In defense of the King's domain: disease prevention and health care in the Spanish Maritime Expeditions to the North Pacific, 1774-1795.

Abstract

At first glance, it would appear that eighteenth century Spain occupied an excellent strategic position to maintain its theoretical hold over the Pacific and to meet challenges from foreign competitors who had to sail half way round the world or to overcome daunting obstacles before they could begin to threaten the Spanish monopoly. Indeed, until well into the second half of the century, Spain evaded the heavy expenditures required to dispatch naval expeditions to delineate the North Pacific littoral of the American continent. Until the 1770’s, there were few urgent pressures to complete the North American map or to defend the coastline from intruders who might wish to construct bases, tap resources, and to establish ties with the indigenous populations. When challengers emerged, however, Spain had to face a whole series of assaults against its sovereignty which had been based upon the concept of prior claim and not on actual exploration and effective occupation. Russia moved into Alaska from its Siberian bases and appeared ready to strike southward into the immediate proximity of the sparsely inhabited California missions. Britain, France, and other nations expressed new enthusiasm for discovering a Northwest Passage and settling once and for all the apocryphal myths that influenced cartography. Following the American Revolution, the upstart young republic began to dispatch exploring-trading missions that cast fear into the hearts of Spanish administrators knowledgeable about the enormous unsettled territories at the frontier of the Mexican dominions. Finally, there were dynamic new forces transforming the world—scientific curiosity and an unquenchable thirst to learn and to answer mysteries that would leave no great temperate region unvisited. The third voyage of Captain James Cook to the Pacific and Northwest Coast served as a catalyst to international activities that forced a major Spanish presence.