Viva California! - The Concise History of the Republic of California

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Introduction
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    • Patrician Lipwig

    I - PROLOGUE

    A moment ago we had a decision to make José. We could negotiate with the Tyrant, or ensure the flag of independence flew forever. It seems the decision has been made for us. Now there's nothing left to do but fight. Viva California!
    - "President" Juan Bautista Alvarado after being fired upon by Mexican troops on the Sonora border. January 14, 1837    ​


    California, the golden land by the West Coast, a nation which shaped the North American Continent and the Pacific World. Where unforgiving deserts meet fertile valleys and the mighty sea. How does one starts the story of California? It is one of the storyteller's oldest axioms that the best place to start is the beginning. And so we shall start it there.

    By the 1830s the Provinces of Alta and Baja California were some of the most distant and unrepresented within the Republic of Mexico. Their history had been one of political division, as their Spanish colonizers were constantly unsure of how to administer "Las Californias". From independence until 1836 California had been administratively divided between Alta California, with its capital in Monterey, and Baja California, with its capital in La Paz.

    1650660018945.png

    Administrative map of Mexico in 1836 (before the new constitution which united both Californias)​

    This division spread to culture and economy. Most of Alta California was sparsely populated and poorer, its economy reliant on extractive businesses such as fur-trapping, and increasingly more aimed at trade with American businesses rather than Mexican interests. Its capital of Monterey, held a a distinct personality, and hosted many Californios bureaucrats that often times rejected the authority of Mexico City outright. Since 1820, in fact, Alta California had seen constant rebellion, as Governor after Governor was replaced and forced to either retire (if they were Californios) or flee back to the capital.

    The southern area of Alta California, as well as most of Baja, on the other hand, was dominated by great Ranchos (Ranches). It was a wealthier and more densely populated area, where the great Vaqueros of Los Angeles and San Diego roamed, its cattle economy much more ingrained in the Mexican sphere. Just as Monterey frequently resisted Mexico City, so did these southern Californios in turn resist Monterey.
    1650660536081.png

    A southern Vaquero​

    The constant political turmoil of California came to a breaking point in 1836. Nicolás Gutiérrez, the latest in a long series of Mexican military commandants appointed to oversee Alta California arrived by September of the previous year. His rule proved brief as his unpopularity led to his replacement by the Oxoacan born Mariano Chico in April, 1836. Chico proved no more popular among the Californios of Monterey, and, alleging the danger of revolt, fled back to the capital under the pretext of rasing troop (in fact, this was most likely a excuse for him to escape while saving face). His departure led to the return of Gutiérrez, but by that point a new crisis was emerging.

    The Mexican Constitution of 1836, forged by General-President Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana, replaced the previous federal model with a centralist one. Among the changes, it unified Alta and Baja California into the single Province of "Las Californias". A much more problematic consequence was that it essentially voided much of the autonomy enjoyed by the provinces. In the face of this loss of authority, the political elite of Monterey revolted.

    At the helm of the November 1 Coup was former governor Juan Bautista Alvarado and the brothers José and Manuel Castro (José also a former Governor). Influential members of the Monterey Provincial Legislature, Alvarado and the Castros had a long history of resisting central authority. Their previous attempts to secularize and distance Alta California from the Mexico City government had been met with resistance (not only from Mexican authorities, but from southern Californios as well). This time they were committed to bringing about change.

    The popular revolt was met with widespread success in Monterey and most of Alta, and by the November 3 Alvarado, the Castros, and other "revolutionaries" signed the Californian Declaration of Independence:

    "The most excellent Deputation of Upper California unto its inhabitants.

    Californians:

    Heaven favors us; undoubtedly you are its select few, and this is why you are guided propitiously to happiness. You might have been until now the unfortunate beings of civil factions, whose leaders, satisfied with a passing triumph, pressed you to the limit of your docility and sufferings. You swore solemnly before God and man to be free or to perish rather than to be slaves. Thereby you adopted forever the federal constitution of 1824 as the only social and governing pact that you were to obey. Your government was organized at the expense of many sacrifices that unnaturalized sons found convenient to amass their fortunes and to develop their criminal tendencies. So that when it seemed that you were a certain patrimony for the tyrant aristocrats, you waived the banner of free men and said, “Federation or Death is the Californians’ fate !”

    Thus you have exclaimed, and this so patriotic cry will forever be firmly engraved in our hearts, where the eternal and sacred flame of love of country burns. You have tasted the sweet nectar of liberty and you will not share it with impunity with the bitter cup of oppression !

