The Life and Times of Fr. Junípero Serra: A Pan-Borderlands Perspective. Issue 2 (October 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Thomas, David Hurst
• Is Part Of: Americas. Volume 71:Issue 2(2014)
• Page Start: 185
• Page End: 225
• Publication Date: 2014-10
• Subjects: America -- History -- Periodicals; Latin America -- History -- Periodicals; United States -- Relations -- Latin America -- Periodicals; Latin America -- Relations -- United States -- Periodicals; AMERICA LATINA -- HISTORIA -- PUBLICACIONES PERIODICAS; ESTADOS UNIDOS -- RELACIONES EXTERIORES -- AMERICA LATINA -- PUBLICACIONES PERIODICAS; AMERICA LATINA -- RELACIONES -- ESTADOS UNIDOS -- PUBLICACIONES PERIODICAS; Electronic journals; 970.05
• DOI: 10.1353/tam.2014.0119
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0003-1615

Abstract

Abstract : The year 2013 marked the tercentennial of Fr. Junípero Serra's birth. That same year, historian Steven Hackel anointed Serra (1713-1784) California's Founding Father, thereby echoing the glory attached to such American greats as John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson. But Hackel also noted that Serra remains "America's least understood founder, " with a legacy that is today decidedly "divisive … contentious and contested."