"They spoke Spanish in California, the western territories, and Florida; French along the Mississippi river, etc." This is a completely inaccurate and hamfiste

"They spoke Spanish in California, the western territories, and Florida; French along the Mississippi river, etc." This is a completely inaccurate and hamfisted statement. By the time of the Civil War, California was already predominantly Anglo. The only Spanish speaking parts at that point were the southern part of the state, which was sparsely populated compared to the Bay Area. Florida was already filled with Anglo settlers as well. Spain had a number of horrifically protectionist policies that doomed their outlying North American colonies to poverty and depopulation, making them extremely vulnerable to infiltration by settlers from the US, who ironically, were illegal immigrants.