    California is free and it will cut off all relations with Mexico until the mother country cease being oppressed by the present ruling faction known as the central government. In order to accomplish such a grandiose and interesting purpose, all the inhabitants of this ground must unite and form one single party, one single mind. Be unanimous, Californians, and you will be invincible if you employ all the available resource at your disposal. Only proceeding in this manner can we prove to the world that we are firm in our convictions, and that we are federalists and free men–that we prefer death to slavery.

    José Castro
    Juan Bautista Alvarado
    Antonio Buelna
    José Antonio Noriega"     [1]

    Yet in all likelihood, this "Republic of California" was not meant to be a serious Independence Project. Alvarado hoped to force Mexico City to grant Monterey greater autonomy with the threat of Independence. Busy with the war against another breakaway in the form of Texas, Santa Ana would be less inclined to put much resistance, and negotiations seemed likely to the Californios.

    On January 14, 1837 Alvarado and José Castro, alongside a number of aides and lesser members of the revolutionary circle traveled south to begin formal negotiations of greater autonomy. They were met on the Sonoran border by a number of Mexican soldiers. For over a century Californian Historiography has stated that the soldiers were there to arrest Alvarado and the other members of his party. Mexican writers, on the other hand, affirm that the soldiers were there to provide an escort. Regardless of the truth in the matter, the ensuing confrontation led to a firefight that left 4 Mexican soldiers and 6 of the Californian delegation, among them one of the representatives (Don Filipe Galeno), dead. [2]

    Alvarado and his party fled back north to Monterey, and from that point the "Republic of California" transformed itself from a bluff to a very serious Revolutionary Project.
    1650661108814.png

    Flag of the California Republic [3]​
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    [1] This document is real, as is the context described so far.
    [2] This is the POD, as IOTL no firefight took place.
    [3] This is the actual flag utilized by Alvarado and his fellow "revolutionaries".
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    What is this?
    This is my new Timeline.
    What style will it take?
    I will attempt to write it from the perspective of a Californio historian living within the world depicted, packed with fictional historiography.
    How much time will it cover?
    Hopefully, it will go from the Californian War of Independence to present day
    How in-depth will you go?
    Not too in-depth, it is a "concise history", after all.
     
    Last edited:
  • Index

    • Tones Overthinks IT

    Glad to see someone able to take on this concept in more detail. People like to talk about California becoming its own country in the modern era which would be impossible, but I rather like the idea of what if it became one back at the beginning. What would it have become if it wasn't part of the US and could forge its own path?
     
    Tabs

    Tabs

    Watched, but I'll admit I'm a bit sad-I had plans to do my own California Republic TL in the near future. A shame..... But hey, I have other ideas. Very interested to see what's next!
     

    HonestAbe1809

    Tabs said:
    Watched, but I'll admit I'm a bit sad-I had plans to do my own California Republic TL in the near future. A shame..... But hey, I have other ideas. Very interested to see what's next!
    Click to expand...
    You can still do your timeline. It's not like it's against the rules to have two people write a timeline on the same subject!
     
    II - War of Independence
  • Index

    • Patrician Lipwig

    II - The War of Independence (1837-1839)
    ​
    The Californian War of Independence proved a complex, multifaceted and bloody affair that blended high politics, Revolution, Civil War and social anarchy. For the sake of brevity, and not to do a disservice to such a pivotal moment in Californian history, this book will offer only an overview of events. [1]

    Upon returning to Monterey from their failed mission to Mexico City, Juan Bautista Alvarado, José Castro and their closest allies were convinced that simple threats of secession would not persuade Santa Ana to come to the negotiating table. As Alvarado put it, “The choice of Revolution has been made for us”. [2] The news of their firefight with Mexican troops reached Monterey faster than their company, and upon setting foot on the capital of Las Californias, Alvarado and party were greeted by a united legislature and reception committee. Chief among those in the committee was Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, Alvarado’s uncle (though they were of almost the same age), and close political advisor. The very next day, on January 21 1837, Alvarado, backed by Castro to his left and Vallejo to his right, gave a speech before the Provincial Legislature calling for an “official condemnation of Santa Ana’s government, and declaration of perpetual Independence”. The three men, all close friends since childhood, and tied together by familial bonds (Castro was Alvarado’s brother-in-law while Vallejo was his uncle), represented the Californio elite in Monterey, and were widely popular not only among the upper ranchers but also common people. The decision passed with wide margins in the Legislature. [3]

