california p.1
TRANSCRIPT
CALIFORNIA: A HISTORY PART. 1By: Twyla Gollery
CHAPTER 4: STRIKING IT RICH
February 2, 1848, Mexico and the United States signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
After this treaty was signed more citizens were integrated into the alcalde system, a system used by the Spanish
This era shows a fusion between Mexico and the U.S.
It also represented a fuse in between a 'Yankee-Latino culture'
Many White immigrants married into local Latino families
CHAPTER 4: STRIKING IT RICH
On January 24, 1848 a carpenter, James Wilson Marshall, discovered gold in California
People abandoned their jobs and began to purchase gold mining equipment in hopes of becoming prosperous
By late spring of that same year the Gold Rush was already under way
The Gold Rush was a defining moment of development for the U.S.
CHAPTER 4: STRIKING IT RICH
Due to the Gold Rush there was a mass migration to California from all around the world
People even traveled from China and Australia in hopes that they might strike it rich
For some, traveling to California involved a five to eight month voyage, or a five to eight month overland trek, each trail had it's own risks and dangers
CHAPTER 8: MAKING IT HAPPEN
Because of California's diverse economy the Great Depression did not effect people as intensely and did not happen till about the 1930's
California's economy involved the agricultural, industrial, entertainment, tourist, and service sectors fields.
The agricultural workforce became structurally unstable
CHAPTER 8: MAKING IT HAPPEN
The Great Depression caused a lot of people from the Great Plains and the Southeast of move to California in hopes of finding work
California was flooded with more than three hundred thousand agricultural workers
By the middle of 1934 for every 142 agricultural workers there were only 100 jobs, thus wages went down 50%
CHAPTER 8: MAKING IT HAPPEN
Cannery and Agricultural Workers Industrial Union (CAWIU), was founded by the Trade Union Unity League
The CAWIU organized strike in favor of the workers
Some of this unions leaders were Communists
In 1933 the CAWIU played a role in organizing twenty-four agricultural strikes
The CAWIU also organized a cotton pickers strike, the largest agricultural strike in the nation
CHAPTER 10: O BRAVE NEW WORLD
California was able to make a name for itself through science and technology
By the 1930's Californian scientists were taking the lead in discovering ways to smash atoms
California has always lead the United States in biotechnology
By the 1950's California was also on the cutting edge of using a semiconductor digital images
CHAPTER 10: O BRAVE NEW WORLD
In 1852, a great valley in the Sierra Nevada was beginning to be known as Yosemite
Yosemite Valley began to be one of Californians recognizable symbols
Camping trips to Yosemite became a common thing for Californians to do, it was a way for them to define themselves
Many books and magazine articles were written about the adventure in Yosemite at the time
CHAPTER 10: O BRAVE NEW WORLD
California also showed much interest in space through astronomy
In 1879, George Davidson built the first astronomical observatory on the West Coast
Many other observatories were built over time to see better into space
This included the Lick Observatory which influenced the founding of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific