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1524
Council of the Indies Established
supreme governing body of Spain’s colonies in America -
Period: 1542 to 1543
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo Expedition
investigations of the West Coast of North America on behalf of the Spanish Empire; first European to explore present-day California -
1551
Debate at Valladolid
first moral debate in European history to discuss the rights and treatment of an indigenous people by European colonizers -
Period: 1577 to 1580
Sir Francis Drake Expedition
circumnavigation of the world, first Englishman to navigate the Straits of Magellan -
Colegio de San Fernando Founded
a Roman Catholic Franciscan missionary college, or seminary, founded in Spanish colonial Mexico City -
First Spanish Mission Established
start of Catholic missions established by the Spanish Empire for the Spanish colonization of the Americas -
Period: to
Spanish Period
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Period: to
Mission Period
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Yuma Indian Revolt
an Indian tribe on the lower Colorado River launched a rebellion to achieve their independence from Spain -
Los Angeles Founded
a Southern California city which would become the center of the nation’s film and television industry -
Presidio of Santa Barbara Founded
a military installation built by Spain with the mission of defending the Second Military District in California -
Indian Revolt at San Gabriel
a medicine woman of the Tongva nation, Toypurina, helped lead a rebellion against Spanish missionaries who had invaded her homeland -
Northwest Ordinance of 1785
provided for the scientific surveying of the territory's lands and for a systematic subdivision of them -
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
outlined the process for admitting a new state to the Union, and guaranteed that newly created states would be equal to the original thirteen states -
Northwest Ordinance of 1789
guaranteed tribal land rights; their land and property shall never be taken from them without their consent -
Measles Epidemic
first measles outbreak in California attributed to contact with Spaniards, traveling the entire length of the state from San Francisco to Santa Barbara -
Napoleonic Invasion of Spain
Napoleon, a former ally, turned on Spain during the Peninsular War and forced the abdication of the Spanish king, replacing him with Napoleon's brother Joseph; this created a crisis and power vacuum in Spain that rippled out to its American colonies, including New Spain (Mexico) -
Period: to
Mexican War of Independence
an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain; not a single event but local and regional struggles that occurred within the same time period and can be considered a revolutionary civil war -
Spanish Constitution
first Spanish legislature that included delegates from the entire nation, including Spanish America and the Philippines; defined Spanish and Spanish American liberalism for the early 19th century -
Fort Ross Founded
founded by the Russian-American Fur Company to exploit the rich fur hunting grounds of the California coast, open trade with Spanish California, and provide an agricultural depot to supply Russian settlements in Alaska -
Treaty of Cordoba
established Mexican independence from Spain -
End of Mercantilism, Beginning of Free Trade
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Period: to
Mexican Period
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Period: to
Trappers and the Great Fur-Trading Era
commerce for American furs and hides attracted attracted a cosmopolitan mix of ethnic and cultural groups -
Chumash Indian Revolt
an uprising of the Chumash Indians against the Spanish and Mexican presence in their ancestral lands of California -
Mexican Colonization Law
allowed foreigners to gain title to land that was not within 20 leagues of the border of another country or within 10 leagues of the coast; settlers would be exempt from taxes for ten years -
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Estanislao Indian Revolt
Estanislao and his followers raided Missions San Jose, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz along with the ranchos that surrounded them; he was joined by members of the Chumash Indian tribe and other members of the Yokuts tribe until his army contained up to 4,000 men -
Secularization of California Missions
missions were broken up and their property sold or given away to private citizens; secularization was supposed to return the land to the Indians -
Arrival of John Sutter in California
a Swiss immigrant of Mexican and American citizenship, known for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area that would eventually become Sacramento, California, the state's capital -
Pre-Emption Act
allowed squatters who were living on federal government owned land to purchase it before the land was to be offered for sale to the general public -
Treaty of Nanking
ended the First Opium War between the United Kingdom and Qing Dynasty in China -
Bear Flag Revolt
short-lived independence rebellion by American settlers in California's Sacramento Valley against Mexican authorities -
Battle of San Pasqual
Americans sustained 21 dead and 15 wounded; Californios had 15 casualties -
Fremont's Excursion to Upper Sacramento River
a small military expedition in which a seasonal Native American village on the Sacramento River was attacked and hundreds were killed; set the stage for Native American cleansing -
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Mexican-American War
armed conflict between the United States and Mexico caused by a territorial dispute -
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Donner Party
