I am interested in knowing more about the history of Spanish spoken in the United States, particularly in California in the 1800s. Would it have sounded more like the Spanish spoken in Mexico or would have it been closer to that of Spain? Would it have been a combination of the two?
I am also interested in this, very eager to hear what other LingQ’ers say!
I’d suspect the answer to that question had to do with how much Spanish blood a person had.
I’m not sure if the amount of Spanish blood a person had would correlate linguistically to how close of a relationship the Spanish spoken in California in the 19th century would have had in regards to Spain and Mexico. I am more interested in knowing where on the spectrum the Spanish spoken in California would fall: closer to Mexican Spanish, closer to European Spanish or would it have fallen somewhere in the middle?
In the early 1800s there would have still been children just a generation or two removed from Spain living in close proximity with kids 200 years removed from a direct tie to Spain. Certainly the different native languages in the Americas colored Spanish in different regions, but I still think individuals learn from their parents more than from the community. Imagine how successful public schools in the US would be if we could easily get a child to fluency in a language that their parents don’t speak.
Thank you for your answer and yes, that is interesting but I still would like to know what the spoken Spanish would have been like in California during the 19th century. Did it sound European or Mexican or was it an even split? I am wondering about what it really sounded like. How close was it to the mother country of Spain or was it, at that time, more akin to what Spanish was like in Mexico? Generally, to which was it closer, Mexico or Spain?
Maybe Spanish was spoken differently in Spain and Mexico back in the 1800’s compared to today? I believe I read that the lisp in Spain actually developed after the Spanish conquered South America. Nonetheless, I think that since Mexico ruled California for much of the time before and during the 1800’s, Spanish in California was similar or the same to people of the same status in Mexico at the time.
Let me just arbitrarily theorize that it did not have the lisp and it still used a form of vosotros. 
Well, as a native spanish speaker, I could say that we learned the spanish language directly from spaniers. But the custom usage of workds like “vosotros” “iros” “teneis” . . . Etc. Were modified with the time as the people in Mexico gained their independence and liberty. Sincé in the 1800´s were thousands of spaniers immigrants in Mexico, perhaps the sound of language was much closer to the spanish spoken in Spain . . . but like a said, that changed with the time. The state of California (today in the USA) was an originally spoken spanish land. Today in the state of California, where I borned, we speak a mixture of both languages (English & Spanish) in our community. However, the correct speaking practice of each language is important in order to mantain better communication with other non-spanish speakers.
Based in the historical written documents of the plunder territory of Mexico in 1848 by the USA goverment, the kind of spanish spoken sounded more closer to the Spaniers influence with the use of terminology like “vosotros” “hayas pensado” " rendiros" etc, . . .
Thank you!
Interesting point and thank you as well for your answer. I agree that the Spanish spoken in Mexico and Spain in the 1800s would have differed from the way it is spoken today, in the same way that English spoken in the US and England would have been differed from the way it is spoken today. I wasn’t sure how close a tie Spanish in California would have had to Spain by the time the 1800s rolled around and I theorized that by that point, having been removed from Spain for a long time, it would have had a closer relationship with Mexican Spanish and would have sounded less European. Great answers - thank you and if anyone else can opine, please feel free!
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So, if, as you say, written Spanish in California in the 1800s was closer to Spain’s influence, I wonder what the accent of Spanish speakers sounded like? Was the accent at that point, more of a Mexican sounding accent or did it still retain the character of Spain with the use of “ceceo” or “distincion” ?