Despite the many negative aspects of European colonization endured by indigenous peoples throughout North America, music served as a powerful and positive force. This study demonstrates that musical life in the Franciscan and Jesuit missions throughout Spanish North America was fully developed, was a most important part of the evangelization process, and involved music similar to that performed in other mission areas in Spanish America. Musical life in New France and Louisiana is summarized here to show that the French operated a parallel system of musical evangelization and that the establishment of French settlements in North America corresponded in certain ways to Spanish practices.
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