Arizona Statehood and Constitution
Monica Williams
Grand Canyon University: POS 301
November 20, 2011
Arizona Statehood and Constitution
Part I: Arizona Statehood It is quite a remarkable journey that Arizona embarked upon to make it the forty-eight state of the United States of America. On February 14, 2012 it became an integral part of this new found world of democracy and freedom. Along with its vast cultures and heated temperatures, the architectural design of the city is a pure reflection of the inhabitants who were established here before to make it their own homeland. This essay will examine the road to statehood and analyze the events to make Arizona become a state.
The Preterritorial Period There has been archaeological evidence from over thousands of years that people inhabited Arizona even before the Europeans arrived. It has even been said that Arizona could possibly be the oldest state to be continuously have settlement in the United States, (McClory, 2001). The earliest settlers lived in tiny nomadic groups, (McClory, 2001). Soon the agriculture became more cultured so more permanent settlers started to permanently stay. There were three major cultures that emerged from this change: the Anasazi, Hohokam, and Mogollon, (McClory, 2001). There were no way to tell of a definite type of social organization, just complex architectural designs and artifacts that were left behind can only assume that there was some.
The Spanish Period (1539 – 1821) Spain was the first country to have dominance over Arizona (McClory, 2001). “It established the colony of New Spain on the ruins of the conquered Aztec empire in the early 1500’s” (McClory, p.12, 2001). When Mexico City’s first ruler arrived, there became an expedition of Arizona let by Marcos de Niza. He was sent to find the “seven cities of gold.” Soon after, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and other significant explorers followed in search of the colorful city. This