Arizona History

Early Arizona  Originally inhabited by Native Indian tribes, such as the Pima, Navajo and Apache  Spanish Missionaries: Marcos de Niza began to spread Christianity  Spanish conquistadors settled and claimed the southwest for Spain

New Control  Mexico declares independence from Spain and takes the southwest  U.S. goes to war with Mexico and takes everything north of the Gila River, called the Mexican Cession  U.S. buys the Gadsden Purchase to claim the rest

Territorial Status  Originally Arizona was part of the New Mexico Territory  After petitioning the government, AZ became its own territory: Feb. 24, 1863  Prescott became the capital in 1864  “Father of Arizona” Charles D. Poston was elected as the first representative from AZ in Congress

Development of AZ  Capital moved from Prescott, to Tucson, back to Prescott and finally to Phoenix in 1889  Mining towns flourished in Bisbee, Tombstone, Jerome and much more  Copper was abundant in AZ hills  Cattle Ranching became a major enterprise for settlers

Constitutional Issues  Arizona was given permission to write a Constitution to be approved for statehood  President Taft refused to approve the Constitution  Arizona’s Constitution was controversial  Recall  Referendum  Initiative

Constitutional Issues  Recall: elected officials could be removed from office  Referendum: citizens are allowed to vote on bills that the state legislation wants passed  Initiative: citizens can create bills to be voted on to become law

Statehood  After removal of recall, President Taft approves Arizona’s Constitution  Arizona becomes the 48 th state on Feb  George W. P. Hunt becomes the state’s first Governor  Serves , 1918, , and

Modern Arizona  Due to the warm weather and location in the Sun Belt, many American begin to settle in AZ.  Citrus farms became a major industry along with mining and ranching  Large number of Mexican Immigrants settle in AZ  Cesar Chavez: fought for the rights and better working conditions of migrant farm workers

The 5 C’S  Cattle  Copper  Climate  Citrus  Cotton

THE ARIZONA STATE FLAG  Blue and old gold shall be the colors of the state.  The top half of the flag represents the 13 original colonies of the United States and the western setting sun.  The copper star in the center of the flag identifies Arizona as the largest copper producing state in the union.