Los Rios Community College District



HISTORY 344: SURVEY OF CALIFORNIA HISTORY, A MULTICULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

PROF. STUART GRAYBILL – OFFICE (RN 211) – INFORMATION

MTWTh 9:15am-10:15am E-mail: graybis@scc.losrios.edu

Friday 2:30-4:00 pm Phone: (916) 558-2309

(or, by appointment) Website: web.scc.losrios.edu/graybis

COURSE OVERVIEW

This course will examine the historical development of California from the era of the first settlement by native peoples to the present, and it will emphasize the evolution of the state’s multicultural society. Lectures and readings and other class materials will introduce students to the origins and consequences of the major historical forces (economic, social, cultural and political) that helped shape life in California over the last several centuries.

REQUIRED READING MATERIALS

Course Textbook: California: An Interpretive History, James Rawls, Walton Bean

(The book above is available in the SCC College Store)

GRADED ASSIGNMENTS:

Students will be required to complete TWO MIDTERM EXAMS, a FINAL EXAM, and ONE DOCUMENTARY SOURCE PROBLEM (from a selection of two). The schedule for completing these assignments, and their relative value, as a percentage of course grade, is provided below:

First Midterm Exam: Thursday September 27 20%

Second Midterm Exam: Thursday November 8 20%

Formal Essay: Tuesday November 20 20%

Final Exam: Thursday, December 20 20%

Miscellaneous: 20%

* MIDTERM and FINAL EXAMINATIONS will examine students on course readings and in-class material (lectures, films, textbook, handouts, etc.). In examinations, students will write essays, short answers, identification exercises or a combination of these methods. Bring a green book to all exams!

* FORMAL ESSAY will require students to identify, analyze and interpret an issue, event, person/s, movement or force in California history from questions provided by the professor (approximately 5 pages, typed, double-spaced, 1" margins, with a cover page – more complete instructions for writing the essays follow later in this syllabus). Students must complete the formal essay to pass the class!

* The MISCELLANEOUS portion of students' grade is a composite of students' regular (or irregular) attendance, on-time (or untimely) arrival, participation in class activities, etc. Lack of attendance and late arrival to, or early departure from, class counts against students’ miscellaneous grade component. The easiest “A” in the class is to attend every class session and participate in all the class exercises.

POLICY REGARDING MISSED EXAMS:

-If an unforeseen emergency compels you to miss one of the exams, you may make up that exam at the end of this semester. However, you may make-up only ONE of the exams!

-Since there are two exams that students may make-up, I will not compose a make-up exam for each individual exam (that would be simply too much extra work for me). So, the make-up exam will be drawn from the material assigned for the first two exams (see the “Exam Preparation” section of the syllabus for more information).

-A SINGLE MAKE-UP DATE for a missed exam will be offered during the final exam, at the end of the summer session. If you miss the make-up exam, you will receive a zero (0) for that exam. Furthermore, if you wish to make-up a missed exam, you must inform the professor of your intent to do so well in advance of the make-up exam date.

POLICY REGARDING LATE PAPERS:

* Late papers will be PENALIZED ONE FULL LETTER GRADE.

* Late Papers must be submitted within ONE WEEK of the due date.

* NO PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED BEYOND ONE WEEK FOLLOWING THE DUE DATE!

*Therefore, in order to ensure you pass the course and maximize your chances for the best possible grade, complete the paper on time.

RECOMMENDED COURSES, SKILLS:

Completion of ENGWR 100 with a grade of "C" or better, or ESLW 320 and ESLR 320 with grades of "C" or better is STRONGLY ADVISED! The principal method of assessment in this course is through evaluation of written work. Therefore, to be successful in this course, proficiency in English composition is a strong asset.

STANDARDS FOR CLASSROOM COURTESY:

1) Students are not permitted to answer cell phones, text, or use other electronic devices in class! 2) Cell phones must be turned off or set to vibrate mode. 3) If you must return phone calls during the class period, exit the classroom as unobtrusively as possible and take the call outside. If you anticipate that you may need to answer a call, please position yourself close to the exit so that you do not disturb class when you leave. 4) Arrive in class on time. 5) no laptop computers are allowed without the express permission of the professor.

LEARNING ACCOMMODATIONS:

I will be delighted to assist students who present to me proper verification of their need for learning accommodations. Please inform the professor at the beginning of the semester in order to make arrangements for completing assignments.

History 344 SAMPLE EXAM Graybill

PART I – Extra Credit – One line only!

