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Period: 100,000 BCE to 1542
Pre-European Contact Period
Pre-European Contact - Californian Indians were diverse and spread throughout the entire modern state. Different tribes and groups were suited to their environments, but all cultivated and made use of their land and resources.
https://nahc.ca.gov/native-americans/california-indian-history/ -
16,000 BCE
First Humans Migrate to Americas
Around 16,000 Years ago the first humans migrated into Americas via Bering Strait. From here, they migrated southward into South America as well. -
Sep 28, 1542
First Europeans Visit California
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and his crew sailed into the San Diego Bay, marking the first Europeans to visit California. The named the land "Alta California".
https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/ca/intro.htm -
First Permanent European Settlement
Gaspar de Portolá and his men built a Presidio in San Diego, the first permanent European settlement on the Pacific Coast. -
First California Mission
Father Junipero Serra establishes the first Mission in San Diego, called Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá. This was the first of the eventual 21 total missions built. -
Period: to
Spanish Mission Period
This period was defined by the Spanish built missions and colonialism. These missions become the economic and political centers of life in California. The missions were used to convert local Indian populations, who who often enslaved to build the missions themselves. -
Quechan / Yuma Revolt
Quechan Indians succesfully revolt against Spanish colonizers to secure their independence. There were heavy casualties on both sides. -
Tongva Revolt
Tongva Indians revolt against the deaths, disease, forced conversions, and punishments they experienced at the hands of Spanish colonizers through the mission system. It failed, and 2 dozen Tongva men and one woman were captured (Toypurina). https://www.pbssocal.org/history-society/the-rebellion-against-the-mission-of-the-saintly-prince-the-archangel-san-gabriel-of-the-temblors-1785 -
Demographic Collapse - Epidemics
California Indian populations plummeted as a result of Spanish contact. The pre-contact population size of 350,000 fell to just 20,000 by 1900. Most of this was the result of European diseases and epidemics, such as the following: 1806 Measles Epidemic
1821 Influenza Epidemic
1832 Malaria Epidemic -
New Spanish Constitution
A new Spanish constitution is written, granting all Indigenous peoples Spanish citizenship. Critically, Blacks and "mulattos" were excluded. -
Period: to
Mexican/Rancho Period
The Mexican period of California history began with Mexican independence in 1812. This period became dominated by the Californio Ranchos beginning in the 1830s. -
Mexican Independence
Mexico wins its independence from Spain after two decades of war. As a result, Alta California became part of Mexican territory. -
Conolization Act
Mexico passes the 1824 Colonization Act, granting land to foreigners that immigrated to Mexico. Land was also given to Mexican natives that relocated to Alta California, resulting in mass Mexican immigration to California. -
Secularization of California Missions
Mission Secularization officially begins in 1834, privatizing the mission-owned lands. Neophytes (Indian converts to Catholicism) were supposed to get the majority of this land, but instead it mostly went to Californios, kicking off the Rancho dominance. -
Mexican American War (In California)
The Mexican American War was short, but even shorter in California, spanning from only 1846-1847. Fighting in California was also very limited; the most bloody battle saw only 30 deaths. America wins in 1848, and California becomes a US territory. -
State of the Union Address
Shortly after the discovery of gold, President James Knox Polk delivered his State of the Union address in which he spoke about Gold Discovery. This ignited 'Gold Fever' in the US, and White-Anglo immigrants settled in California in large numbers. -
Period: to
Gold Rush Period
Gold had been discovered in small quantities in the 1830's, but the discovery of large gold deposits at Sutter's Mill in Northern California dramatically transformed the territory. Anglo-white settlers immigrate en masse, as did immigrants from around the Pacific Rim (China, Hawaii, Latin America, Mexico). -
Foreign Miner's Tax
The Foreign Miner's Tax is enacted in 1850, which taxed non US citizens 20 dollars a day to mine gold. This was aimed at the expulsion of Latin American and Chinese immigrants. -
California Becomes a State
The Gold Rush accelerates the normal process of achieving statehood, and California is incorporated into the US as the 31st state in 1850 -
People v. Hall Case
This landmark case revolved around the murder of a Chinese immigrant by a white man. Ultimately it was ruled that Chinese and other immigrant groups could not testify against Whites in court. This decision was fueled by racist anti-immigrant sentiments during the time. -
Pacific Railway Act
This act was enacted by the Us government to encourage the creation of transcontinental railroad. Railroad companies were incentivized by land grants by the government in exchange for laying down a certain amount of railroad track.
As a result, the railroad companies became the largest landowners in California. -
Period: to
Gilded Age Period
The Gilded Age in California is defined by massive industrialization, especially in large cities like San Francisco. Economic and population growth occurred, but this period also saw the rise of industrial giants like the railroad monopolies. The 'Big 4' railroads came to dominate nearly every aspect of life in California, from economics to politcs -
Transcontinental Railroad Completed
The 'Golden Spike' was driven into the ground at Promontory Summit in Utah, commemorating the joining of the tracks laid down by the Central Pacific Railroad Company and Union Pacific Railroad Company. Despite their great contributions to tracks laid by Central Pacific, Chinese laborers were excluded from this image and hisorical narratives. -
Chinese Massacre/LA Riot
500 White and Latino men stormed into Chinatown to murder and loot Chinese immigrants. 19 Chinese were killed, 15 by mob hangings. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
Anti-Chinese immigrant and Yellow Peril fervor peaked in 1882 with the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act. This was the first and only time in US history that a single immigrant group was singled out for exclusion. -
Period: to
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era is marked by great governmental reforms, but social changes were anything but 'progressive' by modern standards. Governmental reform was squarely aimed at taking down the monopolies of the Big Four railroad companies. -
Asiatic League Founded
The Asiatic League is founded, as are other anti-Asian progressive coalitions aimed at expelling Chinese, Japanese, and Korean immigrants from California. -
San Francisco Earthquake
A magnitude 7.9 with an epicenter in San Francisco hits the city. Shaking lasted for at least a minute, and while this caused some damage the true devastation came in the way of subsequent fires. Thousands of people died and most of the city was destroyed.
