Themes in American History

The focus of our course is on history relevant to that of New York.  However, while learning of the transition in New York history my curiosity grows for that of the unmentioned California cities.  For my post i decided to compare and contrast California with New York during the Civil War.  It is unclear if between 1800 and 1865, cities were established in California.  The text mentions that California was divided into upper and lower California at the time.  California officially became a state in 1850 and surprisingly played an important part during the Civil War.  Both upper and lower California belonged to the free Union but California had strong confederate ties because many southerners moved to the lower California area during the war.  During the civil war many confederates wanted control over lower California because of the large amount of gold present in that area but also because after the Union blocked off Southern ports, confederates wanted control over the southern California harbors.  Similar to the city of New York at this time, California was very involved in the civil war and had freed slaves living there as well.  However California was not as much of a large trade center in the United States and was just being discovered for what it was actually worth.

information taken from:  http://www.drumbarracks.org/Original%20Website/California.htm

Tags: California, civil war, gold

Comments Off on California cities during the Civil War