CALIFORNIA’S HISTORY

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California’s History
After Mexico’s independence in 1821, the people in California started experiencing some gradual changes (Benson 89). Although it was regarded as a remote and sleepy province in the northern part of Mexico, it was a society undergoing dramatic transitions from the Spanish to the Mexican life. In a political sense, new laws were beginning to take root, new administrators took charge, and there was a change from the power of the missionaries to that of secular leaders. In a demographic point of view, there was an introduction of new complexities with the Americans, Russians and the Mexican settlers joining in. The secularization of the missions, the Bear Flag Revolt, and the foreign influence will be covered in this essay.
The decline of the missions had started even before Mexico’s independence. In the latter years of the 18th century, the aid that had been coming from the Spanish government started reducing. Those who were willing to be mission priests reduced in number. Also, Mexican independence speeded up the end of California’s mission system. The missionaries had been carrying out their operation in Mexico for about 60 years by the time Mexico’s independence came to reality. In 1823, the Franciscans built their final mission in California (Benson 98). The fact that they controlled vast lands made the republicans call for privatization of church property. In 1834, the secularization of the Mexican missions commenced, with the main objective being to redistribute half of the property to the Indians (Benson 109).

Within the next two years, the government seized the properties that were being controlled by the California mission. About 800 private landowners, the rancheros, had gained access to the mission’s cattle and land by 1846 (Benson 113). It was proof that secularization had taken root in the Mexican California.
The Bear Flag Revolt entered California’s history in 1846, running from June to July of that year (Benson 178). It was a rebellion against the government of Mexico with a group of American settlers claiming that California was fit enough to be an independent republic. Rumors had it that the Mexican government was planning a pre-emptive attack and American settlers believed every bit of it and John Fremont, a U.S. army officer, intensified the situation (Benson 182). The rumors can, therefore, be regarded as the main cause of the Bear Flag Revolt. William Ide and Ezekiel Merritt lead the revolt, and after their first success in Sonoma, California became an independent republic in the words of the two leaders. The name of the rebellion came from their flag which consisted of a bear and a star in the background. Fremont became the commander of the Bear Flaggers six days before learning that the U.S. had raised their flag over California in Monterey. Since that had been their objective right from the start, they decided to end their quest. California joined the U.S. in 1850, and the Bear Flag became the flag of the state of California in 1911 (Benson 186).
The main influence during the Mexican period came from Spain and the United States. Spain’s revolutionary events that undermined the remnants of the Spanish rule in their colonies lead to a push for independence in Mexico (Benson 193). It was this independence that later proved to have a great impact on the history of California. The transition from the Spanish powers to the Mexican powers triggered the changes that were seen in California. The influence from the U.S. mainly came from the rumors that were intensified by John Fremont. He made the American settlers believe that the Mexican government was planning to attack them. Therefore, the American settlers decided to be the first ones to act, and that grew to be the Bear Flag Revolt.
Work Cited
Benson, Nettie Lee. The provincial deputation in Mexico: harbinger of provincial autonomy, independence, and federalism. University of Texas Press, 2014.