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Aug 3, 1492
The Spanish Colonial Expansion
By the time Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492, the Spanish Colonial Expansion was on the move. Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Coast were being organized, and Africans, who inhabited Mexico by the 16th century, started to get recruited for the voyage. -
Juan Bautista de Anza's Expedition
Juan Bautista de Anza, who was the 55th Spanish Governer of New Mexico and an explorer, set out on an expedition to California and recruited many Africans to join him on the journey. As they served in multiple capacities, free men of the African ancestry assisted in the establishment of California missions and pueblos. These African men constituted 25% of Juan Bautista de Anza's expedition to San Francisco, and over 50% of the colony established in Los Angeles years later. -
The African Methodist Episcopal
Founded by Richard Allen for political circumstances, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, or A.M.E. for short, is the oldest standing church in the United States. Whenever it was possible for them, the A.M.E. church would create new branches and organize, and the more they had done this, the more backlash they received. W.E.D. DeBois, a Pan-Africanist, stood up and went on to describe the church as 'the greatest Negro organization in the world'. -
The San Diego House
As Africans settled in California, they gained popularity over the years. An Afro-American named Richard Freeman from eastern United States joined a small American colony in San Diego. There, he bought the Ponciano property, which was a four-room, one-story adobe building and lot. He resided the only other Afro-American of that colony, Allen Light, up until his death in 1851. Allen and Richard managed a successful grog shop known as the San Diego House during those 4 years -
A Fight for Education
In 1856, an education committee was created for a convention in Sacramento. Their goal was to secure educational chances for African youth. The statewide committee of African men, selected by the convention, led the campaign to repeal the 1852 law that denies Black children their education. Also, they guided groups of parents struggling to secure admissions to local schools, as well as established private schools to immediately provide their children education as an interim measure. -
Gold
One day in San Deigo County, Frederick Coleman, a Black man, discovered gold. It was found in a nearby creek known as Julian, where Frederick's name is honored forever. Thousands of people fled to Julian as news of Frederick's findings spread around like wildfire. This drastically changed the creek, as it was so quiet and unpopular before. Julian also became a town government and was renamed to celebrate the Julian brothers, Webb and Mike, both former Confederate soldiers. -
California Agriculture
Americans who owned farms enrolled Southern Blacks to take care of their experimental crops, Afro-Americans being the earliest contract laborers outside of California that develop agriculture. First introduced in Imperial County, cotton was a labor-intensive crop. Once Black people settled in El Centro to begin their labor work, they were met with terrible acts of racism . Black people later became an important work group in agriculture history despite starting out as contract farm laborers.
