Question

[diane]

From what I remember learning in the California public school system, the Bear Flag Republic was very short lived. Basically, a bunch of Anglos living in Sonoma seized control of the weak Mexican government there without firing a shot, and then when the Mexican-American War started, they turned the place over to the US Army. The California Republic only lasted a month or so, and they never established a government, much less gain recognition from a foreign country. They just stole the place fair and square and helped get it absorbed into the US. Once the gold rush hit and population soared, they were able quickly to get California admitted as a state in Sept 1850.

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Of course, as many people have pointed out over the last 160 years or so, the bear on the Bear Flag looks more like a pig.

It wasn't hard to grab California - Yerba Buena was the very last outpost of Spanish power, and Mexico kind of forgot about it. That's why the old cannons were incredibly dangerous when they hauled them over to Alcatraz and Angel Island to thwart the Confederate naval invasion. (Which consisted of one ship that never left the Bay.) The piggish looking Bear Republic was just a temporary thing and, what do you know, our old pal Fremont was hanging in the background. Don't think California has gotten over him yet!

But, as far as independent nations go, what about us war whoops? There were hundreds of sovereign nations if you count us. (And, yes, we do count. We became citizens, too...well, most of us!)