    1650942912056.png
    1650942865322.png
    1650956083293.png

    José Castro, "President" Juan Baustista Alvarado and Marcello Vallejo: The Informal Triumvirate​

    On every other front, however, there was division and indecision. What was this California Republic to look like? How was an army to be formed and who would command it? Would there be foreign aid? Would Baja California be part of this new nation, considering there was still so little integration between the newly united Provinces? On most of these decisions, José Castro proved himself the most vocal. Strongly anti-Mexican, Castro called for the whole of Las Californias to form a single federalist republic, much inspired by the model of the United States. The one with the most military experience of the informal “triumvirate” Castro was elected Supreme Commander of the Army of California, while Alvarado was, for the second time, declared President of the Republic of Las Californias. [4]

    Not all of California, however, accepted Independence. As news from the declaration spread, the southern ranchers in Los Angeles and San Diego refused to acknowledge Monterey’s new Republic. Under the command of Carlos Antonio Carrillo, unilaterally elected “legitimate” governor of California by the Los Angeles city council, the southern Californios pledged their loyalty to the central government of Mexico.

    The Army of California was not an easy thing to form. At the time, the whole of Alta California had 29,000 people, with Monterey housing 2500 (most of these Californios, but with about 500 Natives and a few hundred Americans). Baja California, which could no be counted on for the war, had an additional 20,000 people. In whole, the Republic of California was very sparsely populated. [5] The army, formed under the command of José Castro, departed Monterey on March 15 with 800 Californio regulars, as well as 200 American volunteers under the command of the fur trapper Isaac Graham (who had been instrumental in securing the initial Alvarado Coup which proclaimed the Republic. Their mission was to subdue the south and prevent a Mexican incursion.
    1650954272674.png

    The Army of the Californias raised by José Castro​

    The first battle of the War took place On April 3 1837 in Santa Maria, not too far off Los Angeles. It proved a Rebel victory, as Castro’s forces fought of a southern militia force with heavy casualties for the later. The victory emboldened Castro to launch a quick march to Los Angeles, in the hopes of securing the city. His troops were harassed by Vaquero militias who would launch multiple raids but, by April 10 he had managed to reach the outskirts of the city. The First Battle of Los Angeles, against the southern forces under the command of Rancher Andres Dio proved bloody for both sides, but in the end the southern forces retreated to the city. Castro, making use of the little artillery that was made available to his army, bombarded the rudimentary fortifications of the city, but his attempts to take Los Angeles proved fruitless. Constant raids and harassment by vaquero cavalry, combined with Castro’s refusal to kill and seize southern cattle, forced the Army of California to retreat. [6]

    Things deteriorated further to the rebels by July, when a Mexican army under the command of Manuel Micheltorena arrived in California, tasked by Santa Ana with putting down the rebellion. From this point on the war deteriorated into a guerrilla affair which severely damaged the south. An attempt by Michelterona to push north to Monterey was met in disaster when he was ambushed by Castro’s forces on the Battle of San Luis. In turn, Castro faced a lack of supplies, funds, and a deteriorating morale, and an inability to break the Mexican Army head on. Then there were the Americans. Graham’s party had little of their Californian employer’s calms when it came to pillaging. Their numbers also swelled as new volunteers arrived from the United States, attempting to capitalize on Monterey’s promise of reward for service. The participation (and death) of these Americans in the guerrilla war sent shockwaves through the United States, which was already debating what to do with the Texan question.

    In Monterey, morale was low, and Vellejo went so far as to suggest to Alvarado (in private) that they should enter negotiations with the American government to be officially annexed. The suggestion was categorically dismissed. Only the resupply of the city by British sailors and the growing trade with the United States kept Monterey from starving.

    But if the Californios were in dire straits, the Mexicans were not far better. Santa Ana failed constantly to supply Michelterona’s army with reinforcements or even basic supplies, and the Mexican general did not hesitate to confiscate cattle and land to feed and house his troops. His installment as Governor, in the place of the Californio Carrillo completely alienated the southern Californios who, though disliking Monterey, enjoyed a Mexican governor even less. In essence, by early 1838, Michelterona was governing a hostile southern California, and any local militias had either disbanded or joined the rebels.
    1650954382811.png

