California. Hollywood Boulevard.
California was originally part of Spanish America and a province of Mexico. Franciscan missionaries set up missions here in 1769. In the early 1830s a few white American trappers and huntsmen crossed over into these Mexican territories. In 1846 the US went to war with Mexico over border disputes between Texas and Mexico and after a two year war the peace treaty of Guadalupe was signed. In this treaty Mexico ceded what was to become California, Nevada, parts of Utah and Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. Nothing much would have happened for many years but in 1848 gold was discovered in California starting a major rush. (Many of the 49ers as they were known moved on to the gold rushes in Victoria after the California gold petered out.) With an increasing white population (100,000 people by 1849) California applied for admission to the Union in 1850. It applied for admission as a free state - with no slavery, but it was below the 36 degree slave compromise line of 1820 so this angered white Southerners. The first major political fracas over slavery erupted in Congress and was eventually resolved with the so-called Compromise of 1850. California was admitted as the 31st and a free state. Slavery was to be decided in the other territories ceded by Mexico on the basis of popular sovereignty or a popular vote and slavery was to be abolished in Washington DC and a new stricter Fugitive Slave Act was meant to compel white northerners to return runaway slaves from the South.
So California entered the Union amidst much controversy. Today it is the third biggest state in land size and the largest in population terms with around 37.5 million people. It grows around half of America’s fresh fruit and vegetables. If it were an independent country it would be the world’s eighth largest economy! Because of its population size it is crucial for Presidential candidates to win California as it has so many Electoral College votes which are eventually the votes that elect the president. The capital city is Sacramento, near San Francisco. LA is the second largest city in the US with around 3.8 million people but the greater metropolitan area has nearly 13 million people! This early Spanish settlement grew as California did and after the Mexican war it became part of the United States. The first Transcontinental Railway crossed from the East Coast to Oakland- just outside of San Francisco in 1869. It was a major engineering and financial project to build a rail route so far and across the mighty Rockies. It helped unite the United States just a few years after the disastrous Civil War. It started the major settlement of California and the western states through which the railway passed. It literally opened up America for settlement. It also made amazing fortunes for the railway owners and financiers. Many of them later became the Robber Barons of the East Coast. This first railway was the Union Pacific Railway which was started during the Civil War but others followed including the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe which was the first southern Rocky railway route to terminate in Los Angeles. It reached the city in 1885. But before this an extension of the Southern Pacific route from San Francisco reached LA in 1876. A little later oil was discovered in the Los Angeles region in 1892 and the population started to boom. Since the early 20th century LA has been known for its movie industry in nearby Hollywood. Today it has a mixed economy of world importance with fashion, music, finance, health, metals, telecommunications, education, energy and aerospace technology. As a city it is known for its freeways, ports and airports (it has 7 airports in the metro area.) All contribute to air pollution problems which are exacerbated by the geographic location of the city. It is home to the rich and famous including a couple of philanthropists that have left their mansions and art to the city- the Hearst family and the Getty family.
California. Hollywood Boulevard.
California was originally part of Spanish America and a province of Mexico. Franciscan missionaries set up missions here in 1769. In the early 1830s a few white American trappers and huntsmen crossed over into these Mexican territories. In 1846 the US went to war with Mexico over border disputes between Texas and Mexico and after a two year war the peace treaty of Guadalupe was signed. In this treaty Mexico ceded what was to become California, Nevada, parts of Utah and Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. Nothing much would have happened for many years but in 1848 gold was discovered in California starting a major rush. (Many of the 49ers as they were known moved on to the gold rushes in Victoria after the California gold petered out.) With an increasing white population (100,000 people by 1849) California applied for admission to the Union in 1850. It applied for admission as a free state - with no slavery, but it was below the 36 degree slave compromise line of 1820 so this angered white Southerners. The first major political fracas over slavery erupted in Congress and was eventually resolved with the so-called Compromise of 1850. California was admitted as the 31st and a free state. Slavery was to be decided in the other territories ceded by Mexico on the basis of popular sovereignty or a popular vote and slavery was to be abolished in Washington DC and a new stricter Fugitive Slave Act was meant to compel white northerners to return runaway slaves from the South.
So California entered the Union amidst much controversy. Today it is the third biggest state in land size and the largest in population terms with around 37.5 million people. It grows around half of America’s fresh fruit and vegetables. If it were an independent country it would be the world’s eighth largest economy! Because of its population size it is crucial for Presidential candidates to win California as it has so many Electoral College votes which are eventually the votes that elect the president. The capital city is Sacramento, near San Francisco. LA is the second largest city in the US with around 3.8 million people but the greater metropolitan area has nearly 13 million people! This early Spanish settlement grew as California did and after the Mexican war it became part of the United States. The first Transcontinental Railway crossed from the East Coast to Oakland- just outside of San Francisco in 1869. It was a major engineering and financial project to build a rail route so far and across the mighty Rockies. It helped unite the United States just a few years after the disastrous Civil War. It started the major settlement of California and the western states through which the railway passed. It literally opened up America for settlement. It also made amazing fortunes for the railway owners and financiers. Many of them later became the Robber Barons of the East Coast. This first railway was the Union Pacific Railway which was started during the Civil War but others followed including the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe which was the first southern Rocky railway route to terminate in Los Angeles. It reached the city in 1885. But before this an extension of the Southern Pacific route from San Francisco reached LA in 1876. A little later oil was discovered in the Los Angeles region in 1892 and the population started to boom. Since the early 20th century LA has been known for its movie industry in nearby Hollywood. Today it has a mixed economy of world importance with fashion, music, finance, health, metals, telecommunications, education, energy and aerospace technology. As a city it is known for its freeways, ports and airports (it has 7 airports in the metro area.) All contribute to air pollution problems which are exacerbated by the geographic location of the city. It is home to the rich and famous including a couple of philanthropists that have left their mansions and art to the city- the Hearst family and the Getty family.