Title: Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California (Mexican Americans)
Headings: 

Content: When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, central government control was even further diminished. In particular, Mexican independence opened the California door to trade with other countries, especially the United States. In the early 1820s, Anglo-Americans 2 developed an intensive trade with California via sailing ships around Cape Horn. The Old Spanish Trail, established in 1829 to link Los Angeles and Santa Fe, New Mexico, became the first major northern Mexican interprovincial trade route. Moreover, it linked California to the Santa Fe Trail between New Mexico and the United States. Trade with the United States began the process of economic detachment of California and New Mexico from central Mexico. Ships brought hides and tallow from California in exchange for manufactured goods from both the United States and England. Increased trade led to increased demand for consumer goods, and therefore, greater dependence on the United States as the primary source of supply. Along with a burgeoning economy, California also experienced periodic revolutions, as large landowners vied for political supremacy, and the Mexican government made intermittent, sometimes unpopular, efforts to tighten the reins
One of the most dramatic and significant events of the Mexican period occurred in 1833, when the Mexican government secularized the missions. This meant that vast mission landholdings were taken over by the government, which in turn awarded them as land grants to Californios.