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
- 📝 For how long were freed slaves in Ancient Rome supposed to wear a Pileus hat?
- 📝 What do these hallmarks tell me about my fork and spoon set?
- 📝 Did Karl Marx openly advocate violence? (or against it?)
- 📝 When did Abu Bakr agree to lower taxes for the Arabs living under the rule of Byzantine and Sassanid Empire?
- 📝 Was there Church opposition to heliocentrism in 1600?
- 📝 How do present-day Austrians look back at the 1938 Anschluss?
- 📝 Can anyone identify my great grandfather's military uniform?
- 📝 What was the alcoholic beverage of choice for British soldiers during WW2?
- 📝 Looking for source for Jefferson Davis with Bat Wings
- 📝 What percent of the US Federal Budget was spent on WW2?
- 📝 Did ancient people regularly suffer from colds?
- 📝 Was WW2 necessary for Germany economically?
- 📝 Was Saladin Agnostic?
- 📝 What kind of AA defenses did the US East Coast have around the time of Paukenschlag?
- 📝 How widespread was literacy in classical Greek in Europe during the medieval period?
- 📝 When Adam Smith discusses "corn" to what crop does he refer?
- 📝 How were the beds in which privileged man in medieval Europe slept?
- 📝 What was the first battle in history fought by vast-majority-% "distance-shooting" non-mechanized force?
- 📝 Has the existence of a matriarchal society really been discredited?
- 📝 Do revisionist historiographies come closer to "unbiased truth"?
- 📝 Where do the terms Red Team and Blue Team come from?
- 📝 Which of Hitler's peers had no more education than him?
- 📝 Ancient Civilization in non-Egyption Africa?
- 📝 Why was the the sack of cities acceptable?
- 📝 Why were the Soviets better at replacing their lost men and material?
- 📝 Did Hitler get called a fascist by his opponents within Germany? Did he or other Nazis have a problem with that?
- 📝 Did Napoleon III reserve a special set of aluminum cutlery for special guests?
- 📝 Where did poor London women give birth in the latter half of the 19th century?
- 📝 At the time of her death, were there any surviving witnesses to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II?
- 📝 How reliable and accurate is the Nuremberg Chronicle?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How did Spain justify building a major port at San Blas, Nayarit?
- 📝 How did the Soviet Union officially justify the need for foreign travel and emigration restrictions?
- 📝 How did Western leaders justify NATO's eastwards expansion after promising the Soviet leadership it won't happen?
- 📝 How widespread were major dynasties which did not follow agnatic succession or male primogeniture?
- 📝 How did an input of resources in 16th century Spain contribute to inflation?
- 📝 How did member states of the Holy Roman Empire justify only including part of their land inside it?
- 📝 In the Middle Ages, adultery was strictly condemned by the Church. How did Kings justify their extra-marital affairs?
- 📝 How did the Nazis justify the differences in the way they treated Jews v. POWs?
- 📝 How did Edgar Allan Poe get promoted to Sergeant Major from Private in just 2 years?
- 📝 How did silk manufacturing become a major industry in medieval Europe?
- 📝 Why did Ancient Greek city-states fight each other and how did they morally justify it?
- 📝 How did Jerusalem function as an ancient city without a major water source?
- 📝 How did Nazi Germany justify the attempted invasion of Britain?
- 📝 How did the accounting and capital organization system work in communist countries like the USSR? Did ideology justify or undermine the system?
- 📝 How did people distinguish slaves from free people in Ancient Rome?
- 📝 How and when did the word "nuclear" replace the word "atomic"?
- 📝 How did Israel win the Six-Day War?
- 📝 How did Nazi Germany finance itself during WW2?
- 📝 How did the general population of England convert so smoothly to Protestantism?
- 📝 How did the USSR manage to innovate in an environment characterized by government censorship and high bureaucracy?
- 📝 How did the Romans do division?
- 📝 How did 300,000 people survive the 3 1/2 year siege of Sarajevo?
- 📝 When and how did the USA and the UK become allies?
- 📝 How did they cook on ancient ships?
- 📝 How did people wash dishes before dish detergent?
- 📝 How did pilots know when to release bombs on airplanes during World War2?
- 📝 How did the authorities not find the speakeasy clubs during the prohibition?
- 📝 How did such a relatively minor event as the assassination of an archduke start World War I?
- 📝 How did German unification affect existing sentences for criminal convicts?
- 📝 How did the Roman state verify citizenship?