ABSTRACT
Like many educated Californios, Francisco P. Ramirez first welcomed the ideals of equality, democracy and civil liberties espoused in the US Constitution. But he was disappointed when his people and their rights were trampled upon by the Yanquis espousing those ideals. The value of Ramirez's work had been noted in February 1855 by San Francisco's English-language daily the Alta California, which observed, "Those versed in the Castilian language say that La Estrella is a model for purity of style." Ramirez, described by William B. Rice as "a precocious Angeleno and multilinguist," announced the birth of the new paper in the Star, noting that 100 subscribers would be needed to begin publication. Ramirez took his own editorial advice and moved south to Ures, Sonora, Mexico, where he was editor of La Estrella de Occidente and director of public printing for the state. In 1862 he returned to California as editor of San Francisco's La Voz del Nuevo Mundo.