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/events/1906calif/18april/ -
Graft Trials
Following the San Francisco Earthquake, members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors were prosecuted for shady business practices and corner cutting that resulted in the devastating fires, as clay pipes had burst preventing fire-fighting methods. -
Great Free Harbor Fight
In 1907 the Port of Los Angeles completed, following a political and legal battle between railroad baron Collis Huntington and the LA Chamber of Commerce. Huntington wanted to monopolize sea trade with a harbor in Santa Monica, but progressives were successful in building it in San Pedro instead.
https://blaknissan.wordpress.com/2018/01/10/the-free-harbor-fight-los-angeles-1890/ -
Angel Island Immigration Station
The Angel Island immigration station was completed in 1910, as a result of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. This station served as the funnel through which immigrants came into California, and Asian immigrants of various ethnicities were often detained and held for questioning for weeks or even months. -
California - Women's Suffrage
California votes to allow women's suffrage a full 9 years before it became federally enshrouded with the 19th amendment. -
Land Laws of 1913 and 1920
Both of these laws effectively barred Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Korean immigrant farmers from owning land in California. -
Immigration Acts of 1917 and 1924
These discriminatory acts created strict quotas for the number of Asian immigrants allowed into the US. -
Period: to
The Great Depression and WW2 Period
The Great Depression had severe economic impacts for all of the US. Unemployment in California reached about 25%, but immigration continued because this was actually much better than other states, such as those impacted by the Dust Bowl in the Plains States. WW2 has been called a "Second Gold Rush" for California, since the development of heavy industry to supply US war efforts greatly boosted the economy and population. -
West Coast Waterfront Strike
Dockworkers in every major Calfornia port staged a labor strike vying for increased pay and union representation. The strike lasted 83 days, and fascilitated the San Francisco General Strike in the same year. The strike was successful in that all west coast ports unionized.
https://www.ilwu.org/bloody-thursday-1934-the-strike-that-shook-san-francisco-and-rocked-the-pacific-coast/ -
'Okie' Labor Immigration
'Okie', displaced laborers from the regions affected by the Dust Bowl, began immigrating in large number to California seeking jobs in agriculture and manufacturing. -
Executive Order 8802
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor and rapid industrial expansion, President FDR ordered E.O. 8802, which banned racial discrimination in war employment to combat racial exclusion in labor unions. -
Mexican Farm Labor Agreement
Initially an emergency order, this agreement between the US and Mexico negotiated the immigration of 45,000 Mexican laborers brought to California to work in wartime industries and agriculture. -
Executive Order 9066
This Executive Order fascilitated the mass forced internment of Japanese Americans in California following Pearl Harbor. Over 125,000 Japanese Americans were relocated to camps like Manzanar, forced to abandon their homes and businesses which were more often than not lost upon their return. -
Chinese Exclusion Repealed
In 1943 the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed as Chinese Americans became viewed more positively because of China's allieship with the US during the war, albeit primarily in the stead of newfound anti-Japanese ideology. -
Zoot Suit Riots
Named after the fashion of young Latino men in LA, the Zoot Suit 'Riots' were deliberate attacks carried out by White men against Latino victims, who were beaten and stripped of their clothing. The police backed the instigaters, arresting 500 Latino men yet arresting 0 White men. -
Redlining
Redlining in California began after the first redlined maps were drawn up by the Home Owner's Loan Corp. in 1933, but the practice became even more prominent in the post-war period. Discriminatory practices targeted Blacks and low-income Whites, reducing the property values of their homes and limiting them from purchasing in 'nice' areas. -
Period: to
Post War Period
California in the post war period can be defined by a few key factors: The pendulum like swing between conservative and liberal leadership, massive population growth, Civil Rights movements, and rapid suburbanization. -
Suburbanization
The population of California tripled between 1950 and 1990. By 1970, over fifty percent of the population lived in suburbs. However, these new suburbs were far from diverse, as nearly 90% of residents were White, a direct result of discriminatory housing practices and 'white flight'. -
Freeway and Expressway Act
This act was hugely expensive, but was responsible for most of California's freeway system being built (the 405, 5, and 605 for example). -
Fair Employment Practices Act
This act prohibited labor unions and employers from racially discriminating in employment. -
Unruh Civil Rights Act
This act prohibited discrimination by businesses against customers on the basis of race, sex, religion, and sexual orientation. -
Donohoe Act
This act outlined a plan for higher education all across California. It created a 3 tier system of higher education (Community College, Cal States, and UC schools) with specific functions and admission requirements. -
State Water Project
This enormous project established one of largest water redistribution projects in the US. It built over 20 dams and hundreds of miles of canals, bringing a crucial spply of water to Southern California. -
Rumford Fair Housing Act
Combatted racial discrimination in housing by prohibiting discrimination in large housing complexes. It was overturned a year later, although it returned in an even stronger form in 1968. -
Watts Riots
A series of riots in Watts, LA, after an incident of police brutality against Marquette Frye. The riots lasted for 6 days in which 34 people were killed, and only ended once the national guard was deployed. -
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
This landmark case prevented the California UC system from using affirmative action in admission policy. The decision was met with protesting -
LA Riots
Riots that began in South Central LA, after four officers were acquitted of charges of police brutality against Rodney King. Like the Watts Riots, it also lasted 6 days and only came to an end with the deployment of the National Guard. A significant amount of the damage occurred in Koreatown.