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California History
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, California
was inhabited by many distinct
groups of Native Americans.
The Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo reached
San Diego Bay in 1542,
and claimed the area for
Spain. From 1565, Spanish traders are known to have
made visits to the area, and the English explorer, Sir Francis Drake visited the region in 1579.
Spain began to colonize the territory beginning in 1769, with the establishment
of fortresses (presidios) and missions.
When
Mexico became independent from Spain as a result of
the Mexican War of Independence (1810 to 1821), the territory became part
of Mexico.
Following a brief revolt by US settlers (the Bear Revolt - from which California
gets its
flag) in 1846, California first became
an independent republic, and then soon after was annexed by the United States.
In 1849, gold was discovered in the region, a huge number of immigrants
arrived. California was admitted as the 31st state of the Union on
September 9th,
1850. Following the establishment of transcontinental railroads and highways,
migration to California continued and accelerated,
a pattern that has to the present day, making the state into the most populous in the Union.
California played a relatively minor role
in the American Civil War (1861 to 1865). While it is true that the state was home
to some Confederate sympathizers, they were not allowed to organize and their newspapers
were closed, and hence the state remained peaceful. The main involvement of California
during the war, was that California Column, a force of 2,000 Union volunteers who marched
across
New Mexico and
Arizona (at that time both part of the New Mexico Territory)
into western Texas, engaged in some skirmishes with the Confederates,
and spent most of the war fighting Apaches.
In the 20th century, California continued to grow both in
population and economic important. When oil was discovered in southern
California it was, for a time, the most important industry in the state.
California also became an important center of movie-making and
the entertainment industry more generally. During World War II, the state produced massive amounts of
armaments for the Allied war effort. In more recent years, California
became a key location in the new computer and high technology industries.
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By Kevin Starr
Modern Library
Released: 2007-03-13
Paperback (400 pages)
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California has always been our Shangri-la–the promised land of countless pilgrims in search of the American Dream. Now the Golden State’s premier historian, Kevin Starr, distills the entire sweep of California’s history into one splendid volume. From the age of exploration to the age of Arnold, this is the story of a place at once quintessentially American and utterly unique.
Arguing that America’s most populous state has always been blessed with both spectacular natural beauty and astonishing human diversity, Starr unfolds a rapid-fire epic of discovery, innovation, catastrophe, and triumph.
For generations, California’s native peoples basked in the abundance of a climate and topography eminently suited to human habitation. By the time the Spanish arrived in the early sixteenth century, there were scores of autonomous tribes were thriving in the region. Though conquest was rapid, nearly two centuries passed before Spain exerted control over upper California through the chain of missions that stand to this day.
The discovery of gold in January 1848 changed everything. With population increasing exponentially as get-rich-quick dreamers converged from all over the world, California reinvented itself overnight. Starr deftly traces the successive waves of innovation and calamity that have broken over the state since then–the incredible wealth of the Big Four railroad tycoons and the devastating San Francisco earthquake of 1906; the emergence of Hollywood as the world’s entertainment capital and of Silicon Valley as the center of high-tech research and development; the heroic irrigation and transportation projects that have altered the face of the region; the role of labor, both organized and migrant, in key industries from agriculture to aerospace.
Kevin Starr has devoted his career to the history of his beloved state, but he has never lost his sense of wonder over California’s sheer abundance and peerless variety. This one-volume distillation of a lifetime’s work gathers together everything that is most important, most fascinating, and most revealing about our greatest state.
From the Hardcover edition. |
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By Helen Elliott Bandini
Kessinger Publishing, LLC
Hardcover (304 pages)
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1908. Bandini tells the story of all the principal events of California history; from the Indian occupancy through the Spanish and Mission days, the excitement of the gold discovery, the birth of the state, down to the latest events of yesterday and today in a simple style designed to appeal to readers both young and old. Contents: The Land and the Name; The Story of the Indians; The Secret of the Strait; The Cross of Santa Fe; Pastoral Days; The Footsteps of the Stranger; At the Touch of King Midas; The Great Stampede; The Birth of the Golden Baby; The Signal Gun and the Steel Trail; That Which Followed After; The Groves were God's First Temples; To All that Sow the Time of Harvest Should Be Given; The Golden Apples of the Hesperides; California's Other Contributions to the World's Bill of Fare; The Hidden Treasures of Mother Earth; From La Escuela of Spanish California to the Schools of the Twentieth Century; and Statistics. |
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By Derek Hayes
University of California Press
Hardcover (256 pages)
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Using nearly five hundred historical maps and many other illustrations--from rough sketches drawn in the field to commercial maps to beautifully rendered works of art--this lavishly illustrated volume is the first to tell the story of California's past from a unique visual perspective. Covering five hundred years of history, it offers a compelling and informative look at the transformation of the state from before European contact through the Gold Rush and up to the present. The maps are accompanied by a concise, engaging narrative and by extended captions that elucidate the stories and personalities behind their creation. At once a valuable reference and an exhilarating adventure through history, the Historical Atlas of California, featuring many rare and unusual maps, will be a treasured addition to any library. Distilling an enormous amount of information into one volume, it presents a fascinating chronicle of how California came to be what it is today.
