California Statehood

The "Great Seal of the State of California."

The transition from the Mexican California (see the Mexican California section) to California Statehood occurred in just over two years. The treaty with Mexico was signed on February 2, 1848, and on September 9, 1850 President Fillmore signed the bill for California admission. These were turbulent times for California. In 1848, gold was discovered in the American River, but it was not until 1849 that the Gold Rush began in earnest. People came from other parts of the United States and North America, Mexico, Peru, Chile, China, and Europe to seek their fortunes in the California hills.

The influx of immigrants of so many nationalities and ethnicities led to cultural and political upheaval and California soon became known for ethnic conflict. Early on, because of the lack of state governance, American miners took the law into their own hands and formed over 500 self-governing mining districts to protect claims and settle disputes. They elected a leader (known either as an arbitrato or a chair) who kept the records and settled disputes. Unfortunately for non-Caucasian Americans, the mining districts often created and enforced discriminatory rules to favor European-Americans. Native Americans were forced to abandon their claims and were often the victims of genocidal campaigns begun on a local level and sponsored first by the state and then by the federal government in the form of bounties for scalps. The largest group of foreigners was the Latinos. Although most came from Mexico, some came from Chile and Peru. In 1850, the state passed a foreign tax of $20 per month for a mining license to discourage these immigrants and about two-thirds of them soon left to return to their homelands. The French, called "Keskydees," were also forced to pay the foreign tax. Another large group of immigrants came from China. By 1870, Chinese miners represented about one quarter of the miner population. In 1852, another foreign tax was legislated, this one with the understood intent of discouraging Chinese miners. The tax was collected for 18 years (until it was declared unconstitutional) and during that time amounted to about one quarter of the state's annual revenue.

Mining scene with a flume and miners, including a California Native in foreground. Circa 1860. Image courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Merchants did well in the new economy. They furnished necessary supplies for miners and were often the nexus around which new towns were formed. Sacramento and Stockton were among the largest interior "boom" towns. San Francisco, however, grew the most, from a population of 600 in 1848 to about 25,000 in 1849. Meanwhile, rancho owners lost most of their land to the squatting process due to the complexity and length of the application process for validating their ownership claims. During these early years of statehood, California's capital moved between San Jose, Benicia, Sacramento, and Vallejo before finally settling in Sacramento. Throughout this time, the fledgling communities of San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties were beginning to grow (go to the sections on San Mateo County and Santa Cruz County).

General Reference

Rawls, J.J. 2000. California History Online [Web site]. California Historical Society [cited October 22, 2003]. View on-line source.