So What!!??
So what does the Radicals in Danville mean to history in the S.F Bay Area?
The radicals were instrumental in getting the railroad==== down the San Ramon Valley and this thus get produce and crops to market all over the world which also included the now Livermore Valley wine/grape crops. This agriculture area which may of not been as important as maybe the Central Valley but it did play a part in the overall agricultural and economic growth of the S.F. Bay Area and that of Contra Costa County. The Danville depot was the center Depot of a train line that went pretty much down the center part of the valley which it included Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasonton and Livermore. The San Ramon Branch Line Southern Pacific Railroad also carried not only agriculture products but mail, other goods and people up and down the valley. The Danville Granges were that impotant to the valley and to the S.F. Bay Area, in that their ideas and motivation to have a railroad go down the San Ramon Valley brought historical change, in the way of social, political and economic to the San Ramon Valley and beyond.
The other types of Radicals included the Copperheads, as we learned were the Southern sympathizers living within California, which Danville was a hotspot within the whole S.F. Bay Area....SO WHAT? The Copperheads in Danville along with scattered Copperheads in the S.F. Bay Area, brought a democratic base to California not seen before and even today, this same democratic base is seen in the senate in DIANE FEINSTEIN, BARBARA BOXER and also THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, NANCY PELOSI. This is not only history but also Political history and social history of the South being imbedded into the lifestyle of California. The idealogy of Liberalism was also embedded in not only local politics, state but also in the city politics and this is best seen in the extreme Liberalism of San Francisco and Berkeley even today, as the best examples. This type of influence by these liberal and Southern sympathizers have had, shows a big hand in many of the social, political and decisions made due to both their liberal ideology and their democratic party values. These Copperhead Radicals finally, were radical in name but only in their views, social influences and politics but most of them were the plain,the shakers and the movers of the S.F Bay Area during that time.
So what does the Radicals in Danville mean to history in the S.F Bay Area?
The radicals were instrumental in getting the railroad==== down the San Ramon Valley and this thus get produce and crops to market all over the world which also included the now Livermore Valley wine/grape crops. This agriculture area which may of not been as important as maybe the Central Valley but it did play a part in the overall agricultural and economic growth of the S.F. Bay Area and that of Contra Costa County. The Danville depot was the center Depot of a train line that went pretty much down the center part of the valley which it included Walnut Creek, Alamo, Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasonton and Livermore. The San Ramon Branch Line Southern Pacific Railroad also carried not only agriculture products but mail, other goods and people up and down the valley. The Danville Granges were that impotant to the valley and to the S.F. Bay Area, in that their ideas and motivation to have a railroad go down the San Ramon Valley brought historical change, in the way of social, political and economic to the San Ramon Valley and beyond.
The other types of Radicals included the Copperheads, as we learned were the Southern sympathizers living within California, which Danville was a hotspot within the whole S.F. Bay Area....SO WHAT? The Copperheads in Danville along with scattered Copperheads in the S.F. Bay Area, brought a democratic base to California not seen before and even today, this same democratic base is seen in the senate in DIANE FEINSTEIN, BARBARA BOXER and also THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, NANCY PELOSI. This is not only history but also Political history and social history of the South being imbedded into the lifestyle of California. The idealogy of Liberalism was also embedded in not only local politics, state but also in the city politics and this is best seen in the extreme Liberalism of San Francisco and Berkeley even today, as the best examples. This type of influence by these liberal and Southern sympathizers have had, shows a big hand in many of the social, political and decisions made due to both their liberal ideology and their democratic party values. These Copperhead Radicals finally, were radical in name but only in their views, social influences and politics but most of them were the plain,the shakers and the movers of the S.F Bay Area during that time.
The last group of Radicals were the writers and their views were Radical in their view of the West and how they saw the West as being romantic, or how it it was so fierce and dangerous to all the travelers who came or wanted to come out to the West. So what?, they wrote about the West and so did many others but it was these writers who wrote about the S.F. Bay Area and it was through their writings that people came to the S.F Bay Area and it was settled. If these writers had not written such romantic and tales of the area around Danville, many of the settlers would not of come, the Grangers and Copperheads would not of made their contributions to Danville, the San Francisco Bay Area, California and the world! Each of these Radicals added to each others radicals, in contributions to the area, California and United States history, if not World history.
So what remains of this Radical story, maybe more and even more Radical research to uncover other aspects of Radicalism in Danville or Contra Costa County, say Lafayette where Radicals were located or other parts of the county. There were several forms of Radicalism found in Danville and Contra Costa County but I am sure through research that many others could be found and discovered, who would think there was Radicalism in Danville in the first place?
That is awesome Craig! I have worked in the Danville and San Ramon area for years and I had no idea that these places were such hotbeds for political radicals. California's role in the U.S. Civil War is often down played since not much fighting took place here. But it is good to see that California, especially this area, was host to such radicals who shaped local history.
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