The History of Alcatraz Essay -- American America History

The History of AlcatrazINTRODUCTIONAlcatraz is an island that is 22 acres and concord to geologists it is a drowned mountain peak and is made up of mostly throw off and dirt. The island itself is a part of a cluster of islands that are in the San Francisco bay tree area. The islands name came from a Spanish explorer, Lt. Juan Manual de Ayala, and the ships pilot, Jose de Canizarer, on August 12, 1775. He called it La Isla de los Alcatraces, in English is Island of the Peli hobos. Alcatraz is just the singular form of Alcatraces. The owners of the island adjudge changed three times in its history. First Spain owned it until 1822, then Mexico win its independence and claimed ownership and finally in 1846 Mexico/California went to war and it then became the property of the United States. On the daytime of November 6, 1850, President Millard Filmore agreed to pay Alcatraz official government property. It was to be turned into a fortification to shelter the city from hostile vesse ls and the reason for putting it thither was because it was on an island in the middle of the bay- very strategic. There would be two batteries on twain ends of the island along with a two-story brick wall that would enclose all of it. Inside in that respect would be soldiers barracks, guard houses, powder magazines, and warehouses that would be the backbone of Alcatraz. The official day of opening of Alcatraz was in December of 1859 and it had two purposes, one of fortification and other of a prison. The prison was there for military members that committed various crimes. The prison had close to 15 - 50 prisoners there, but they were non all military, virtually were local citizens and politicians who committed crimes of varying degrees. The idea of having a prison on an is... ...aying that any land that was in surplus would be theirs. Then the city of San Francisco wanted the island so they could destroy what was one their and start commercial development. However, that di d not happen because there were to many protestors about saving Alcatraz. Then there was of period of 4 or 5 years of many proposals about what to do but in 1972 it was decided to turn it into the Golden adit National Recreation Area. Alcatraz was now open to the public and today you can go down and get on a tour to shoot the breeze where some of the U.S. most famous criminals stayed. BIBLIOGRAPHY http//www.geocities.com/marguerite_b/ http//alcatraz.san-francisco.ca.us/ http//www.sf50.com/alcatraz/ http//library.thinkquest.org/21109/alcatraz/index.htm Alcatraz. The World Book cyclopaedia. 94 ed. 1994. Alcatraz. Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th edition. 1985.