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Who were Californios/Californians?
the races of Mexican, Spanish, and/or mixed Native American and African living in California
What's a rancho?
a large grazing, herding, and/or cultivated farm (ranch)
What's El Camino Real?
route connecting the 21 Missions; Spanish for “the King’s Highway”; became Highway 1 / Pacific Coast Highway (PCH)
What's a ranchero?
a farmer working on a rancho
What's a vaquero?
a Mexican and/or Spanish cowboy
What's "manifest destiny"?
a term coined by newspaper editor John O’Sullivan meaning the U.S. was destined (set aside for a special purpose) to expand it’s boundaries from “sea to shining sea” (Atlantic Ocean to Pacific Ocean)
What did Juan Bautista de Anza do?
opened the overland route from Mexico to CA; established the first settlement in San Francisco
What does it mean to annex?
to attach or join, as in adding a territory to a nation
What's the Bear Flag Republic?
CA’s nickname after its independence from Mexico, named after it’s flag design from the revolt
Who was St. Fr. Junipero Serra, and what did he do?
He established the twenty-one California Missions.
How did many (but not all) Californios feel about Native Americans?
Californios treated Native Americans like slaves
were jealous that they would get the best land in CA
hated Catholicism for treating indigenous people with dignity
What's Oregon Country?
What's the New Mexico territory?
the name for the region under the joint control of the United States and Great Britain, covering the modern states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho with the province of British Columbia
Mexican state that would become the U.S. states of NM, AZ, NV, CO, UT
What were the disputed reports about the California Missions?
one report stated that Missions’ Native Americans were “slaves in every sense of the word”
other primary sources say the work was very productive and treated Native Americans with dignity; human being made in the image and likeness of God
What did Gaspar de Portola do?
He was an explorer who helped establish/blaze El Camino Real with St. Fr. Serra.
Who were mountain men?
What was the Rendezvous?
American beaver trappers out west who adopted Native American culture and married Native American wives
summer convention of mountain men who networked, traded, shared news of trails/hunting grounds, partied
Who was James K. Polk and what did he do?
President of the U.S. who annexed TX, provoked the Mexican-American War and added CA & the New Mexico Territory
Who was William Henry Harrison?
former war "hero" General and President of the U.S. for 1 month because he caught a bad cold on his inauguration day
What's the 49th Parallel?
the globe’s line of latitude that became the northwest border of Canada and the U.S.
What was the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: formal ending of the Mexican-American War: Mexico received: $15 million and the U.S. promised to respect the religious and property rights of Mexicans remaining in the U.S. (the property rights weren’t respected); U.S. received: CA and New Mexico (future states of NM, AZ, CO, UT, NV)
What did Jedediah Strong Smith do?
What did John C. Fremont do?
Smith: 1st to trail blaze through the Rockies, Great Basin, Mojave Desert, San Bernardino Mtns, L.A., San Joaquin Valley; also caused many trappers and immigrants to be interested in CA
Fremont: nicknamed the "Pathfinder" for his exploration in CA, spread its fame, and participated in the Bear Flag Revolt
What's the South Pass?
What's the Oregon Trail?
What's the Santa Fe Trail?
What's the California Trail?
South Pass: a broad break through the Rockies and main route to Oregon or CA blazed by Thomas Fitzgerald or Robert Stuart
Oregon Trail: route from Missouri all the way to the Pacific Northwest
Santa Fe Trail: route from Missouri to the important trade hub Santa Fe blazed by William Becknell
California Trail: route that broke off the Oregon Trail in Idaho to head southwest to Sacramento
What caused the Mexican-American War?
What were the results?
Polk provoked Mexico into war (“you started it”): Mexico recognized the Nueces River (farther north) as their border with TX, U.S. recognized the Rio Grande (farther south) as their border with Mexico, Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to march past the Nueces River, Mexico rightfully saw this as an act of war and killed several American soldiers
Polk got a declaration of war from Congress because “Mexico spilled American blood on American soil”
Battles of Monterrey and Buena Vista: U.S. victories; Gen. Taylor caused Santa Anna to retreat; U.S. had superior guns
Battle of Veracruz: U.S. victory; General Winfield Scott invaded the port city
Battle of Mexico City: U.S. victory; Mexico fought very hard for 1 month; Gen. Scott victorious again; Mexican govt. surrendered
What were the goals of the California Missions?
Christianize Native Americans
draw Native Americans into Spanish culture
tutor indigenous peoples in farming and everything that made civilized life
give the thousands of Missions’ acres to the Native Americans once they were ready
Who was Fr. Magin Catala / what did he warn?
He was a Spanish Franciscan Catholic priest missionary in California.
He predicted the U.S. would conquer CA, “Another flag will come from the East…on account of their sins, the Californians will lose their land…children will give up their own religion.”
Fray Magín feared Americans would destroy the Catholic influence in California–a beautiful society and culture founded on the Catholic faith, which was the guiding force
What was the Bear Flag Revolt?
CA’s revolution against Mexico (1846, two months after Mexican-American War started)
CA was attractive to the U.S. as a port for trade, rich natural resources, Pacific Ocean for protection, & its natural beauty
Mexico outlawed beaver trapping; trappers ignored that and evaded Mexican authorities
Mexico made American immigration into CA illegal; Americans illegally immigrated anyway (with help from John Sutter hiding illegal immigrants at his fort in Sacramento)
“the Pathfinder” explorer John C. Fremont secretly stirred up a rebellion against Mexico
Bear Flag Revolt: American rebels won in Sonoma, raised the first CA flag, and declared CA an independent republic
Commodore John Sloat’s U.S. Navy squadron then captured Monterey, CA