    Manuel Michelterona​

    The breaking point came with the Marsh Affair. Don John Marsh was an American rancher who owned significant land in southern California. He had initially opposed the rebel move, siding with his fellow southern ranchers. The treatment of rancher’s property by the Mexican Army, however, alienated Marsh, and when Mexican troops demanded he hand over 500 heads of cattle, he refused. His ranch was subsequently raided and his house burned. The cattle was taken by force and Marsh was forced to seek shelter in Los Angeles (though he was not placed under arrest). The actions galvanized American interest in the conflict, and by May 20 1838 American envoys had reached Monterey. [7] The Second Battle of Los Angeles could not have come at a better time, as Castro’s forces, enlarged by many former southern Californios joining its ranks, laid siege to the town. Michelterona chose to confront the rebels head on and, in the decisive battle of the war, was forced to retreat back to town. Though far from a decisive victory, his failure to break the rebels there and then made it clear to him that the conflict was unsalable. On June 13, 1838, he officially surrendered to Californio forces. Not soon after Castro and his Army of California marched south, toward Baja, in order to secure their southernmost territory.
    1650954649636.png

    Second Battle of Los Angeles, by Alfonso Huerta​

    Though the war dragged on for another 8 months in the manner of skirmishes and raids, the Second Battle of Los Angeles, and American diplomatic support for the breakaway Republic all but ensured Californian victory. The Treaty of Los Angeles was signed on February 25, 1839. Present were Californian president Juan Bautista Alvarado, José and Manuel Castro, Mariano Vallejo, southern Californios Carlos Carrillo and Pico Dio, American envoy Richard Grant, Mexican representative Ricardo Ademar de Maria, and many others. The Treaty secured independence for the California, comprised of the former province of Las Californias (Alta and Baja). [8]

    Independence had been won. North and South had been united in their struggle for liberty. The much awaited Constitutional Convention would soon meet in Monterey to decide what the victory had been for.
    -------------------------------------
    [1] For seminal analysis of the War of Independence see Victor Porto, Free California: The Struggles for Independence (Monterey University Press, Monterey, 1978); Santiago de la Cruz, The History of Californian Warfare: From Independence to the Pacific War (Marshal & Sons Publishing House, Los Angeles, 1995) and Jeremy Blackwood, José Castro Volume I: Soldier (Baja California Press, La Paz, 2008). For perspectives from the Mexican side, see Ludovico Sanchez, The Crippling of Mexico: The Wars of Secession (Mexico City University Press, Mexico City, 1958) and Maria de La Paz, The Avoidable War: How California could have been preserved (Oaxaca Books, Oaxaca, 1999)
    [2] The veracity of this phrase has been much debated among scholars. Regardless of factual truth, the myth surrounding it persists in popular culture to this day.
    [3] Annals of Californian Congress, 1836 - Tome 1, P. 03, Preface.
    [4] There can be no doubt that these 3 shared a very close bond of family and friendship. This bond, however, was not without flaw, as will be seen further on.
    [5] And these numbers might have been exaggerated by the Mexican government, attempting to pass their colonization projects in Alta California as more successful than they actually were.
    [6] Santiago de la Cruz, The History of Californian Warfare: From Independence to the Pacific War (Marshal & Sons Publishing House, Los Angeles, 1995), P. 89
    [7] More recent historiography is critical of the extent in which American influence was crucial or not for the end of the War. Ludovico Sanchez sees the American threat as having been pivotal, while Blackwood believes that even without American involvement the was already lost to Santa Ana by the aftermath of the Second Battle of Los Angeles.
    [8] There's an ongoing debate concerning how much the Treaty had an impact on Santa Ana's policy concerning Texas.
     
  • Index

    • Patrician Lipwig

    Tones Overthinks IT said:
    Glad to see someone able to take on this concept in more detail. People like to talk about California becoming its own country in the modern era which would be impossible, but I rather like the idea of what if it became one back at the beginning. What would it have become if it wasn't part of the US and could forge its own path?
    Click to expand...
    Thank you. Yes people like to theorize about California as the "Bear Republic", but they rarely go as far back as 1836. California, just like Texas, was having severe issues with Mexico's central government (for very different reasons), and it breaking away from Santa Ana and pursuing its own republican experiment does not seem that unlikely.
    Sojourner85 said:
    Will you be making maps for this TL?
    Click to expand...
    I have one planned for the next update concerning the Constitutional Convention. But haven't gotten around to making it. Why, you volunteering:biggrin:?
    Tabs said:
    Watched, but I'll admit I'm a bit sad-I had plans to do my own California Republic TL in the near future. A shame..... But hey, I have other ideas. Very interested to see what's next!
    Click to expand...
    Well, in that case, hope not to disappoint!
     

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