Going alright - It might be possible another few days just sorting my stuff out as I'm leaving Uni in a few days. I just want to get it how I want it to be before posting.
La República de Oro: A History of the Californian Republic
- Thread starter Zrew33
- Start date
Going alright - It might be possible another few days just sorting my stuff out as I'm leaving Uni in a few days. I just want to get it how I want it to be before posting.
I do appologise for the lack of an update I have been fairly busy with stuff that has been occurring in real life however I should be free at the present time to continue with my work.
1st Presidency of the Republic of California
George Marshall: 1842 – 1846
"California, the Sunshine Nation, A nation who's early year's was in the hand of a few men who had the power to sink or let sail this Great Country" - Michael C. Harvard, The Nation of Gold: California, 1998.
"California, the Sunshine Nation, A nation who's early year's was in the hand of a few men who had the power to sink or let sail this Great Country" - Michael C. Harvard, The Nation of Gold: California, 1998.
The planning for the Capital of Monterey [1] also came about in the early few months of 1842, with Marshall wanting to create a more efficient form of government, starting with the creation of a plan for the construction of the required Governmental Facilities. It was quite obvious that this was a long term plan as the capacity of California to undergo this construction was far beyond what it had in those early years. Many of the Governmental Heads had to make home in the buildings scattered across Monterey. Marshall set himself up in the Mexican Presidio or Royal Fort in the Centre of Monterey. This would ultimately become the site of the Presidential House. He used the site along with several members of his Government, such as Nathen Sutter. Pío Pico made home in the Customs House of Monterey which he slowly turned into the Californian Treasury House. It can be clearly seen that Monterey was being designed akin to that of Washington D.C, this can be clearly seen further by Marshall’s commitment by the Capital as the Political hub of the nation.
Immigration continued to grow as amount of settlers arriving to California increase drastically. The Numbers had dropped slightly during the war they picked up quickly once the news reached the world of California’s independence. Many continued to head to the mountain ranges In search of gold while others ventured towards the Central Valley to help with the farming that had begun to grow. Some also stayed in the coastal cities; these mostly came from Europe or the British Colonies of the Pacific such as Australia or New Zealand. People of all languages came to the Californian shores; one of the largest non-English groups was that of the Germans [2]. Those coming from the east soon arrived along highways carved out of the land by wagon wheel and hooves as the settlers moved across the great wilderness. This was where the bulk of Californian Immigration came from and those who heavily populated the Sierra Nevada Range and Central Valley. The Californian Government attempted to influence the regions in which this bulk of immigration arrived, to help with the growing population the Government tried to convince many settlers to move to the fertile agricultural regions of California. They helped with the ranches or cereal crops such as maize and rice. Rice became a popular crop to grow following the large influx of Chinese labour into the region which helped to influence the Californian culinary culture, one that blends the culture of many different nations. A lot of the settler first stayed in settlements such as Harris before moving out and creating their own communities. These communities required trade to survive which promoted a merchant class, those who set up shops across California allowing for trade of food, fur or tools to pass. The Californian Government encouraged this. Pico also gave certain companies the right to be able to carry Californian mail in its earliest postal system which helped alleviate the communication problems slightly. The Gold Rush didn’t just bring positives for California; it also brought certain ethic problems. As the setters move into the Sierra Nevada range they disturbed many of Native American lands [3], which lead to confrontation between the two groups. It wasn’t until active governmental intervention the tensions between the groups started to tie down. It was hard issue for the Californian Government to deal due to the Government's announcement at the creation of California to allow the Natives equal lives within the republic. This issue would not get resolved in the First Presidency with Marshall leaving it to Vallejo to sort out as he already had the connection to the Natives. This made it difficult for issue to be sort out as Vallejo was swamped in duties that he held.
