Riverwind (imported) wrote: Tue May 16, 2006 5:32 am
For the real history of 1850 you need to go back in time, three years will do.
1847, California was part of Mexico, the population was mainly Mexican and Native Americans. There were and for the most part still are 24 missions the state was Catholic. The richer family often had large peaces of land, granted by Spain.
1848, Gold
1849, minors
1850, The USA being very concerned about the safety of said minors anixed California and made it a State, there by stealing the richest state in Mexico for itself. I think a few years later we actually gave Mexico some money for it. It was about the same kind of deal we made for Alaska.
Has this happened before or sense?
Yes.
River - 7th generation Californian
Actually:
Conquest of California
The American settlers in California had revolted against Mexican rule and established (June 1846) the Bear Flag Republic, under John C. Fremont, before news of the (Mexican) war reached them. On July 2, U.S. Commodore John Drake Sloat landed at Monterey. He proclaimed U.S. jurisdiction on July 7 and two days later occupied San Francisco. However, California was by no means under U.S. control. Mexican authority in California was divided between two rivals, Pio Pico in Los Angeles and Jose Castro in Monterey. Following the American landing, Castro headed south, apparently to attempt reconciliation with Pico and resistance to the United States. However, Commodore Robert Stockton, who replaced Sloat on July 23, sailed down the coast and landed troops under Fremont at San Diego and others near Los Angeles. Pico and Castro fled on August 10.
Heavy-handed martial law administration precipitated a revolt in southern California in September. Led by Jose Maria Flores, the rebels had expelled the Americans from Los Angeles and San Diego by the end of October. On Dec. 6, 1846, Kearny, en route to San Diego, met the rebels in an indecisive action at the Battle of San Pascual. Joining Stockton, who had arrived at San Diego, Kearny defeated a rebel band near Los Angeles on the San Gabriel River on Jan. 8-9, 1847. On January 13, Fremont received the final surrender of the rebels and signed the Treaty of Cahuenga. At the end of the month another American expedition, "half naked and half fed," reached San Diego. The remnant of 500 Mormon volunteers under Phillip St. George Cooke, it had marched from Utah to Sante Fe and across scorching deserts in southern New Mexico and Arizona.
After a bitter dispute among Stockton, Fremont, and Kearny, the last established a provisional government in California. With California secure, the U.S. Navy attempted the conquest of Mexican ports on the Pacific, capturing Mazatlan (Nov. 11, 1847), Guaymas (Nov. 17, 1847), and San Blas (Jan. 12, 1848).
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was the unsatisfactory result of Nicholas Trist's unauthorized negotiations. It was reluctantly approved by the U.S. Senate on Mar. 10, 1848, and ratified by the Mexican Congress on May 25. Mexico's cession of California and New Mexico and its recognition of U.S. sovereignty over all Texas north of the Rio Grande formalized the addition of 3.1 million sq km (1.2 million sq mi) of territory to the United States. In return the United States agreed to pay $15 million (for Texas, California, New Mexico, essentially, the entire Southwest) and assumed the claims of its citizens against Mexico. A final territorial adjustment between Mexico and the United States was made by the Gadsden Purchase in 1853.
Acquisition of California (
http://www.lone-star.net/mall/texasinfo/mexicow.htm)
In a way, Mexico got off lightly. Some in the U.S. wanted to take the whole country of Mexico; but if we had, we would have probably been fighting rebels for years. One reason the Mexicans lost the Mexican war was that they were too busy fighting each other to effectively fight the U.S. Besides, they had the fool, Santa Ana, in charge. Hell, he couldn't even whip Texas in 1836. He had no chance against the U.S.
The Mexican war was started by the Mexicans -- although some say it was provoked by the U.S. when the U.S. annexed Texas, which Mexico still claimed, despite the establishment of the independent republic of Texas ten years before. As early as 1843, Santa Ana's government had informed the United States that it would "consider equivalent to a declaration of war . . . the passage of an act for the incorporation of Texas."
In any case, California was already owned by the U.S.A before gold was discovered in 1849. Acquisition of that territory had nothing to do with the discovery of gold. England had her eye on both California and Oregon. We wanted to grab them before she did. That is one reason given for the annexation of Texas. England was also eying it.