1. When did Europeans first explore California?

2. When did Russian fur traders build Fort Ross?

3. When was California admitted to the Union?

4. When was the Wheatland Riot?

5. When was the UFW formed? By Whom?

PARTS II & III ON REVERSE SIDE

In the questions you choose to answer in Parts II & III, be sure to discuss the relevance of the main theme of the course to the subject matter of the question.

And, please double-space your essays in your green book to make them easier to read.

PART II – Essay – 50% – Answer ONE of the following questions from the textbook and lectures:

1. Explain the similarities and differences among the various Indian "culture areas" of California.

(Chapter 2, Question 2)

In your answer to the question above, explain (from your understanding of lecture material) the diversity of Native Californians.

2. What were the reasons for the limited Spanish commitment to the development of Alta California? (Chapter 4, Question 1)

In your answer, drawing on lecture and the text, explain the operations of the Spanish government in North America in the 18th century.

3. Write an essay that assesses the motives and rationalizations used to justify the oppression of racial minorities in California during the 1850s and 1860s.

(Chapter 11, Question 2)

How does the textbook answer the question above? Also, drawing on lecture material, explain the genocide of California between 1845 and 1880.

PART III – Essay – 50% – Answer ONE of the following questions from the textbook and lectures:

1. Summarize the main provisions and consequences of the constitution of 1879.

(Chapter 15, Question 3)

How does the textbook answer the question above? Also, discuss, from lecture, the alternative concepts of freedom at the heart of the competing visions for California at the California Constitutional Convention in 1878-1879.

2. Describe the status of women in twentieth-century California. What economic and political gains have been made? What problems of inequality remain?

(Chapter 30, Question 2)

How does the textbook answer the question above? Also, discuss, from lecture, the following: The Civil Rights Act of 1964, and “affirmative action” programs based on that act, did more for women than any other single act of the twentieth century (including the 19th Amendment).

3. What have been the major trends in California education since World War II?

(Chapter 31, Question 2)

How does the textbook answer the question above? Also, discuss, from lecture, Propositions 187 and 209 in the 1990s.

EXAM PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS

The midterm and final examinations are structurally identical and will be divided into three parts.

PART I is an extra credit section containing several very short answer questions (drawn from the chronology tables supplied later in this syllabus). PARTS II & III will examine you on textbook and lecture material. Please bring a green book to all exams!

Essay questions on PARTS II & III of the exams will be drawn from POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS, accompanying each chapter of the textbook, California: An Interpretive History (supplied at the end of this syllabus). So, by the time you complete reading each chapter of textbook, you should be prepared to write an examination essay on each of the POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS for that chapter (which are included in this syallbus).

FOR EXAMPLE: In PART II of the first midterm exam, I will choose, at random, TWO or THREE of the POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS from chapters 1-6 in the textbook, California, and place those questions on the exam (there are a total of 12 POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS in chapters 1-6). You will then write an ESSAY on ONE of those three questions – the one question that you think you are best able to answer.

On PART III of the first midterm exam, I will choose, at random, TWO or THREE of the POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS from chapters 7-12 in the textbook, California, and place those questions on the exam (there are a total of 11 POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS in chapters 7-12). You will then write an ESSAY on ONE of those three questions – the one question that you think you are best able to answer.

In PART II of the second midterm exam, I will choose, at random, TWO or THREE of the POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS from chapters 13-16 in the textbook, California, and place those questions on the exam (there are a total of 11 POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS in chapters 13-16). You will then write an ESSAY on ONE of those three questions – the one question that you think you are best able to answer.

On PART III of the second midterm exam, I will choose, at random, TWO or THREE of the POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS from chapters 17-22 in the textbook, California, and place those questions on the exam (there are a total of 10 POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS in chapters 18-22). You will then write an ESSAY on ONE of those three questions – the one question that you think you are best able to answer.

In PART II of the final exam, I will choose, at random, TWO or THREE of the POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS from chapters 23-29 in the textbook, California, and place those questions on the exam (there are a total of 15 POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS in chapters 25-30). You will then write an ESSAY on ONE of those three questions – the one question that you think you are best able to answer.

On PART III of the final exam, I will choose, at random, TWO or THREE of the POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS from chapters 30-36 in the textbook, California, and place those questions on the exam (there are a total of 17 POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS in chapters 31-36). And, remember, you’ll answer the one question that you think you are best able to answer.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPOSING EXAM PREPARATION CARDS:

In order to assist you in writing your essays, during the Midterm and the Final examinations you may use EXAM PREPARATION CARDS, if you take the time to create them. You may prepare an essay in response to each of the POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS for California: An Interpretive History.