Marshall was approached by the American Government in 1842 to discuss a possible border treaty between the US and California [4]. Frémont was requested to sort out the possible border following several incursions into Texas by that of Mexico. They wanted to ratify the borders of what the US claimed it owned. It ran from the Rio Grande to the supposed start of the Colorado and along a middle section of the Rocky Mountains. Marshall and instructed Sutter not to accept to any terms along California’s northern border. He didn’t want to give the British the impression that they were aligning with the United States concerning the matter. The Treaty which became known as the Californian-American Treaty or the Frémont-Sutter Treaty was signed on October 15th 1842. The treaty didn’t go entirely smoothly as Frémont would apparently become incredibly frustrated with that of Sutter who would simply ignore any comment towards the northern border. It took several weeks to get to an understanding between the two nations, which wasn’t helped to both Sutter’s poor handling and Frémont’s frequent outburst. This was an issue stemming mostly from the lack of experience of the government officials. However Sutter’s handling of Foreign Relations would improve as he spent longer in office.
The Californian Government response to foreign event was that of reactionary rather than trying to create a place for itself. This wasn’t too surprising due to the age of the nation. It lacked a trained army or navy to support its borders and coasts. It armed forces at this time consisted of untrained men who have been issued old Mexican weapons. California did retain some few hundred Mexican Soldiers who had decided to stay in California following the independence although they were pretty much useless when considering both the size of California and the armies of California’s neighbours. It was also a problem that the Government had to face following fears within the California Government over the sovereignty of California. Many feared that the United States would ignore any treaties and take California while they were week in comparison. Marshall was one of those people, he was incredibly fearful of what he considered his work being destroyed before it had even taken off. He took his issue to the British Ambassador in Monterey. With the help of Sutter they negotiated two treaties with the British. The Anglo-Californian Naval and Anglo-Californian Co-operation Treaty both signed in 1843 however they did not come into effect until several years later, especially in terms of the second treaty. The first treaty focussed heavily on the Californian Navy. California brought several ships from Britain, two Frigates and three Clippers. They arrived in early 1844. This along with the passage of the Ship Abandonment Act allowed the Government to seize the ships which had been clogging up the Bay area. This allowed them to use to ships for either materials for housing or be upgraded into further Military Ships. Many of these upgraded ships were quite poor in quality compared to those brought from Britain. The first treaty also called for Britain to send for officers to help train the sailors which would be based out of the San Francisco Naval School built in early 1845. The second treaty acted pretty much the same as the first treaty however it focused on California’s armed forces. However it was more based on training officers as a political alignment between the two nations. It also concluded with the construction of Sonoma Military School [5] in 1844 however it wouldn’t become fully active until 1850 although it would be used for schooling officers from late 1844. California’s Army would rise in number from 4000 or so Militiamen to about 8000 trained soldiers in 1844 and rising continually as the strength of California grew.
The treaties even had an effect on the Government with Marshall in light of Britain’s assistance changed Vallejo’s title from Head of the Militia to that of Head of the Army. This working relationship with Britain upset the United States’ officials in Monterey as well as the pro-US members headed by Isaac Graham. The US felt this relationship was an attempt to undermine US influence in the region while Graham and his followers saw this as Marshall going back on his word of trying to create a middle ground between relations of the US and Britain. Marshall dismissed that attacks by Graham by saying that it was just it was just a situational product while simultaneously counter attacking Graham by suggesting that he obviously wished for a weak California. Britain on the other hand enjoyed this relationship with California. They had hoped for the exact reason that the US was annoyed at. They hoped that California would be a useful ally on the west coast, although they didn’t want to wage war with the US as it was deemed unprofitable to do so they were still happy to find ways to contain the US and counter their influence. Although the rivalry between the US and Britain to be if anything minor it showed Britain’s continued willingness to boss around other nations. The problem that arose around the Oregon region was incredibly harmful to Britain’s profits if it ever came to war. Britain enjoyed the trade they gained from the United States however sources have pointed toward the issue surrounding Britain’s ego. That it didn’t want to be seen internationally that it could be bullied around by other nations, which would harm its image of being the top nation. This apparent view of Britain at this time helps to explain why it put effort into California, that being it would allow Britain to have another allied nation on the Continent which could help to “contain” the US.
