The Spaniards
The first three centuries of Western civilization contact with Oklahoma came in the historical context of the mercantilist rivalry between the world’s great powers, at that time all European. Predicated on the assumption of a limited amount of resources in the world, represented by a nation’s stock of bullion (gold and silver), mercantilist powers such as England, Spain, France, and the Netherlands believed that to obtain a larger slice of this finite “pie" one nation must wrest it from another. This could be accomplished by favorable trading activities-exporting a greater amount than one imports - or by success in war and the subsequent treaties, which could deliver additional resources from one country to another. Thus unfolded a crucial plank of mercantilist thought-possessing as many colonies as possible in order to mine the raw materials from them, ship those to the mother country, produce finished products from the imports, and then ship those back to the colony and other countries for sale.
Mercantilism stands at variance with the American founders’ consensus economic notions of laissez faire, or free trade. The famed Scotsman Adam Smith systematized the latter philosophy in his landmark 1776 work The Wealth of Nations. Laissez faire, in contrast to mercantilism, argues against restrictive tariffs toward other nations, the always selective governmental subsidization of industry with citizens’ tax revenues, and the federal financing of internal improvements (infrastructure) to any extent beyond what is necessary.
Laissez faire also supports limited government involvement in every area of life, particularly economic matters; low tariffs to stimulate trade between cities, states, and countries; and the notion of an ever-expanding economic pie, rather than a static one. It anticipates vigorous economic competition taking place alongside mutually beneficial results with no specter of serious international tension due to the “win-win” rather than the mercantilist “dog-eat-dog” process between individuals, companies, and nations alike.
Discovery and Exploration 1541–1820, the first of Miami, Oklahoma artist Charles Banks Wilson’s epic cycle of four 13 x 27 foot murals that adorn the Oklahoma State Capitol. It depicts famed Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado atop his armored horse in the present-day Oklahoma Panhandle, amidst the Catholic missionaries who accompanied him, Wichita Indians, buffalo, and the Antelope Hills, a key landmark for travelers. (Courtesy Charles Banks Wilson and the Oklahoma State Senate Historical Preservation Fund, Inc., Photo John Jernigan)
Read the entire Oklahoma story in John J. Dwyer's The Oklahomans: The Story of Oklahoma and Its People volume 1 of a 2-part series on the 46th state and the people who make this state very special. |