The city of Los Angeles has its own unique and fascinating history. A few centuries ago, this metropolis was a small settlement. However, time has not stood still. So today, Los Angeles is considered the second most populated city in the United States, although the metropolis had every chance of remaining a Mexican city. Today we will look back through the pages of history and speak about the Mexican-American War, which has played an integral role in the life of Los Angeles. After all, before this historic event, the city of Angels was part of Mexico. Learn more about it on the pages of layes.info with a link to gorodaplanety.ru.
Los Angeles as part of Mexico: how things unfolded
The founding day of Los Angeles is considered to be September 4, 1781. It all started when Felipe de Neve, the governor of Las Californias, decided to establish new settlements in the region. Their purpose was to support the military garrisons. That’s how the new cities in California, which was then part of Spain, began to appear, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, San Antonio, San Jose and, respectively, Los Angeles. The first residents of our city were 44 people who came from Mexico, most of whom were Mestizos, a Latin American term for people of both Spanish and Native American heritage. Subsequently, people arrived in Los Angeles in small groups. It is worth noting that, at that time, the settlement had a long Spanish name that was difficult to remember.
The settlement gradually grew and, by 1820, had become the largest settlement in California. It was home to about 650 residents. Already a year later, New Spain, however, decided to secede from the Spanish Empire. Subsequently, a new state, the Mexican Republic, appeared, to which Los Angeles was a part of Mexico. Los Angeles was proclaimed a city in 1835, making it the formal capital of Alta California. Los Angeles continued to grow, with Europeans arriving from Europe and starting new lives in these lands. The population increased to two thousand people. However, Los Angeles was part of Mexico not for long, only 27 years.
The Mexican-American War: Los Angeles hostilities
All wars start over territorial conflict. The Mexican-American War is no exception. In May 1846, a war broke out between the United States and the Mexican Republic. On August 13, American troops entered Los Angeles. Martial law was imposed throughout California. However, by the winter of 1847, Mexico and the United States had signed a peace agreement. The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848, ceded to the United States a significant portion of Mexico’s territories, including California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming.
That’s how Los Angeles ended up being an American city. The first American governor of California was Bennett C. Riley. The new authorities set about organizing the city in their own way. A new building plan was created in Los Angeles, for Americans were eager to expand the street grid. The real estate market commenced to develop, causing a construction boom in the city. Under the old government, the homes of wealthy Spaniards were built in the central part of Los Angeles. However, Americans saw the urban structure differently, so the wealthy moved to the outskirts. Meanwhile, the poorer strata of the population remained in the center, including Mexicans, French, Chinese and Russians. We should add that it was from these communities that the present-day neighborhoods of the metropolis were formed.
Such was the history of Los Angeles and the city’s participation in the Mexican-American War. It was fortunate, speaking of which, that the authorities knew how to negotiate, thanks to which Los Angeles was not subjected to significant destruction. We hope you found our material informative and learned more about your hometown.