The fourth of July is symbolic for many reasons as the United
States of America declared its independence from the rule of the British
Monarchy. However, Britain had only settled the east coast establishing the thirteen
founding colonies. On the other hand, the catholic monarchy of Spain had
already invaded Mexico, and established settlement on the west coast by the
late 1770’s. The Spanish founding of California has helped fuel the “the
Californian Culture”. In Particularly Los Angeles, as in many parts of
California one can find the Spanish influence in architecture, urban
development, and the relationship with immigration. Yet this influence did not
necessarily come directly from the Spanish authorities but rather through the
diverse settlers with a myriad of skills and the economically self-reliant
institutions Spain used to settle the region.
The founding fathers of the revolutionary era are attributed
as the demigods that established this country. Yet, there are many other
individuals that aided to founding this country and not of any particular
European heritage. Mixed raced settlers took the primary role in settling
Alta-California under Spanish authority. Mulattos, Mestizos, Native Americans,
and Filipinos had settled the region decades before the Declaration of
Independence and the American Revolution.[1]
Manila Galleon trade had brought Spanish sailors—typica[2]
Before Missionaries established missions throughout the coast of California,
Spanish and Filipino traders had sailed off the coast for decades prior to
making landfall.
lly Filipino traders that boarded vessels in Manila.
All the while on the east coast British enterprises
established religious and economic settlements under charters.[3]
France also at the time occupied much of the north of the American continent,
and the French established military forts and fur trade routes.[4]
Spain on the other hand had utilized the methods of the British and French to
facilitate the spread of the Spanish monarchy. The European influence is
evident in the three institutions the Spanish used to settle California in the
late eighteenth century. Spain first established
religious institutions through the Mission system, and then founded presidios
and other secular communities to aid the religious settlements. Spain
anticipated the self-reliance of Californian settlements as opposed to England
or France who frequently traded from the main land to colonies.
Life in California under Spain during the British colonial
revolution meant hard work building new communities. Spanish authorities sent
diverse groups of settlers known as pobladores to found communities either
secular or to work on the presidio. However, the pobladores had to retain
skills and techniques that benefited the Spanish settlements. Professionals
craftsmen met the criteria and along with their families received allotted land
for their journey north.[5] In the secular communities families received
land for agriculture, while the presidios typically hired craftsmen and young
men to become soldiers in leather, or Soldados de Cuera.[6]
Spanish authorities described Los Angeles by the late 1760’s as the largest agricultural
city. The Rancho lifestyle made popular in Helen Hunt Jackson's Ramona evolved out of this era. Unfortunately
the growing agricultural community meant the destruction of the indigenous
culture.
The Tongva Indians had a much different relationships with
the Spanish as opposed to that of English settlers and the eastern tribes. Like
most Indigenous Californian Indians the many of the Tongva had been forced into
the Mission system, yet there were many that stayed in the region to work on
the agricultural fields. However, by the end the 18th century the
Tongva population had dwindled down to nearly two hundred.[7]
Los Angeles never experienced the extent
of conflict as in the east or the north such as the Yuma Massacre of 1781.[8]
Unlike the Wars in the east most Californian Indians were forced into labor on
the agricultural fields.
As the fourth of July
celebrates U.S.’s declaration of independence, remember not only California but
each state, city, and county has their own stories of independence. The
Revolutionary era came from and helped spread a sweeping movement for social
reform. Though the declaration itself is a courageous act and a marvelous accomplishment,
it has aided to the local historical efforts of all regions including California.
We should also celebrate the individual
efforts of independence and the drive for such accomplishments because social
movements such as the declaration of independence came from the cooperation of individuals.
Communities all over have stories of courageous individuals standing up the
same natural rights argued by the founding fathers.
[1]
Elosia Gomez Borah, “The Occasion of
Celebration of the Life of Antonio Mirada Rodriguez”, (El Pesdio Santa
Barbra State Historic Park 6/13/04).
[2]
Ibid,.
[3]
Alan Taylor, Colonial American A Very Short
Introduction, (London 2013).
[4]
Colin Calloway, First Peoples: A Documentary
Survey of American Indian History”, (Boston 2012).
[5]
Elosia Gomez Borah, “The Occasion of
Celebration of the Life of Antonio Mirada Rodriguez”.
[6]
Ibid,.
[7]
William Estrada, The Los Angeles Plaza:
Sacred and Contested Space, (Austin, 2008), 35.
[8]
Charles Chapman, A History of California:
Spanish Californian Instirtutions,( New York, 1921). 383-387.
Images- Tongva Image from MIlitantangeleno.blogspot.com, Solider and presidio from militaryhistory.com
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