Glasier point im Yosemitethal ,Californien

Title

Glasier point im Yosemitethal ,Californien

Description

View of the view point: Glasier point in the famous Yosemite National Park

ca. 1880

Artist

Anderwood

Historical Description

After the landings of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542 and Sir Francis Drake in 1579, who claimed the area for Spain and England, respectively (cf. Francis Drake's brass plaque), the European colonial powers largely lost sight of California's territory again. Other explorers, such as Pedro de Unamuno (1587), Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeno (1595), and Sebastián Vizcaíno (1602-1603) explored the coast. California as Upper California (Alta California), the later northernmost component of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, was not colonized until 1769 under the leadership of the Franciscan Junípero Serra. He founded the first of a total of 21 missions. In addition to these missions, military fortifications and civilian settlements were built. Meanwhile, the Indians' trade contacts with the North broke off during the severe smallpox epidemic that began in 1775. In 1812, a Russian base, Fort Ross, was established in present-day Sonoma County in northern California as a continuation and rounding out of Russian possessions in Alaska. After Mexican independence in 1821, California became a Mexican province. At the same time, immigration encouraged settlement. However, the first immigrants were driven out after Santa Anna came to power to preserve the mission stations. These events laid the foundation for decades of hostility among Californians toward the Mexican government. In 1836, an insurrection broke out under the former customs inspector Alvarado, who eventually had to be confirmed as governor of California by the impotent government. Johann August Sutter, in California since 1839, was granted permission to build a settlement, to which he gave the name "New Helvetia". It quickly became a thriving colony with 20,000 head of cattle, three horse mills, two water mills, a sawmill, a tannery and over 50 houses. In 1845, the U.S. annexed the Republic of Texas, which led to a very tense relationship with Mexico, which rejected the Americans' offer to purchase California. The Monterey Junta, formed by Californios under José Castro, attempted to keep Alta California out of the war by seceding from Mexico. However, even as the junta was debating whether to favor independence or annexation to another state, American settlers declared California's independence (Bear Flag Republic) in May 1846 and proclaimed their own Republic of California. Unbeknownst to the players in California, the Mexican-American War had already begun over the disputed territory between the Rio Grande and the Nueces River. An army under Stephen W. Kearny was sent from Santa Fe to San Diego and Alta California and conquered what is now California against little Mexican resistance. In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico was forced to cede not only Texas but all of the north, that is, California, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico, and all formally Mexican territories far outside its actual influence in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. Numerous fortune seekers were now attracted by the gold discoveries that began in January 1848, triggering the California Gold Rush. President James K. Polk's speech to Congress, delivered on December 5, 1848, not only made the gold discoveries in Sutter's territory widely known, but also intensified the immigration movement. Sutter had tried to keep the find a secret, but news spread quickly. Gold seekers and fortune seekers came to California in large numbers, contributing to a widespread breakdown in law and order. Hundreds of thousands scoured the earth, and the Sacramento River Valley had become the "golden" West. Eventually, the government recognized the unlawful conditions, as this had made the U.S. a major gold exporting country. On September 9, 1850, California finally became the thirty-first state to be admitted to the United States. In 1854, Sacramento was named the capital of California. Since California did not hold slaves, it adhered to the Union during the Civil War, but played virtually no role because of its great distance from the theater of war.