For example, on the FIRST MIDTERM EXAM, you may compose a total of 23 3x5 NOTE CARDS (one for each POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTION) for chapters 1-12 of California: An Interpretive History.

During the examinations you may use (but are NOT required to create) EXAM PREPARATION CARDS (on 3x5 notecards) to assist you in writing your essays. You may prepare notes to write an essay in response to each of the "Potential Essay Questions" for each chapter of California: An Interpretive History.

If you decide to prepare cards for Part II & III of the exams, your cards should conform to the following rules:

On a 3x5 notecard, you may include:

1) NAME in the upper right hand corner - REQUIRED FOR ANY CARDS YOU CREATE

2) you may write out, longhand, the QUESTION from the "Potential Essay Questions" supplied

for the relevant chapter of California: An Interpretive History.

3) you may identify the BOOK and the CHAPTER number from which the question comes.

4) a THESIS STATEMENT for the essay you intend to write.

5) a FIVE POINT OUTLINE for the essay you intend to write.

In this outline, you may write a complete topic sentence. You may also include all the

factual information that you might include in the essay. That is, you may include dates,

names, events, movements, organizations, geographical locations, etc. You may include as

much of this sort of information as you can crowd onto the card. You may hand the card or

you may also type it.

With the exception of the thesis statement and the topic sentence for the outlines, however,

YOU MAY NOT WRITE COMPLETE SENTENCES ON THE CARD, AND YOU MAY NOT COPY THE ESSAY ON TO YOUR CARD!

Remember! The cards are VOLUNTARY! You are not required to make them, but you will almost certainly do better on the exams if you do make them. If you decide to make the cards and use them on the exam, you must submit the cards you use for writing the exam essays with your green book. Don’t forget to bring a green book to all exams!

INSTRUCTIONS FOR WRITING FORMAL ESSAYS (PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION!!!!):

The textbook, California: An Interpretive History, as well as the lectures, films, and other class materials are the subject matter for the 5 page formal essays assigned for this class.

Due Tuesday November 20

To prepare for this assignment, read the following essay questions and pick the one question that most interests you. You should then read the textbook and review lectures and class materials for all the information that might help you answer your question.

1. Imagine that you are a Kumeyaay Indian standing on the shore of a great bay, what European settlers will later call, San Diego Bay, on the morning of May 14, 1769. Off in the distance, you see a number of strange looking vessels coming into the bay (the first European settlers to the region). Unlike your loved ones in the tribe, you have foreknowledge of the future. Explain to them, in detail, what is going to happen in their homeland over the next 75-100 years, and then suggest to them what you think might be the best strategy for dealing with those changes.

2. Imagine that you have an opportunity to sit down and have discussion with Juan Crespi, Junipero Serra, and Gaspar de Portola about what they thought they were doing in late Eighteenth-century, why they were doing it, and the resulting consequences for relationships among Spanish soldiers, missionaries, and Indians. If you could talk to them about how future generations would view their actions, what would you tell them. Why would future generations’ view of their actions differ from their own?

3. Imagine that you can have a conversation with a Spanish missionary in one of California’s Franciscan missions in California in 1810. Ask him to describe the daily lives of the people, native and nonnative, who occupied the presidios, missions, ranchos, and pueblos. How do you think he would he respond if you asked him WHY people lived the way they did at that time?

4. Write a work of historical fiction, a memoir of a Californio (male or female) who was born in Spanish California in 1800, and lived in California throughout the Spanish and Mexican eras. Drawing on the descriptions of the Californio period in the textbook, describe this individual’s life – i.e., the major events, historical forces, ideas, attitudes, beliefs, ways of life, and social customs that influenced this individual’s life and development.

5. Construct an imaginary discussion between four people – James Beckworth, John Bidwell, John C. Fremont, and Pio Pico. What would a discussion between them be like if the topic was “what were the various routes to California in the Nineteenth-century, and how and why did people travel to California on those routes, and what were their experiences like?”

6. Imagine that you are a time-traveling oral historian, interested in the consequences of the California Gold Rush. Interview four people, John A. Sutter, Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, Louise Clapp, and Biddy Mason. What would they tell you about the Gold Rush?