The Territories of California especially those in the east were large areas of un-organised land. They were home to the Californian Trails, a few settlements and tribal regions. They soon became a hot bed of ruthless characters that used the nature of the regions or nefarious purposes. There was still honest folk living in the Northern and Southern Colorado regions however they were starting to be over-shadowed by that of gangs that pillaged the immigration trials or the newly built settlements. These problems soon reached the Government in Monterey. Marshall concerned that the rise of these gangs would put people from moving into California and therefore together with Vallejo created a solution. They organised the Colorado Rangers who job would be to patrol the trails and look after the settlements of the territories. They only numbered around 100 when it was first founded on September 1st 1843 however grew to around 1000 by 1850. Much like the Gold Rush the ideals of the Colorado Rangers soon became embedded into the Californian culture seeing its popularity rise in Californians film industry in the 1960/70’s as well as stories and tales from as early as the mid 1840’s soon drifted into the western settlements of Californians. Famous Rangers such as John Mayer and Frank Koln could be seen as some as the earliest celebrities in California. Many ended up rising higher in the ranks of the Californian Military such as with John Mayer becoming a high ranking General in the Californian Army. The Wild East as many Californians called the territories would never lose its sense of wonder even as California aged. Possibly due to its harsh environment it continued to capture the imagination of the entire country.
Historians have considered the Colorado Rangers akin to that of the monotheistic order of Europe in their organisation although even more have disputed this idea as a romantic view of the Colorado Rangers. The Organisation had a Commander who could be viewed as a General of the Rangers with under him other leaders of the respective Ranger zones. In the beginning the Rangers split themselves into 3 smaller sub-Divisions. The Northern Trail Division, the Colorado River Division and the Gila River Division, this was an attempt to have a specified focus of the rangers by giving them their own zones to work in. This eventually grew into many more sub-sectors, such as the Sierra Nevada Divison who was sent to protect the Gold Rushers from Native American attacks, of the Colorado Rangers before they were re-organised into a fighting force of the Californian Army in 1888. The Rangers proved a fairly low cost solution to a growing problem that Marshall was concerned about. Apart from a salary they effectively paid for themselves. It came to a point later in the Colorado Rangers history that they would be hired by Mayors of settlements to get rid of various bandits or other problems that plagued the eastern territories. This was soon put to an end with the First Commander of the Rangers, Joshua Shephard, in an attempt to counter the building in personal armies in the east as well as issues as it would interfere with Ranger attempts to end corrupt practices by officials in the territories.
Historians generally considered the first presidency being based around the laying of the foundations of the nation. Many of the talks that Marshall had, or at the least got Sutter to do, were on subjects which would help California itself in the future. Along with the Officer training help gained from Britain they also negotiated future plans for railways that would be built between the more populous regions of California. Although the railways themselves wouldn’t be attempted to be constructed for a few years due to California’s need to import the iron to build the tracks it still once again showed Marshall being California’s foundation builder. He wanted to railways to help improve the California’s economy by being able to transport the basics resources as well as help with communication as the distance between main settlements meant that information was harder to relay. Marshall was able to sweeten the deal with the British when the Great Famine hit the British Isles in 1846. In an effort to alleviate the problems hitting Ireland Marshall agreed to allow the free movement of Irish people. This really was a double positive for Marshall as he gained more people and a happier nation to support his Railways plans. By late 1846 California saw an increase of several thousand Irishmen and even some Scottish who joined the start of a Celtic exodus. Many of them founded a settlement of Patrick on the banks of the Sacramento River.
