The History of Alcatraz Essay -- American America History

The History of Alcatraz INTRODUCTION Alcatraz is an island that is 22 acres and according to geologists it is a drowned mountain peak and is made up of mostly rock and dirt. The island itself is a part of a cluster of islands that are in the San Francisco Bay area. The island's name came from a Spanish explorer, Lt. Juan Manual de Ayala, and the ship's pilot, Jose de Canizarer, on August 12, 1775. He called it La Isla de los Alcatraces, in English is Island of the Pelicans. Alcatraz is just the singular form of Alcatraces. The owners of the island have changed three times in its history. First Spain owned it until 1822, then Mexico won 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 day of November 6, 1850, President Millard Filmore agreed to make Alcatraz official government property. It was to be turned into a fortification to protect the city from hostile vessels and the reason for putting it there was because it was on an island in the middle of the bay- very strategic. There would be two batteries on both ends of the island along with a two-story brick wall that would enclose all of it. Inside there 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 another of a prison. The prison was there for military members that committed various crimes. The prison had about 15 - 50 prisoners there, but they were not all military, some 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 did 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 Gate National Recreation Area. Alcatraz was now open to the public and today you can go down and get on a tour to see 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 Encyclopedia. 94 ed. 1994. "Alcatraz." Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th edition. 1985.