a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest; delayed by a multitude of mishaps; snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range; some of the migrants resorted to cannibalism to survive, eating the bodies of those who had succumbed to starvation, sickness, and extreme cold -
Period: to
370 Indian Massacres
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Treaty of Cahuenga
an agreement that ended the conquest of California, resulting in a ceasefire between Californios and Americans -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
ended the war between the United States and Mexico; Mexico ceded 55% of its territory, including parts of present-day Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah, to the United States -
Discovery of Gold in California
gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California -
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Gold Rush
the news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad -
Foreign Miners' Tax
required miners who were not U.S. citizens to pay $20 every month for the right to mine in the state -
Fugitive Slave Law
required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state -
Fremont Becomes U.S. Senator from California
sided with the “free-soil” wing of the Democratic Party; opposition to slavery -
Bloody Island Massacre at Clear Lake
a regiment of the First Dragoons of the U.S. Calvary massacred nearly the entire Native population of the island of Bo-no-po-ti after the Natives killed two white ranchers who had long enslaved, brutalized, and starved the Indigenous people in the area -
Act for the Government and Protection of Indians
facilitated the removal and displacement of Native Californians Indians from their traditional lands -
California Land Act
established a three-member Public Land Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican land grants -
Official State-Sanctioned Indian Hunts
California genocide of thousands of Indigenous peoples by the United States government and private citizens -
People v. Hall
ruled that the testimony of a Chinese man who witnessed a murder by a white man was inadmissible, denying Chinese alongside Native and African Americans the status to testify in courts against whites -
Greaser Act
targeted Mexicans for arrest and imprisonment; they were forced to pay their fines either in cash or through temporary labor service -
Period: to
American Civil War
a war in the United States fought between the Union and the Confederacy; the central cause of the war was the status of slavery, especially the expansion of slavery into territories acquired as a result of the Louisiana Purchase and the Mexican–American War -
Pacific Railroad Act of 1862
offered government incentives to assist “men of talent, men of character, men who are willing to invest” in developing the nation's first transcontinental rail line -
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Construction of the Transcontinental Railroad
a 1,911-mile (3,075 km) continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs, Iowa with the Pacific coast at the Oakland Long Wharf on San Francisco Bay -
Pacific Railroad Act of 1864
increased the land grants from 10 to 20 miles, issued loan money faster, and allowed the companies to keep any timber or minerals, such as coal, found during construction -
13th Amendment
abolished slavery and involuntary servitude -
14th Amendment
granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States -
15th Amendment
protected the voting rights of all citizens regardless of race, the color of their skin, or previous condition of servitude -
Chinese Massacre at Los Angeles
a mob of Anglos and Latinos murdered nearly 20 Chinese immigrants -
Period: to
Modoc War
an armed conflict between the Native American Modoc people and the United States Army in northeastern California and southeastern Oregon -
San Francisco Cable Cars First Operate
Andrew Smith Hallidie opened the world's first cable car line, on Clay Street in San Francisco; cable cars soon dominated San Francisco's transit scene, with more than a dozen lines, including five on the city's main street, Market Street -
Sandlot "Rallies"
a three-day riot waged against Chinese immigrants in San Francisco, California by the city's majority white population -
Period: to
Workingmen's Party of California
an American labor organization with its famous slogan of "The Chinese must go!" -
Mussel Slough Tragedy
a dispute over land titles between settlers and the Southern Pacific Railroad that took place on on a farm located 5.6 miles northwest of Hanford, California, in the central San Joaquin Valley, leaving seven people dead -
Chinese Exclusion Act
a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers -
Wright Act
a state law of California that allowed farming regions to form and bond irrigation districts which allowed small farm owners to band together, pool resources, and get water to where it was needed -
Wounded Knee Massacre
a massacre of nearly three hundred Lakota people by soldiers of the United States Army -
Sierra Club Established
an organization with John Muir was its first president, involved in political action to further nature conservation -
Period: to
Progressive Era
a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States of America -
Period: to
Los Angeles Free Harbor Fight
legal battle around the case Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce v. Huntington and the Southern Pacific; resulted in the Port of Los Angeles being located in San Pedro, instead of Santa Monica -
United States v. Wong Kim Ark
Supreme Court ruling that determined the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted birthright citizenship to all persons born in the United States regardless of race or nationality -
The Octopus by Frank Norris Published
examined the struggle of California wheat farmers in the San Joaquin valley against the powerful Pacific and Southwestern Railroad monopoly -
Newlands Act