7. Construct an imaginary discussion between two people, Henry George and Carey McWilliams. What would they say about their experience of California?

8. Construct an imaginary discussion between four people – all of whom are individuals of color. Assume that two of these individuals came to California in the second half of the Nineteenth-century (1850-1900), and the other two came to California in the second half of the Twentieth-century (1950-2000). The topic of their discussion is “what were the experiences of non-white immigrants to California, and what factors most influenced their experience?”

9. Write a biography of a man or woman you know over the age of sixty (this person may be a relative, a neighbor, a coworker, etc). Learn as much as you can about this person’s life before writing. The best biographers not only focus on the individual they are writing about; they also attempt to explain for the reader the times that individual lived through and how the times shaped that person’s life (that is, the culture, the society, the politics, economics, major events, etc.). Thus the title of your biography should be something like,

The Life and Times of _________ ______________.

If you decide to write on this last question, be careful, because it can be the trickiest. Writing a good biography is tough, because it not only requires a good familiarity with the crucial events of the subject’s life, but, more broadly, the major historical forces and events that shaped their experiences. That is, you should be thoroughly familiar with the entire history of the country during their lives – and you should precisely explain what major historical forces shaped your subject’s life.

So, any biography written for this class should be richly supported with evidence from the textbook, California: An Interpretive History. Essays that have little or no supporting evidence from the textbook, and demonstrate little familiarity with it, will receive a failing grade,

You have wide creative latitude to decide how to construct your essays. But, be careful. In your essays be SPECIFIC, be historically PRECISE, and be ACCURATE!

Essays that are general, imprecise, and vague will demonstrate a lack of serious application and will be graded accordingly.

You may consult outside sources. BUT, ABOVE ALL, YOUR GRADE ON THIS ASSIGNMENT WILL BE BASED ON HOW WELL YOU DEMONSTRATE A THOROUGH COMMAND OF THE RELEVANT SUBJECT MATTER FOR THE QUESTION FROM THE TEXTBOOK AND CLASS MATERIALS!

ORGANIZATION AND MECHANICS OF FORMAL ESSAYS

1. Essays should be composed in the following manner:

approximately 5 pages, typed, double-spaced, 12 pt. font, 1" margins, with a title page, and

should include an introductory paragraph, a body, and a conclusion.

2. The introduction should provide just that – an introduction to the imaginary conversation. A good introduction provides a thesis statement (a single sentence or a small number of sentences that decisively state an argument or position that you will develop and demonstrate in your essay) and a brief statement of the main points you intend to develop in your essay. Or, to put it another way, the introduction should introduce the WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? factual elements of your essay. WHO are the main figures in this story? WHAT is it about? WHERE does it take place? WHEN does it take place?

3. The body should be composed of several paragraphs that support your thesis and main points of your essay. Above all, the body should provide hard EVIDENCE and EXAMPLES, drawn from the California: An Interpretive History and class materials sufficient to prove your thesis.

In this sense, your creative essay should demonstrate thorough familiarity with the time period in question. That is, you should read the relevant chapters in the textbook thoroughly and refer to evidence from those chapters to support your essay.

More than any other single criteria, your work will be judged on the quality of your analysis of precise and specific examples and evidence from the textbook and class materials!

So you should devote most of your time to assembling and intelligently examining evidence and examples!

For the purposes of the essay you will be writing, the term "evidence" includes examples and major ideas drawn from the textbook and class materials. Thus your essay should contain numerous quotations drawn specifically from California: An Interpretive History, and your writing should carefully examine the evidence and main ideas of the sources you will be reading.

While you may consult other sources for essay on your own, the essay you write must be supported by evidence from the textbook and class materials. If your essay does not demonstrate command of class material, no matter how much outside material you use, it will receive a failing grade!

4. The conclusion can be constructed in a variety of ways: it may be a brief summary of the main points of your essay; it may also be a restatement of your thesis; but the best conclusion is one that demonstrates the historical significance of the issue you are examining and your analysis of it.

When you read over your essay before submitting it, you should be sure that the WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? and WHY? questions have been answered.

5. Quotations and evidence should be cited in the following style:

If you quote from the textbook:

According to James Rawls, “the first objective of the whole expedition was the founding of a presidio and a mission at San Diego as a way station for the journey to Monterey.” (California, p. 37)

If you quote from class materials:

Theodore Judah declared in 1858 that, “the Sierra Nevada mountains are a challenging obstacle to the construction of a Railroad to California, but the are not an insurmountable obstacle.” (Film, The Transcontinetal Railroad).

