Arizona Statehood
a) Create a chronological narrative of 750-1,000 words describing and analyzing the events that impacted the process of Arizona becoming a state. Include the key events from the following periods in Arizona history:
i) The Preterritorial Period
(1) The Spanish Period
(2) The Mexican Period
(3) U.S. Controlled Period
ii) The Territorial Period
iii) The impact of the Progressive movement on the creation of the Arizona constitution, including the declaration of rights, ballot initiatives, and recall of judges.
Arizona history goes back to prehistoric peoples down to it becoming the 48th state admitted to the union in 1912. More than 20,000 years ago, prehistoric peoples lived in the area that is now known as Arizona. Later, people we consider Native Americans lived there. The reason we know this history is that archeologists have found remnants of an early civilization in many parts of the state. Due to the studies done by scientists, it is assumed that a huge drought caused the people to either move to other areas or to die out.
A civilization known as the Hohokam built canals using local rivers which have been studied and in some cases, copied in modern times. Different Native American peoples lived in the Arizona lands through the centuries: Pueblo, Apache, and Navajo. Almost inaccessible cave dwellings have been attributed to the Pueblo Indians and a substantial number of Native Americans still are very much a part of the state population in Arizona.
In the 16th century, Spain sent explorers to the area to try to find the mysterious Seven Cities of Gold. A Spanish priest was sent to confirm the existence of the cities. No one really found those cities, but the stole all the riches they could and decided to colonize the area and take whatever else was available or use it to any other advantage. In 1540 Francisco Coronado and his army of men ended up in Arizona looking for the elusive Northwest passage to sail to the Orient. Coronado found the Grand Canyon instead and the whole matter was considered a failure by Spain. However, he and his men had made their mark in trying to control all the people with whom they came in contact, and part of that was “civilizing” them and making them Christians. They brought over missionaries in order to do the converting and hopefully getting them all under control of Spain.
In the 19th century Mexico declared its independence from Spain engaged in what is known as the Mexican War. Mexico took over the area of Arizona which actually had few inhabitants.
When James K. Polk was elected in 1844, he stuck the question of adding Texas to the ongoing Oregon dispute, which made a compromise, of sorts on the expansion of the country. Northerners, of course, were more in favor of want to get the Oregon Country and the Southerners who favored expansions wanted to add Texas to the union. Congress approved the adding of Texas before Polk even formally took office. Texas had declared independence from Mexico, but Mexico had not really released the Republic of Texas from their domain. Therefore, voting to add Texas to the U.S. set the country up for a war with Mexico, which broke out on April 24, 1846.
When the U.S. went to war with Mexico a few years later, and was pretty much beaten in every turn, the U.S. obtained the area north of the Gila River with the treat to end the war in 1848. In 1850, land in what is now Arizona and New Mexico, was then known as the U.S. Territory of New Mexico. The United States also purchased the area south of the Gila River to the present border with Mexico over to the area of California through the Gadsden Purchase. This factor—becoming a territory—was an important step in becoming a state.
The Enabling Act in 1910 set up the process by which Arizona could possibly become a state. The planned constitution had to go through the U.S. Congress, the President and then the voters in Arizona. There was a small snag with one of the clauses in the constitution, but it was soon remedied. President Taft signed the Arizona Constitution on February 14, 1912. The first governor of the State of Arizona was George W.P. Hunt.
During what is known as the Progressive Era (1901-17) the citizens of the state of Arizona wanted a direct democracy. The people thought that the direct involvement of each citizen is important and can take care of a lot of the problems of government. Many changes occurred in Arizona as a result of the progressive “thinking” of the citizens. In the first election in Arizona in 1912, women got the right to vote. The judges’ terms were limited; judges would be chosen on merit, not by politics. This was all because of the one man, one vote philosophy—direct democracy. The people in the state believed that each person was qualified to decide how they wanted their state to be run.