authorized the federal government to commission water diversion, retention, and transmission projects in arid land, particularly in the far west -
Colorado Compact
an agreement among seven U.S. states in the basin of the Colorado River in the American Southwest governing the allocation of the water rights to the river's water among the parties of the interstate compact -
Salton Sea Created
man-made lake formed when the Colorado River floodwater breached an irrigation canal being constructed in the Imperial Valley and flowed into the Salton Sink -
Great San Francisco Earthquake
struck the coast of Northern California with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9; devastating fires soon broke out in the city and lasted for several days; more than 3,000 people died and over 80% of the city of San Francisco was destroyed -
Asiatic Exclusion League Established
an organization formed in the United States and Canada that aimed to prevent immigration of people of Asian origin -
Period: to
San Francisco Graft Trials
a series of attempts to prosecute members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, San Francisco Mayor Eugene Schmitz, attorney Abe Ruef, who were receiving bribes, and business owners who were paying the bribes -
Gentlemen's Agreement
U.S.-Japanese understanding in which Japan agreed not to issue passports to emigrants to the United States, except to certain categories of business and professional men -
Angel Island Immigration Station Created
served as an immigration port located in heart of San Francisco Bay -
Formation of Good Government Leagues
their goal was to replace corrupt officials with honest ones -
Period: to
Progressives Capture State Government
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Progressive Takeover of Southern Pacific's Literary Club
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California Women's Suffrage
California became the sixth state where women could vote equally with men -
17th Amendment
referendum, recall, and direct election of senators -
Raker Act
granted the city of San Francisco the right to dam the Hetch Hetchy Valley as a reservoir -
First Alien Land Act
prohibited "aliens ineligible for citizenship" from owning agricultural land or possessing long-term leases over it, but permitted leases lasting up to three years -
Home Teacher Act
allowed school districts to employ teachers to work in the homes of the pupils -
18th Amendment
prohibition of alcohol; declared the production, transport, and sale of intoxicating liquors illegal -
Gender Parity Reached
females began to enjoy the freedoms that men enjoyed such as dancing, smoking, drinking, and etc. -
Second Alien Land Act
continued the 1913 law while filling many of its loopholes; among the loopholes filled were that the leasing of land for a period of three years or less was no longer allowed, owning of stock in companies that acquired agricultural land was forbidden, and guardians or agents of ineligible aliens were required to submit an annual report on their activities -
19th Amendment
women's right to vote -
Johnson-Reed Act
an immigration act which limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States through a national origins quota -
Boulder Canyon Project
authorized the construction of the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River and the All-American Canal to the Imperial Valley in California -
Period: to
Great Depression
the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, beginning after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors -
Period: to
Dust Bowl
the drought-stricken Southern Plains region of the United States, which suffered severe dust storms during a dry period; as high winds and choking dust swept the region from Texas to Nebraska, people and livestock were killed and crops failed across the entire region -
Central Valley Project Formed
one of the nation's major water conservation developments -
End Poverty in California (EPIC)
a political campaign started by socialist writer Upton Sinclair (best known as author of The Jungle); the movement formed the basis for Sinclair's campaign for Governor of California -
Fair Labor Standards Act
law banning child labor -
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Published
advocating social change by showing the unfair working conditions the migrants face when they reach California -
Period: to
World War II
a global war that involved the vast majority of the world's countries, including all of the great powers, forming two opposing military alliances, the Allies and the Axis powers; included the only two uses of nuclear weapons in war to this day; the deadliest conflict in human history, resulting in 70 to 85 million fatalities; tens of millions of people died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, massacres, and disease -
Labor Shortage During World War II
the war directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries; the major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources -
Executive Order 8802
banned discriminatory employment practices in the defense industry -
Franklin D. Roosevelt's War Production Boards Established
agency to regulate the production and distribution of materials during World War II in the United States, and to convert peacetime industries to meet the demands of war -
War Manpower Commission Established
agency to develop programs and policies for maximum use of manpower by industry, agriculture, and the government -
Executive Disorder 9066
forced removal and relocation of Japanese Americans into internment camps -
Period: to
Japanese Internment Camps
the United States government forced about 110,000 Japanese Americans to leave their homes and live in internment camps -
Period: to
Mexican Farm Labor Agreement
established the Bracero Program which permitted millions of Mexican men to work legally in the United States on short-term labor contracts -