If you quote from lecture:

Economic depressions in the nineteenth century were gradually lasting longer, becoming more frequent and more severe. (Graybill, 10-6-12)

If you quote from some other source, identify it more completely in a works cited page.

5. When you write about the past, use the simple past tense.

Avoid constructions such as the following:

“After the arrival of Anglo-Americans, the Californios would lose their status as the

preeminent social group in California.”

Substitute above with:

“After the arrival of Anglo-Americans, the Californios lost their status as the

preeminent social group in California.”

6. Avoid passive sentences (e.g. “mistakes were made”). Thus, avoid forms of the verb “to be”, especially “was” and “were”. Use active verbs wherever possible (e.g. “Earl Warren made a mistake”). Passive voice often obscures meaning, while the active makes responsibility clear.

For example:

Passive Voice Construction:

Early in the crisis, many alternative responses were considered (who is “considering”?)

Active Voice Construction:

Early in the crisis, the leaders of the movement considered several alternative responses (responsibility is clear).

7. Write at least one rough draft, and then read it thoroughly to identify and correct weaknesses in logic, style, spelling, grammar, and evidence.

REMEMBER!

YOUR GRADE ON THIS ASSIGNMENT WILL BE BASED ON HOW WELL YOU DEMONSTRATE A COMMAND OF THE RELEVANT SUBJECT MATTER FROM THE TEXTBOOK AND CLASS MATERIALS FOR THE QUESTION YOU CHOOSE TO ANSWER!

Assistance on the Formal Essays from the Professor and the Writing Center

I encourage all students to come see me during my office hours to discuss your formal essays. If you are having any difficulties at all, or if you simply need pointers about how to do the assignment, don’t hesitate to come see me.

Moreover, the Writing Center will be available to help students over the summer in LR144, Mondays and Thursdays, from 10 am to 3 pm. Students with writing assignments from any SCC summer course can come in and sign up to work with a tutor. Writing tutoring will be available in the Writing Center beginning June 13.

A WARNING ON PLAGIARISM!

Plagiarism is literary and intellectual thievery! It is the wholesale use of somebody else’s material, and an attempt to pass it off as if it were your own, in a paper or an exam essay. The following are examples of the criteria that will be used in this class to identify plagiarism:

1. The use of somebody else’s exact wording, whatever the material, without indicating the source and without using quotation marks or other accepted typographical devises. Changing a few words here and there is not sufficient to avoid plagiarism!

2. Reproducing the whole pattern of organization and points of view of a source without giving credit via standard, in-text, written citation.

3. Reproducing facts, figures, or ideas in a pattern that originates with, and are the property of, a particular source rather than a matter of information commonly available in many sources.

4. Collaborating with other students to the extent that two or more assignments are identical in wording, pattern of organization, or points of view.

Your essays should be composed in your own words, though you may quote passages (with clearly identified quotation marks) and cite facts and evidence from the textbook, lectures, videos, etc. Plagiarism is a serious offense (and I treat it seriously); it can lead to dismissal from the college and severe long-term implications for completing a college or university education in the United States.

ESSAYS WILL BE EVALUATED ACCORDING TO THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:

1. Organization, logic, coherence (that is, introduction, thesis, body, conclusion, etc.).

2. Content (quantity and quality of evidence, level of analysis, level of command of subject matter).

3. Grammar, syntax, spelling.

The best essays will demonstrate command of the subject matter of the documents as well as careful preparation and composition of the essay.

On the following page is an example of the grading criteria sheet that I will use to score your essay. Use it to prepare for writing the formal essay and to understand the professor’s expectations for your essay. If you use the grading criteria sheet to grade your essay, you’ll have a better idea of how to polish it before you turn it in.

California History GRADING CRITERIA Graybill

Student_____________________________________________________________ Grade________________

CONTENT: 60% of grade

Examples – abundant? adequate? scarce? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Examples – detailed, specific, precise, accurate, relevant? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Knowledge – demonstrate command of the historical context? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Knowledge – clear understanding of cause & effect? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Knowledge – identification of a clear chronology? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Persuasion – does the essay directly answer the questions? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Analysis/Description – critical analysis of subject matter? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ORGANIZATION: 20% of grade

Introduction – who? where? what? when? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Thesis – is a thesis present and historically accurate? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Body – does the argument support the thesis? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Body – clear organizational structure (chronological, thematic, etc.)? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Conclusion – conclusion makes the historical significance 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

of the question clear (the “why”?)

