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Greetings!
I've been working on a number of events recently related to Colton Hall and the 175th of California. 176 years ago, the Constitution Convention was held here in Monterey...but what was next? Why was it unique?
Well California was the only state that called their own Constitution Convention - similar to what the forefathers of 1776. General Riley did so without the authorization of Congress or the President, chose to become the 31st state, elected a Governor and representatives to the Senate and Congress. The representatives then travelled to Washington DC to compel California to become the 31st state! There is a lot more history involved there...but the spirit and action of California lives on. In 1849-1850, California was not yet a territory, and not yet a state. So the Alcalde government continued - with that person serving the combined executive, legislative, and judicial areas of government. Walter Colton (builder of Colton Hall) was not the first Alcalde in Monterey, nor was he the last; but he was the first American Alcalde. Although California was now part of the United States and the citizens were being taxed, they had no government nor representation. (Remember the saying "taxation without representation" from the American Revolution?)
From reading the reports from the 1849 Convention at Colton Hall, I was struck by Jacob Snyder's words as he described his reasoning of the importance of the Convention here in Monterey:
He who ascends to mountain-tops shall find
The loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow;
He who surpasses or subdues mankind,
Must look down on the hate of those below.
Though high above the sun of glory glow,
And far beneath the earth and ocean spread,
Round him are icy rocks, and loudly blow
Contending tempests on his naked head.
And thus rewards the toils which to those summits led. -Byron
“It is true, sir, that the great government of the United States, of which we claim to be a part, should be rebuked by California! Not only the emigrants to their country, but the foreign residents and native Californians, have suffered from the negligence of the home government. I do not make these remarks because I now love my country and her institutions less, but because I love that the freedom of speech guaranteed by our forefathers. And I glory in the privilege which allows the poorest man in our Republic to condemn his rulers when they act unjustly, as they have done toward California.”
California, as we now know, was added as the 31st state to the Union in 1850. The Constitution created public schools across the state and created the judicial system used by the state. Working with the State Supreme Court to host public students and the State Supreme Court at Colton Hall earlier this month brought these goals together, 175 years later, just as the Delegates would have wanted.
Warmly,
Brian
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