Magnuson Act
repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act when China had become an ally of the U.S. against Japan in World War II, as the US needed to embody an image of fairness and justice -
Zoot Suit Riots
a series of violent clashes during which mobs of U.S. servicemen, off-duty police officers and civilians brawled with young Latinos and other minorities in Los Angeles -
Port Chicago Disaster and Mutiny
an ammunition ship exploded while being loaded in Port Chicago, California, killing 320 people -
G.I. Bill of Rights
U.S. legislation that provided various benefits to World War II veterans -
Indian Land Claims Commission Act
established a special, temporary commission to hear and decide land claim cases of American Indians, who believed the federal government had treated them unjustly through treaty violations, confiscation of land, and other grievances -
Circular Letter 48-46
desegregation of the U.S. Navy; prohibited all segregation in assignments, ratings, ranks, ships, facilities, and housing -
Mendez v. Westminster
parents won a federal lawsuit against several California school districts that had segregated Mexican-American schoolchildren -
Operation Wetback
the largest mass deportation in American History; tens of thousands of immigrants were shoved into buses, boats, and planes and sent to often-unfamiliar parts of Mexico -
Unruh Civil Rights Act
provided protection from discrimination by all business establishments in California, including housing and public -
Burns-Porter Act
passed to finance and build the nation's largest state-built water and power development and distribution system, the State Water Project -
Fair Employment Practices Act
passed to bar businesses and labor unions from discriminating against employees or job applicants based on their color, national origin, ancestry, religion, or race -
Donohoe Act
set forth the missions and functions of California's public and independent segments of higher education, and their respective institutions of higher education -
HUAC Hearing
riot ensued as the police attacked and swept protestors out of City Hall's rotunda with fire hoses, with 64 arrested, and 12 people hospitalized -
National Farm Workers Association Founded
union encompassed thousands of farm workers in multiple Valley counties -
California Fair Housing Act
prohibited discrimination because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability -
Civil Rights Act
prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin -
Proposition 14
repealed the Fair Housing Initiative -
Berkeley Free Speech Movement
a group of college students who challenged many campus regulations limiting their free-speech rights -
Voting Rights Act
prohibited racial discrimination in voting -
Immigration and Nationality Act
a federal immigration law which eliminated the national origins quota system, which had set limits on the numbers of individuals from any given nation who could immigrate to the United States -
Watts Riots
a series of violent confrontations between Los Angeles police and residents of Watts and other predominantly African American neighborhoods of South-Central Los Angeles; raged for six days and resulted in more than forty million dollars worth of property damage, was both the largest and costliest urban rebellion of the Civil Rights era -
Delano Grape Strike
a labor strike organized by the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), a predominantly Filipino and AFL-CIO-sponsored labor organization, against table grape growers in Delano, California to fight against the exploitation of farm workers -
Farmworkers March from Delano to Sacramento
Chavez and a group of strikers set out on a 340-mile march from Delano to Sacramento to draw attention to plight of farm workers; during this strike the union won its first contract -
Black Panther Party Invades Sacramento
a group of armed Black Panthers entered the California state Capitol to protest a gun control bill -
Fair Housing Act
prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, (and as amended) handicap and family status -
Period: to
San Francisco State Strike
a five-month strike sought to expose the racism and authoritarianism found on campus and demanded increased student of color representation, as seen in the demands of the Black Students and Third World Liberation movements; as a result of strikers efforts, the Departments of Black Studies and Ethnic Studies were founded at SF State -
Period: to
Indian Occupation of Alcatraz
a 19-month long protest when 89 Native Americans and their supporters occupied Alcatraz Island -
Earth Day Established
Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day as a way to force legal and regulatory mechanisms to protect our environment onto the national agenda -
Chicano Moratorium
a movement of Chicano anti-war activists that built a broad-based coalition of Mexican-American groups to organize opposition to the Vietnam War -
Proposition 13
placed limits on the amount property taxes may increase each year -
Defeat Bakke Protest
the Supreme Court upheld the principle of affirmative action to overcome past discrimination but at the same time ordered the University of California to admit Allan P. Bakke -
Civil Liberties Act
granted redress of $20,000 and a formal presidential apology to every surviving U.S. citizen or legal resident immigrant of Japanese ancestry incarcerated during World War II -
Proposition 187
Save Our State Initiative (SOS); ballot initiative to establish a state-run citizenship screening system and prohibit undocumented immigrants from using non-emergency health care, public education, and other services in the State of California -
Governor Gavin Newsom's Formal Apology for Indian Extermination
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California's Formal Apology for Internment of Japanese American Citizens