COMPOSITION: 20% of grade

Syntax/Grammar 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Clarity of Sentences 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Spelling/Textual Errors/Punctuation 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Is it clear essay conforms to syllabus instructions? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Please come see me if you have any questions or would like additional help!

Prof. Graybill

A WARNING ON PLAGIARISM!

Plagiarism is literary and intellectual thievery! It is the wholesale use of somebody else’s material, and an attempt to pass it off as if it were your own, in a paper or an exam essay. The following are examples of the criteria that will be used in this class to identify plagiarism:

1. The use of somebody else’s exact wording, whatever the material, without indicating the source and without using quotation marks or other accepted typographical devises. Changing a few words here and there is not sufficient to avoid plagiarism!

2. Borrowing the whole pattern of organization and points of view of a source without giving credit via standard in-text written citation.

3. Borrowing facts, figures, or ideas that originated with and are the property of a particular source rather than a matter of common information available in many sources.

4. Collaborating with other students to the extent that two or more assignments are identical in wording, pattern of organization, or points of view.

Plagiarism is a serious offense (and I treat it seriously). It can lead to dismissal from the college and severe long-term implications for completing a college or university education in the United States.

Select List of Major Topics and Themes Covered in this Course:

1. California Prior to “the European Invasion”

2. The Societies and Cultures of Original Californians

3. The Evolution of California’s Natural Environment

4. Spanish Exploration and Settlement, from the 16th to the 19th Century

5. Mission Society and Culture in the 19th Century

6. “Californio” Society

7. Ibero-American and Anglo-American versions of the concept of “Race”

8. The “American” Conquest, 1845-1850

9. California’s Holocaust: The Extermination of Native Californians

10. The Gold Rush and the Railroad Era

11. The Evolution of Anti-Asian Prejudice in California

12. Labor/Business Conflict

13. The Origins and Achievements of California Progressivism

14. The Rise of Southern California

15. The Impact of the Great Depression

16. World War II and California

17. The Civil Rights Movement, the UFW, and the Hispanic Movement

18. The Turmoil of the 1960s

19. The Legacy of Proposition 13

20. The Evolution of Modern California Conservatism

21. The Evolution and Consequences of Immigration, 1965-2008

22. California’s Modern Multicultural Society

Essay questions on PARTS II & III of the exams will be drawn from the list of POTENTIAL ESSAY QUESTIONS below – for material from CALIFORNIA: AN INTERPRETIVE HISTORY.

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 1

1. Write an essay that 1) explains the major varieties of California geography and climate, 2) assesses the interaction of geography and culture in California history.

2. Granting that both climate and geography have considerable influence on human culture, which one of these two conditions do you consider to be the more important in California’s development? Why?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 2

1. Write an essay that 1) assesses the significance of geographical isolation in the development of California Indian culture, and, 2) explains to what extent were the food, population, and material culture of the California Indians determined by the natural resources of the region?

2. Explain the similarities and differences among the various Indian "culture areas" of California.

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 3

1. Explain the motives that led the Spanish to explore and settle Alta California.

2. Write an essay that 1) describes the general purposes of Spanish Indian policy and how these purposes were accomplished in California, and, 2) identifies and briefly explains the various viewpoints concerning the impact of mission life on the Indians of California.

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 4

1. What were the reasons for the limited Spanish commitment to the development of Alta California?

2. Write an essay that 1) evaluates the impact of the Spanish missions on the California Indians, and, 2) identifies and briefly explains the various responses of California Indians to Spanish missionization.

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 5

1. What was the nature of government and politics in Mexican California?

2. Explain the secularization of the California missions. What was the process employed, and what was the outcome of secularization for the mission Indians?

3. Explain the political, economic, and social impact of the Mexican rancho system in California.

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 6

1. Write an essay that explains, 1) what brought the first United States citizens to California, 2) the major economic activities of early United States settlers in California, and 3) the efforts made by some United States (American) settlers in Mexican California to encourage further immigration from the USA?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 7

1. Write an essay that explains, 1) why the United States government took such a strong interest in acquiring California during the 1830s and 1840s, 2) the specific actions taken by the Polk administration to establish American control of California, 3) the course of the Mexican War in California, and, 4) the impact of the war on California's Mexican population?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 8

1. The authors of the textbook write that the gold rush “was a foundational event, not only for the economic development of mid-nineteenth-century California, but for much of its political, social, and cultural history as well.”

