Az álmok Kaliforniája angol-amerikai bevándorlók írásaiban a 19. század első felében
The California of dreams in Anglo-American writings in the first half of the 19th century

Summary/Abstract: Why did the Anglo-Amricans start fom their native land to settle in California in the first half of the 19th century? The causes are different. Most of them started because of economical, others of health problems, or from curiosity, but the „California Dream” attracted almost everyone in the United States. One of the goals of this essay is to show how the myth of the West worked on the North American continent, how the faraway and paradisical land attracted the people of the East coast. Although gold was discovered before the gold rush, the exploitation in a large degree was not started, and morever was kept in secret, because of fear of the goldseekers’ invasion. The presence of gold was not publicited, but the area’s other valuable features were, by the already settled Anglo-Americans in Upper-California, by their correspondence, presentations, traveler and emigrants’ guides. These features included the healthy climate, the „free” and fertile lands, the cheap Indian labor, and the good commercial opportunities. The already available printed travel memories, California histories had the same effect. The „myth of the West” presented in accounts about Upper California did not always turn out to be true. The climate was not always paradisical or the Indians tame. Many times a hard, laborious life awaited the settlers here after their hard passage. Nevertheless they became part of California’s colonization. The Spanish colonization of Upper California at the end of the 18th century was a final effort, an attempt to keep the territory. From this time on every traveler, and during the Mexican era the Californians and immigrants also foresaw the future. There were some who waited for the expansion of the United States, there were others who tried to detain this, some who actively took part in it, some who accidentally became part of the North-American expansion, which was officially accomplished by 1848 with the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.

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