientes, and a flow of goods to and from Mexico City out of Chacala to Peru.
Galvez put his naval station at San Blas, in between the Jesuit port of Matanchel, and the port of their donors (Chacala) who had ties to Guadalajara and Compostela's business communities. So my guess is that Galvez had an ulterior motive in attempting to suppress contraband trade through Chacala/Matanchel, i.e., to control commerce in Tepic, by establishing a government station at San Blas. And then, in addition, San Blas had all that the other commenters have mentioned: water, wood, proximity to the California peninsula. Yet by all accounts, it was quite deadly for many people to live in, which does seem to warrant a bit more of an explanation.
More post
- π How old is the idea that humans have 360 joints?
- π What is the other ancient Indian magic trick described by Adi Shankaracharya?
- π Why didn't the British attack the Continental Congress?
- π Who was Mathilda von Merckens and which was her castle?
- π Was the money requested by the French for the XYZ affair really a bribe?
- π Why weren't Australian Aborigines enslaved?
- π How was Ivaylo's Bulgarian peasant army able to repel the Mongols?
- π How was financial profit viewed in Medieval Europe?
- π Why did the Ottomans rebuild Byzantine gates to a smaller format?
- π In what European countries did non-hereditary nobility exist? (XVII-XIX centuries)
- π How far away could zeppelins drop bombs?
- π Why did Gen. Lee (Civil War) surrender to the U.S?
- π Source of quote attributed to KanΕ JigorΕ: "It is not important to be better than someone else, but to be better than yesterday."
- π Why does Texas have the right to split?
- π Where can I find a scan of the translated "De re militari" in Bulgarian?
- π Did a villein ever rise to the nobility in Medieval England?
- π Journeys from Gujarat in India to Dare es Salaam in what was then, Tanganyika in 1925 and 1948
- π How much would 300 pounds (money value) weigh in Medieval England?
- π Can anyone identify this (circa 1841) uniform?
- π Is there evidence that Harald Bluetooth died from an arrow to the rear?
- π Where can I find primary sources on mortars/artillery in world war one?
- π How common were horses at the beginning of the 20th century?
- π Were there U.S. weapon restrictions during 19th century?
- π Did Stalin give special treatment for his home country?
- π How did sugar go from a luxury to a necessity in 18th century?
- π What was the cleanest war ever fought?
- π Why did Joseph Goebbels allow an all-Jewish Orchestra to exist and perform in Berlin from 1938 to 1941?
- π Did relic sellers have a specific name or term for their profession?
- π Why didn't Afghanistan accede to Pakistan in 1947?
- π Why is there is a pan-slavic movement?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- π How did Spain justify building a major port at San Blas, Nayarit?
- π How did the Soviet Union officially justify the need for foreign travel and emigration restrictions?
- π How did Western leaders justify NATO's eastwards expansion after promising the Soviet leadership it won't happen?
- π How widespread were major dynasties which did not follow agnatic succession or male primogeniture?
- π How did an input of resources in 16th century Spain contribute to inflation?
- π How did member states of the Holy Roman Empire justify only including part of their land inside it?
- π In the Middle Ages, adultery was strictly condemned by the Church. How did Kings justify their extra-marital affairs?
- π How did the Nazis justify the differences in the way they treated Jews v. POWs?
- π How did Edgar Allan Poe get promoted to Sergeant Major from Private in just 2 years?
- π How did silk manufacturing become a major industry in medieval Europe?
- π Why did Ancient Greek city-states fight each other and how did they morally justify it?
- π How did Jerusalem function as an ancient city without a major water source?
- π How did Nazi Germany justify the attempted invasion of Britain?
- π How did the accounting and capital organization system work in communist countries like the USSR? Did ideology justify or undermine the system?
- π How did people distinguish slaves from free people in Ancient Rome?
- π How and when did the word "nuclear" replace the word "atomic"?
- π How did Israel win the Six-Day War?
- π How did Nazi Germany finance itself during WW2?
- π How did the general population of England convert so smoothly to Protestantism?
- π How did the USSR manage to innovate in an environment characterized by government censorship and high bureaucracy?
- π How did the Romans do division?
- π How did 300,000 people survive the 3 1/2 year siege of Sarajevo?
- π When and how did the USA and the UK become allies?
- π How did they cook on ancient ships?
- π How did people wash dishes before dish detergent?
- π How did pilots know when to release bombs on airplanes during World War2?
- π How did the authorities not find the speakeasy clubs during the prohibition?
- π How did such a relatively minor event as the assassination of an archduke start World War I?
- π How did German unification affect existing sentences for criminal convicts?
- π How did the Roman state verify citizenship?