[defrost]

There's a slew of essays and history entries that begin along the lines of:

    The modern state of California was considered part of the Spanish empire for nearly 300 years. The Spanish colonial period had a profound effect on the cultural, religious, and economic development of the state.

The article cited for this thread makes much of Anglo churches in California but makes no mention of, say, the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel and other churches that shaped the region (FWiW I'm not religious but as one aware of history Spainish Catholicism had at least as much impact in the region as any other variety)

The Spanish Empire shaped the foundations of land ownership, mineral rights, and water access in the region.

There are shelves of books on the subject - I'm not even in or from the Americas, I'm hardly the person to ask.

The point stands, it's a lousy essay that ignores some substantial American history, likely because it's not "USofA" history.