Copub: Douglas & McIntyre |
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By Andrew Rolle and Arthur Verge
Harlan Davidson
Paperback (500 pages)
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Like its predecessors, this seventh edition of a best-loved publication recounts California's history from its origin to the present in a format that is engaging and informative. Even in the five years since the last edition of the book appeared, enormous social and material changes have overcome the Golden State. This new edition reflects these developments, considering them in historical context and pondering their implications for the future. Likewise, those sections of the book devoted to women, the environment, ethnic diversity, crime, sports, energy, and transportation have been expanded. It features new photographs, maps, tables, and charts, making it the perfect core text for courses on California history as well as engaging reading for anyone interested in what is in many ways the premier state in the nation. |
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By W. W. Robinson
University of California Press
Paperback (291 pages)
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By Alton Pryor
Stagecoach Publishing
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No bandit so terrorized California as did Joaquin Murrieta. Yet, when one investigates the background of Joaquin Murrieta, he is difficult to pin down. There are few if any police records. Yet, according to history, California's Governor John Bigler sent out Captain Harry Love and his state rangers with orders to bring back the outlaw. Captain Love brought back a head, ensconced in a keg of brandy to preserve it, which he claimed to be that of Joaquin, but others dispute this. Because of the lack of police and court records, the true story of Joaquin Murrieta may never be known. Author Alton Pryor gives the reader enough information that they, themselves, can ultimately decide whether Joaquin was a true Mexican bandido, or simply the myth of an imaginative gold rush newspaper reporter. |
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By Richard Rayner
W. W. Norton/Atlas & Company
Hardcover (224 pages)
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A true-life tale of ruthless ambition, staggering greed, and the making of a nation. One hundred forty years ago, four men rose from their position as middle-class merchants in Sacramento, California, to become the force behind the transcontinental railroad. In the course of doing so, they became wealthy beyond any measure––and to sustain their power, they lied, bribed, wheedled, and, when necessary, arranged for obstacles, both human and legal, to disappear. Their names were Collis Huntington, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins, and they were known as “The Big Four” or “The Associates.” Their drive for money––nothing more, nothing less––was epic. Their legacy is a university, public gardens, museums, mansions, banks, and libraries––and to a large degree California itself, a state that even today owes its aura of “can-do” and limitless possibilities to The Associates. |
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By Rose Marie Beebe
Heyday Books
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Spanish and Mexican California is generally depicted through the journals of sea captains and other visitors. This groundbreaking collection offers another perspective: early California seen through the eyes of those who explored it, colonized it, and settled it in the age before the gold rush. Over sixty selections from letters, journals, official reports and proclamations, interrogations, and interviews--many presented in English for the first time--lay before us a surprisingly varied and dynamic portrait of an era generally dismissed as static, pastoral, or backward. Conflicts between missionaries and soldiers, Indians and non-Indians, Hispanic settlers and Anglo newcomers, friends and neighbors, spill out of the pages, bringing the ferment of daily life into sharp focus. Here we find not sleepy towns, quaint missions, or comic opera military outposts, but rather an ever-shifting world of struggle and opportunity, aspiration and tragedy, pride and loss. The first-person accounts are tied together with extensive introductions and commentaries by two well-known scholars, giving us an intimate portrait and placing the exploration and settlement of Alta California within the history of Baja California and the conquest of the New World. This ambitious and accessible book, with more than thirty illustrations, maps, and paintings, will influence greatly how we envision the history and legacy of Hispanic California and is sure to become the cornerstone for a new generation of early California studies. |
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By Richard B Rice & Richard J Orsi
McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
Paperback (696 pages)
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The Elusive Eden charts the historical development of California, beginning with the evolution of the landscape and climate and the arrival of the first inhabitants, the Indians, through social, political, and environmental controversies of the present and the future. The book portrays a land of remarkable richness and complexity, settled by waves of people from diverse cultures. The text is organized chronologically into 10 parts, each developing a major theme or issue for a particular period in California's history. The first chapter of each part is a narrative that spotlights and dramatizes the personal responses of significant individuals at critical moments of historical change. The authors stress issues of current importance such as: ethnic groups, women, environmental history and social and cultural history. |
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By Elizabeth Raum
Capstone Press
Paperback (112 pages)
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Describes the events of the nineteenth century California gold rush. Readers choices reveal historical details of how miners traveled, how they looked for gold, and their impact on Californias history. |
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