Marshall had agreed on numerous conditions with the British between 1845 and 1846 in his hopes of quickly connecting the growing settlements of California. Although it this ever increasing push towards a pro-British stance didn’t go unseen by the members of the Californian Government. Though many supported Marshall in his movements in the creation of California into a working nation, they still had issues when it came to choosing a side. The majority of the members of the Government feared that the Oregon issue would spill out and tangle California if they became too close to either power however irrational it may be viewed in the present day. Marshall continued to tell the Californian Government members that it was a negotiation with the British where out of necessity being they had more to offer at the moment. This however didn’t entirely solve the problem as the first Government split as it came towards the second presidential election of the Republic of California. People who made up the government who were seemingly fairly loyal started to whisper amongst themselves to whether Marshall would continue to be the President. Marshall tried to negate this splintering through gaining support in regions where the population was starting to boom. He focused on the San Joaquin Valley. Here many settlers arrived to help out with the agriculture and setting up of the ranches. The ranches especially started to make owners fairly wealthy. Marshall gained their support by setting up an agreement to split the Sierra Nevada region into two separate ones which allowed for the Ranchers in theory to gain more influence. This was passed though the Californian Congress with the help of Marshall’ remaining powerful friends, this created the Regions of Sierra and Nevada. This final push helps Marshall to secure his second term in office. He fought of his opponent Isaac Graham who wanted to pull California away from Britain however only gained a majority power in his home region of Sierra. Marshall managed to bring the southern regions back into his control through the railways. He suggested that Graham would want to pull away from Britain which would destroy any chance of a railway being constructed.
The next four years would be that of George Marshall once more.
Authors comments
[1] The planning was generally seen to by a personal project of Marshall as many evidence suggests. He didn't expect for the city of his dreams to be built over night however he did enjoy planning or what he thought it would look like.
[2] They helped to found many settlement which the most famous being Dresden, NV*
[3] This lead to series of attacks by both parties.
[4] This was preparation by that of the US once war with Mexico commenced.
[5] Although classed as a Californian Officer Training school it consisted little more than a shake with a board with the teacher being an old British officer or one that had annoyed someone higher up.
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Short part of my Timeline, mostly due to there not being much to discuss interms of the growth of California as it was atleast for the region an era of relative peace, however as tensions between the various parties in the US grow and California becomes more powerful I will be able to talk about more things. I hope this is acceptable by you wonderful folks. I look forward to hopefully discussing my project further with you.
2nd Presidency of the Republic of California
George Marshall: 1846 – 1850
"These metal roads will united this nation!" - Geroge Marshall, Patrick, SR, December 17th 1846
Winning the Californian Presidency for a second term allowed Marshall to effectively finish what he had started, without having to deal with another owner ruining his plans. It allowed him continue on his path of pushing towards a more modernised California so it wouldn’t be left in terms of efficiency. Although it should be noted that the amount of progression that occurred in California isn’t entirely comparable to that of Western Europe. Factors such as the expense of transporting the materials help as well as the base level of bureaucracy which would be required for California to be on the same level as Western Europe at this time. This however didn’t mean that Marshall was ready to give up, the railways were if anything required more so that ever during the second presidency. The massive boom in population following his open door immigration policy meant that the nation needed food to be able to support itself. As most of the agricultural grow was occurring in the Central valley region they needed a way to quickly transport the goods to the coastal regions before it spoiled. Marshall saw railways as being the answer. Following plans made with the British during his previous term Marshall’s network was starting to unfold. The first line ran from Baden (In the Joaquin District) to Patrick in late 1846 followed by the Patrick to Monterey, which ran by the Bay Area, in early 1848. The Monterey Coastal Line which ran along California’s coast towards Los Angles was finished in late 1849. These last railways gave much needed assistance to city and can be seen as one of the main reasons for its growth. As the early railway engines need to be maintained fairly regularly it created a new type of settlement growth. One which situated itself along the stopping points of the railway where maintenance would be done on the trains. Although the amount of track laid down would seem staggering for a newly formed nation of its development it should again be noted that the condition of the track and the overall effectiveness in its early stages has been debated deeply. The track was in the first years was poorly maintained and the trains were fairly inefficient although the Railways were not the only form of transportation available. Along the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers boats were used to transport goods as well as a network of roads that were built alongside the railways. This cost a lot, especially for a newly created nation. For the Railways the government sought the help of the wealthy families to help pay and own a section of the rail.
