California, the largest of the
Pacific coast States; noted for its admirable climate, its production of
gold, its large commerce, and its great yield of fruit, which now finds
a market even in Europe. In recent years the production of gold has
decreased, but there has been a remarkable development of other mineral
resources, especially petroleum.
In 1534
HERNANDO CORTEZ sent Hernando de Grijalva on an errand of discovery to the Pacific coast, who probably
saw the peninsula of California. Twenty-five years before the Spanish
leader discovered the country, a romance was published in Spain in which
are described the doings of a pagan queen of Amazons, who brought from
the " right hand of the Indies " her allies to assist the infidels in
their attack upon Constantinople. The romance was entitled Esplandian,
the name of an imaginary Greek emperor, living in Stamboul, the Turkish
name of Constantinople. The Amazonian queen was named Calafia, whose
kingdom, rich in gold, diamonds, and pearls, was called California. The
author probably derived the name from California, the title of a
successor of Mohammed. The author says: " Know that on the right hand of
the Indies there is an island, called California, very close to the
Terrestrial Paradise, and it was peopled by black women without any man
among them, for they lived in the fashion of the Amazonia. They were of
strong and hardy bodies, of ardent courage, and of great force. Their
island was the strongest in all the world, with its steep cliffs and
rocky shore. Their arms were all of gold, and so was the harness of the
wild beasts which they tamed and rode. For in the whole island there was
no metal but gold. They lived in caves wrought out of the rocks with
much labor. They had many ships with which they sailed out to other
countries to obtain booty." Both
Cortez and Grijalva believed, as
everybody then believed, that they were in the neighborhood of the coast
of Asia; and, as the aspect of the country corresponded with the
description in the romance, they named the peninsula California.
In the Gulf of California were found pearls; so the description of the
country of the black Amazons—a country filled with gold and
pearls—suited the actual condition of the region explored.
Although parts of the present territory of the State are believed to
have been discovered about 1534, settlements in Old or Lower California
were first made in 1683 by Jesuit missionaries. New or Upper California
was discovered later, and the first mission there (San Diego) was
planted in 1768. For many years the government of California, temporal
and spiritual, was under the control of monks of the Order of St.
Francis. It was not until about 1770 that the Bay of San Francisco was
discovered, and in 1776 a mission was established there. At the
beginning of the nineteenth century eighteen missions had been
established in California, with over 15,000 converts. The Spanish power
in California was overthrown by the Mexican revolution in 1822, when the
government was permanently secularized. In 1843–46 many thousand
emigrants from the United States settled in California.; and when the
war with
Mexico broke out in 1846, the struggle for the mastery in that
Pacific coast province speedily ended in victory for the Americans in
1847. By the
treaty of GUADALUPE HIDALGO, California and other territory were
ceded to the United States.
Gold Rush
In
the month of February, 1848, gold was discovered in California, on the
Sacramento River, by John W. Marshall, who was working for JOHN A.
SUTTER, and as the news spread abroad, thousands of enterprising and
energetic men flocked thither, not only from the United States, but from
South America, Europe, and China, to secure the precious metal. Very
soon there was a mixed population of all sorts of characters in
California of at least 250,000 persons. The military governor called a
convention to meet at Monterey, Sept. 1, 1849, to frame a State
constitution. One was formed by which slavery was to be excluded from
the new State; and this document revived in Congress, in great
intensity, debates on the subject of slavery in 1849-50. See
KEARNY, STEPHEN WATTS ;
STOCKTON, ROBERT FIELD. Prior to the
assembly of the constitutional convention the people of California, in
convention at San Francisco, had voted against the admission of the
slave-labor system in that country. The constitution adopted at Monterey
also had a provision to exclude slavery from the State. Thus came into
political form the crude elements of a State, the birth and maturity of
which seems like a strange dream. All had been accomplished within
twenty months from the time when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill.
Under this constitution
JOHN CHARLES FREMONT, and WILLIAM M. GWIN were chosen by the State
legislature United States Senators. Edward Gilbert and G. H. Wright were
elected to the House of Representatives. When Fremont and Gwin went to
Washington, they took the State constitution with them, and presented a
petition (February, 1850) asking for the admission of California into
the Union as a free and independent State. The article in its
constitution which excluded slavery became a cause of violent debate in
Congress and of bitter feeling in the South against the people of the
North. The Union, so strong in the hearts of the people, was shaken to
its centre. Mr. Clay again appeared as a compromiser for the sake of
peace and union. It seemed that some compromise was needed to avoid
serious difficulty, for already the representatives of the slave
interest had taken action, and the Southern members in Congress boldly
declared their intention to break up the Union if California should be
admitted under such a constitution. A joint resolution was adopted to
appoint a committee of thirteen (six Northern and six Southern members,
who should choose the thirteenth) to consider the subject of a
territorial government for California, New Mexico, and Utah, with
instructions to report a plan of compromise embracing all the questions
thus arising out of the subject of slavery. Henry Clay was made chairman
of that committee. He had already presented (Jan. 25, 1850) a plan of
compromise to the South, and spoke eloquently in favor of it (Feb. 5) ;
and on May 8 he reported a plan of compromise in a series of bills,
intended to be a pacification. This was called the OMNIBUS BILL. It made
large concessions to the slave-holders, and yet it was not satisfactory
to them. For months a, violent discussion of the compromise act was
carried on throughout the country, and it was denounced upon
diametrically opposite grounds. It finally became a law, and on Sept. 9,
1850, California was admitted into the Union as a State.
So lawless were a large class of the population at this time, that
nothing but the swift operations of " Vigilance Committees " could
control them and preserve social order. The first vigilance committee of
San Francisco was organized in 1851. Finally, these committees assumed
the functions and powers of judges and executives, but under proper
regulations, which guaranteed all accused persons a fair trial.
Dangerous men of every kind were arrested, tried, hanged, transported,
or acquitted. The tribunal became a " terror to evildoers." Late in 1856
the vigilance committee in San Francisco surrendered its powers to the
regularly constituted civil authority. California furnished 15,725 three
year volunteers for the Union army in the Civil War. The Central Pacific
Railroad was completed May 12, 1869, thus connecting California with the
Mississippi Valley and the Atlantic seaboard. Since then the progress of
the State has been phenomenal. From 1767 up to 1821, California being
under Spanish rule, ten governors were appointed by that power. From
1822 until 1845, being under Mexican domination, her governors (twelve)
were appointed from Mexico. |