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The California Republic (Spanish: República de California), or Bear Flag Republic, was an unrecognized breakaway state from Mexico, that for 25 days in 1846 militarily controlled an area north of San Francisco, in and around what is now Sonoma County in California.
- Spanish, indigenous languages, and English
- Rebellion Begins Brewing in Texas
- The U.S. Sets Its Sights on California
- The Bear Flaggers Strike
- 25 Days of Independence
In the mid-19th century, Mexico still controlled vast swaths of the what is now the Southwest United States. In 1835, a revolt began in the Mexican province of Texas. Although the United States was officially neutral, Americans like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston led a rebellion against Mexican rule, and hundreds of Americans, including members ...
Enter Charles Frémont, a captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers. Newly elected President James K. Polk, whose annexation of Texaswas about to set off the Mexican-American War, sent Frémont on an expedition to survey the area of the Great Basin and the Great Salt Lake. Polk secretly instructed Frémont to invade California if war w...
Frémont re-entered California in late May and met with a group of American settlers in the Sonoma Valley on June 8. Having refused a Mexican order to leave, the settlers were primed to launch the “spontaneous” revolt Frémont hoped to incite. On June 10, settlers and members of Frémont’s expedition attacked a Mexican lieutenant and made off with his...
For the rest of June, the Bears and Frémont’s men engaged in skirmishes with Mexican forces, seized key points around what is now San Francisco, and rallied more white settlers to their cause. At the beginning of July, Commodore John Sloat, commander of the U.S. Navy’s Pacific fleet, arrived at Monterey Bay. Like Frémont, he had been ordered to att...
Nov 9, 2009 · The Bear Flag Revolt was a short-lived rebellion of American settlers in California against the Mexican government in 1846. It was led by John C. Fremont and William Ide, who declared California an independent republic with a flag of a bear and a star. The U.S. military occupied California after the revolt and it joined the Union in 1850.
And on July 5 the insurrectionists elected Frémont to head the “Republic of California.” But the Republic was quick to fall. On July 9 forces under Commodore John D. Sloat occupied San Francisco and Sonoma, claimed California for the United States , and replaced the bear flag with the American flag.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
California was partitioned in its past, prior to its admission as a state in the United States. What under Spanish rule was called the Province of Las Californias (1768–1804), that stretched almost 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from north to south, was divided into Alta California (Upper California) and Baja California (Lower California) in 1804.
Nov 16, 2009 · On June 14, 1846, American settlers in California rebelled against the Mexican government and proclaimed the short-lived California Republic during the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846. The political situation in California was tense as Mexico was home to only a small number of settlers and the Americans distrusted their leaders. The rebels won a few minor skirmishes with Mexican forces and raised the flag with a bear and a star.
Led by American army officer John C. Frémont, the revolt resulted in the proclamation of California as an independent republic. The Bear Flag, featuring a grizzly bear, a red star, and the words “California Republic,” became the official state flag in 1911.