On the nation’s own it could easily be bullied by the larger nations such as the United States or even Mexico if it was dealing with internal problems. Thanks to California’s growing economy it was able to train for materials it needed such as the early imports of coal for the railways from Britain. This meant at least for Britain California continued to be an important trading partner as well as having other factors such as its position on the pacific coast. However it could also be argued that the peace Californians and Marshall enjoyed especially from that of the US was down the politics of the US itself. Henry Clay was elected President of the United States in 1844. His opposition to the an aggressive version of the Manifest Destiny allowed California to have a degree of relief when it came to possible fears of annexation, which Marshall had feared in his first presidency. Instead of pushing people towards the Pacific coast he wanted to focus on industrialisation of the United States, principally focusing in the north-east. The more helpful of acts that He past was with Great Britain, the Anglo-American Pacific Treaty gave the United Kingdom the Oregon Region which had been disputed over. This allowed California for the first time to have a set of consistent borders. Clay also opposed the annexation of Texas also lessening fears of increased United States intervention in California. Marshall felt that this was the time to secure a better relationship with the United States; it was also to help certain pro-US members of the Californian Government to calm down over further accusations of a being a puppet to the United Kingdom. Marshall’s second term again would have him bogged down in the opinions of opposition in the direction that he was taking California. Many of whom left he was being too liberal in his actions especially when it came to disturbances between the Native American’s and the Californians. Marshall directed the critics to the Californian constitution and flag which symbolised the connection that California must have with the natives. This however wasn’t fully supported by his critics as they felt that Marshall was disregarding Californian lives after the skirmishes between Settlers and Natives.
Regardless of the US President Clay to keep United States affairs out of Texas and Mexico he was forced by congress to intervene when Mexico invaded Texas in an attempted to retake it as it saw the United States unwilling at first to do anything about Texas’s annexation plea. Although Clay was eventually convinced to act on Texas behalf he only ordered the army to push towards the Rio Grande where he stopped. The American Army repelled all of the Mexican armies’ attempts to cross the River. In the peace that followed they pushed for the Texas to take all the Mexican Territory on its side of the Rio Grande. Once Mexico accepted, being forced by the series of revolts occurring within its own lands, Texas was formally annexed by the United States in 1848 as Clay felt there was not anything stopping the United States to do so following the war in which he originally opposed. Although Texas was eventually annexed Marshall still felt that trying to forge a relationship with the United States was the right direction to go. He felt they still didn’t wish to venture westward into Californian territory seeing that Clay was still overly willing to annex Texas in 1848.
California being a new nation allowed companies to grow quick without competition. Families became rich from every aspect of the newly growing Californian economy, from Shipbuilding and lumber to the Ranches which were now being pushed further afield with the Californian Government wanting the central valley to be predominantly crop based farming. Pío Pico himself became rich from the ranches following his departure from Californian politics. With the Gold Rush coming to a close it meant there were thousands of people now looking for employment which played straight into the hands of these new ventures. Many, with the help of a certain amount of government intervention, were pushed either North or East towards the Lumber mills or the vast expanse of the territories. People also moved south to the Los Angeles area in hopes of an easier time setting up more businesses. By 1848 Los Angles had grown to around 10 000, with the largest minority being of Chinese workers who had come to help build the railway. They created the first “Chinatown” in Southern California which didn’t come without issues. Sporadic riots occurred between the locals and the Chinese over racial issues. One major one that occurred in October 1848 required the local Army stationed there to step in leading to several arrests and three deaths. Regardless of the racial tension between the Californians and Chinese Los Angles became a centre of wealth in the south. Many of the owners of the railway, who they had brought sections, made home in Los Angles which was most likely due to it begin a central hub for the entirely of Southern California. However in comparison to the San Francisco, Los Angles were quite small. San Francisco in 1848 had a population of some 30 000 making it the largest settlement in California. California’s population itself was staggering, around 650 000 people now lived inside the nation. The sudden burst in population did not go smoothly with California still having to import thousands of tonnes of food to support its population. Thankfully the increase in the agricultural sector was helping to ease this burden. Even so the population would continue to rise with even more people emigrating.
