SeeCalifornia.com

Pictured are statues of Betsy Ross and George Washington, a replica Independence Hall and Liberty Bell, free to see at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park.

Although visitors can visit the grounds of one of California’s top theme parks to see an attraction documenting America’s 1776 formation and the reason we celebrate the 4th of July as Independence Day, the momentous event going on in Philadelphia was distant & remote — it had no immediate repercussions to what is now America’s West Coast. Californians would indirectly contribute to the independence of the United States eventually; but in 1776, they had their own problems to resolve far from the turmoil of the Atlantic seaboard. More and more of the vast lands of the Californias were becoming part of the Spanish empire.

A de facto administration under the commandants of the presidios faced high debt, mounting costs and few ships available for supplies to Alta California, plus the exaggerated threat of Russian and English encroachment. A revolt by 800 American Indians at the first establishment, Mission San Diego, resulted in the building being burned down and its leader, Fray Luis Jayme, being massacred. The mission was rebuilt and the Californias were on the threshold of a new era in 1776. With 7 of 21 missions  constructed and Father Junipero Serra (father of California missions) nearing the end, Felipe de Neve was ordered to establish a new capital in Monterey for Alta California. The events on the East Coast seemed a world away on July 4, 1776.