Alta California : embracing notices of the climate, soil, and agricultural products of northern Mexico and the Pacific seaboard : also, a history of the military and naval operations of the United States directed against the territories of northern Mexico, in the year 1846-'47 : with documents declaratory of the policy of the present administration of the national government in regard to the annexation of conquered territory to this union, and the opinion of the Hon. James Buchanan on the Wilmot Proviso, &c
Description of area: p. 9-12; history and documentation: p. 13-64.
Anti-annexation tract.
Summary
The 1847 publication briefly address climate soil and agriculture in Alta and Baja California in chapter I. The following eight chapters consist of communications from the U.S. Government consisting of instructions in the event Mexico declared war, justification of and motives for war, various reports to Washington, communications with Mexican officials in Alta California, accounts of the military operations in California, the articles of capitulation entered into at Rancho of Cowanga on January 13, 1847, all of which are interspersed with personal observations and comments by the author. The final chapter deals with the question of whether slavery would be allowed in California, the policy of the South and its motive for a slave market and emigrants to California and Northern Mexico [from California State University's Digital Commons]
First edition, covering only the years 1774-1776, published in Philadelphia by the same editor in 1839.
Summary
From The History Society of Pennsylvania: Christopher Marshall was born in Dublin, Ireland, on November 6, 1709. He was educated in England and sailed to America sometime in the late 1720s. By 1729, he had established a pharmacy shop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His success as a pharmacist and chemist allowed him to retire from business in 1774, but he remained a vital public figure. In 1776, he became a delegate to the Philadelphia Provincial Council, and he was twice appointed to the Continental Committee of Council and Safety. His retirement afforded him the time to keep diaries of public and personal events. He wrote these "remembrances" almost daily from about 1774 to at least 1795. In 1777, Marshall relocated to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to improve his health and to avoid the British armies. After hostilities ceased, Marshall moved back to Philadelphia where he died on May 7, 1797.