Write and essay that explains what evidence supports this statement

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 9

1. Explain the reasons for the confused legal and political status of California from the outbreak of the Mexican War until the achievement of statehood.

2. Explain the impact of the major national political issues on California during the 1850s and 1860s.

3. What were the major reasons for the movement for state division during the 1850s?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 10

1. Write an essay that analyzes the phenomenon of vigilance committee in California in the 1850s, including, 1) the psychological, political, economic, and social factors which contributed to the emergence of vigilantism in early American California, 2) the San Francisco Vigilance Committees of 1851 and 1856, its leaders and its activities, and, 3) the formation and actions of vigilance committees outside of San Francisco.

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 11

1. Write an essay that explains the differences between the American and Mexican concepts of land title in California. Explain the system of determining the validity of Mexican land titles after 1851. How were the Mexican land grantees placed at a disadvantage? What was the final outcome of the process?

2. Write an essay that assesses the motives and rationalizations used to justify the oppression of racial minorities in California during the 1850s and 1860s?

3. Write an essay that compares the nature of racial discrimination against Mexicans, Chinese, Indians, and African Americans during the 1850s and 1860s. What forms did this discrimination take, and which group suffered the worst kind of oppression? Explain.

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 12

1. What was the relationship between California's peculiar gold rush society and the flowering of journalism and literature during the 1850s and the 1860s (in the works of such writers in early American California as, Dame Shirley, Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Joaquin Miller, and Ina Coolbrith)?

2. Explain the early development of public and private education in California during the 1850s and 1860s.

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 13

1. Describe the nature of transportation in American California before the arrival of the railroad, and the major financial and physical obstacles encountered in constructing the Central Pacific Railroad. Explain the federal and state aid given to the Central Pacific Railroad. What was the nature of this support? How was it justified?

2. Describe the critical role played by Chinese laborers in the building of the Central Pacific.

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 14

1. Explain the negative effects of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on California's economy.

2. Trace the evolution of the Big Four's transportation and land monopolies in California. What were the effects of the railroad's transportation and land monopolies on California society?

3. What effect did the Comstock silver booms have on California's economy, and how did the state’s economy evolve in the 1860s and 1870s?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 15

1. Write an essay that explains the reasons for California's political upheaval of the 1870s. Why did the Workingmen's party emerge at this time?

2. Write an essay that assesses the causes of increased anti-Chinese sentiment in California during the 1870s, the anti-Chinese activities that resulted, the Chinese view of the discrimination they faced in California during the 1870s and 1880s, and the actions they took to oppose this treatment.

3. Summarize the main provisions and consequences of the constitution of 1879.

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 16

1. What role did the state's geography, climate, and technological improvements play in the development of the wheat, wine, and citrus industries in California?

2. Explain the factors which gave rise to the southern California real estate "booms" of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

3. Explain the major controversies over California water use in the nineteenth century. What measures were taken to resolve these controversies?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 17

1. Write an essay that the literature and journalism and journalism of California in the late nineteenth century. To what extent were these works protests against, or examples of, "oligarchy" in California?

2. Explain the development of higher education in California in the late nineteenth century, especially the origins and early history of the University of California and Stanford University.

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 18

1. Write an essay that explains how the authors of the textbook (in chapter 18, “Politics in the Era of Railroad Domination”) trace the influence of the Southern Pacific Railroad in California in the late nineteenth century and the efforts of reformers to restrain the power of the railroad.

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 19

1. Analyze the struggle between “labor” and “capital” in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. What were the fundamental sources of these conflicts? Who were the major figures? Where did the most significant conflicts take place?

2. What were the unique California circumstances which gave rise to the pattern of alien, nonwhite, migratory agricultural labor in the state?

3. Explain the goals and methods of the IWW in California. Why did the Wobblies meet with only limited success? If you had been a migrant worker in the early twentieth century, would you have joined the IWW? Why or why not?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 20

1. Write an essay that compares and contrast the reform movements in San Francisco and Los Angeles. What needed reforming in these cities and the state? How were these reform movements similar and in what ways did they differ?

2. What were the origins and circumstances of the rise of the Lincoln-Roosevelt League and Hiram Johnson?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 21

1. What kind of people were progressives in California in the early twentieth century? What did they have in common? What did they want to accomplish? What were the major reasons for the decline of progressivism in California? And what are the principal consequences of that era in California today?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 22

1. What’s the evidence that demonstrates that, as the authors write, “the forces of conservatism were triumphant throughout the 1920s?”

