Essay on the Conversion and Colonization of the Continent's Barbaric Tribes

Unpublished manuscript of 38 leaves, a scribal copy with the author's signature at the conclusion (recto of leaf 38) entitled "Ensayo Sobre La Reduccion Y Colonizacion De Las Tribus Barbaras Del Continente" It is largely an account of the activities of the Church in 16th century Mexico relative to the indigenous population. In many instances, the author refers to the situation in the territories of Texas and California.Francisco Frejes was a Mexican historian born in 1784 in Guadalajara where he became a noted pulpit orator in his vocation as a Franciscan friar. He transferred to the convent of Zacatecas, where he would die in 1845, to utilize its library, which contained many manuscripts from the time of Spanish conquest. In 1835 he was appointed chronicler of the convent and, in 1838, became its superior. Frejes' three most famous publications include Historia Breve de la Conquista de los Estados Independientes del Imperio Mejicano, Memoria Historica de los Sucesos mas notables de la Conquista particular de Jalisco per los Espanoles (1842), and a pamphlet on education. Most of his work was never formally published.This document is an English translation of the "Ensayo Sobre La Reduccion Y Colonizacion De Las Tribus Barbaras Del Continente." Translated by Lorena Gauthereau-Bryson. The language of the original document is Spanish