The new group of people arriving was that of the Mormons who lead by Brigham Young started to settle around the Salt Lake in the Northern corner of the Northern Colorado Territory. It took a while before Marshall got wind of the new settlers in his nation. Marshall was fairly tolerant of religious practises in California between the Catholic and Protestant religious groups, even happy to let the Native American’s practise their native religion although he would have preferred if they practise Christianity, however he wasn’t happy with the practises that the Mormons brought. Specifically he didn’t enjoy the polygamy practises. In an attempt to either push the Morons on or reduce certain practises he confirmed with the Californian Court and Government to solidify that Marriage could only be with one spouse. This antagonised Young although before he could mobilise a form of militia Marshall had already called for the Northern Trail sector of the Colorado Rangers to venture towards the settlement of Great Salt Lake City to arrest Brigham Young if he tried to defy the act. This split the members of the Mormon expedition, between those who followed Young and those who wanted to stay and were happy to abide by the Californian Laws. The disgruntled Young was essentially forced to stay with many of their members unwilling to leave once more in search of a new land. However Young would only stay in Great Salt Lake City until 1852 when he and a few of his members continued into British Colombia in hopes of setting up there. This issue would continue to plague California for decades afterwards as people were arrested for either breaking the Polygamy law or inciting a revolt in an attempt to create a Theocratic Kingdom. Many of these arrests would be followed by riots. This also caused Marshall to set up a specific Ranger Group, the Salt Lake Colorado Ranger Sector to help police the region.
The Mormon incident would be the most exciting part of Marshall’s second presidency. At the next election he would step down as candidate for President of California although his influence would be seen until his death in 1864. In his place he nominated Andrew M. Clarke for the Federal Party, which intern turned into the Federal-Democratic Party in 1870, who ran against Lewis H. Grant of the Nationalist Party, which evolved into the Republican Party in 1862. Andrew Clarke eventually won the race to become president, who beat Grant in one of closest vote margin of any presidency in California’s early years. The Campaigns generally situated themselves around issues such as the continuation of California’s railways network, or its partnership with the United Kingdom. Clarke wanted to expand California’s armed forces and infrastructure even more which would have apparently stuck accord with many of the wealthy California’s who were eligible to vote when compared to Grant’s lacklustre views to foster better relationships with the US, with an idea to connect the two nation’s via railway. That idea put of many voters due to the ridiculousness of the thought, especially as much of the territory was not accurately mapped. January 1st 1850, George Marshall, the first President of California handed over the reins of a nation he had built to his successor, Andrew M. Clarke
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first post update ninja go!
Nice to know I've still got fans after the long periods of absense.
I hope you enjoyed it! Slowly working on a map of the Republic 1850
Nice to know I've still got fans after the long periods of absense.
Slowly working on a map of the Republic 1850
I can help you out with the map if you like, just PM me.
And I always wondered why the Irish immigrants didn't call their community "Saint/St Patrick" instead of just "Patrick".
I can help you out with the map if you like, just PM me.
It's almost done so I don't believe I will require much help on it, although it'll be a few days till it goes up as I'm away for a few days irl. However thank you for your offer
It's back baby!
Nice update. Can't wait for more.
Thank you once again!
The reason that Monterey was chosen to become the capital was due to it having various buildings which would have made it easier to start Governmental work. It being in the centre portion of the coastline also helped in choosing it. Los Angles was too far south and too close to the Mexican border at the time. San Francisco didn't have the baseline facilities that Marshall wanted.
Tbh now that I see it I do like the name Harrisfort better than Harris, so I'll probably end up retconning that.
To start with it was a mistake as I wrote it. However it just stuck, so I'm running with it being founded by a guy named Patrick, whom was Irish. I do just like the thought of people in 2015 in the TL argue over the orgin of the name. Either Saint or Person
Emperor RyRy
Banned
The California TL is being continued?!
YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!
EMPEROR RYRY AND HIS CALIFORNIA NATIONALIST HORDES! JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA
YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!
EMPEROR RYRY AND HIS CALIFORNIA NATIONALIST HORDES! JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA
Emperor RyRy
Banned
I think you mean San Francisco nationalist hordes.
Meh, once San Francisco has assimilated the rest of the state there WONT BE A DIFFERENCE!