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 23

1. The authors of the textbook claim that in the early twentieth century “the economic and political center of California was shifting southward.” Explain.

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 24

1. Explain John Muir's philosophy of conservation. How did it differ from the approach of Theodore Roosevelt and other conservationists of the progressive era?

2. Compare the Hetch Hetchy, Owens Valley, Colorado River Aqueduct, Boulder Canyon, and Central Valley water projects. Who were these project's supporters and opponents, and what was the ultimate impact of the ventures?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 25

1. The Great Depression was the worst economic disaster to hit California (and the nation). Explain the major events, figures and consequences of this episode in California history.

2. Explain the renewed struggle between laborers and employers in California during the 1930s. What was caused this renewed combat, and what were its consequences?

3. Identify Upton Sinclair and explain his EPIC program. Why was he so popular in Depression-era California and how was he defeated in the 1934 gubernatorial election? Who and what were the specific groups that opposed his candidacy?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 26

1. Analyze the following statement: “The cultural history of California during the early decades of the twentieth century was distinguished by several writers of great scope and power. As a cultural region, California was fast becoming one of the most dynamic and promising of any area in the United States.”

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 27

1. Assess the social and economic impact of massive federal spending in California during World War II. Which industries ultimately became the most significant factors in the state's economic growth?

2. Based on information in this chapter, describe briefly the experiences of African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Japanese Americans who served in the armed forces during World War II.

3. Explain the following about the "relocation" of Japanese Americans during World War II:

a. the long-range factors which led to the policy;

b. the groups and individuals who supported the policy;

c. the social and constitutional problems raised by the policy.

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 28

1. Why were Republicans were able to dominate California politics in the 1940s and 1950s?

2. Compare the gubernatorial terms of Earl Warren and Edmund G. "Pat" Brown. What were the philosophies of each man, and what successes and failures did each experience?

3. Explain the background and philosophy of the John Birch Society. What impact did it have on state and national politics during the 1960s?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 29

1. Describe the main features of California agribusiness in the twentieth century. Analyze the tactics used by the Associated Farmers to prevent farm worker organization during the 1930s, and then explain whether Carey McWilliams's characterization of these methods as "farm fascism" is accurate.

2. Explain the history of the bracero program in California. How was it justified, and what effects did it have on the wages and bargaining power of American farm workers?

3. What were the factors that contributed to successful unionization of California farm workers during the 1960s and 1970s? Describe the roles played by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta in this process.

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 30

1. Compare the twentieth-century socio-economic status of the following California minority groups: American Indians, Asians, Mexican Americans, African Americans. To what extent have California's major non-white ethnic groups been able to overcome racist attitudes and government policies in the twentieth century? What problems of discrimination remain to be solved?

2. Describe the status of women in twentieth-century California. What economic and political gains have been made? What problems of inequality remain?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 31

1. What were the reasons for the decline in the growth rate of California's population at the end of the 1960s? And, explain the population shift toward southern California in the past three or four decades. What caused the shift, and what have been its political effects?

2. What have been the major trends in California education since World War II?

3. Trace the rise and fall of radicalism in California during the 1960s. Who were the radicals, what issues did they address, and why did the movement decline?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 32

1. The authors of the textbook state that, “the essence of California’s artistic identity was rooted in the state’s energizing sense of freedom from prior tradition and constraint.” And they also note that “journalist Carey McWilliams once remarked that California culture was defined by its willingness to abandon old ways and its quickness to embrace something new.”

Summarize the major trends in literature, music, painting, sculpture and architecture in northern and southern California since World War II. How have local elements shaped the work of California artists?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 33

1. What were the factors which contributed to Ronald Reagan's rise to the California governorship in 1966? Evaluate Reagan's two terms as governor of California. What political ideas did he bring to the office, and how successful was he in securing the policies he advocated?

2. Trace the political career of Jerry Brown from 1969 to 1982. What philosophy did he bring to state government, and what were his major accomplishments and failures as governor?

3. Explain the roots of California's "tax revolt" of the late 1970s. Summarize the major provisions of Proposition 13 (1978) and explain its impact on California and the nation.

4. What were the major issues of the governorships of George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson, Gray Davis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger? What has changed, politically, since the era of Ronald Reagan in the 1960s? What’s remained the same?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 34

1. Explain the major struggles between the forces of environmental protection and economic development in recent California history. What have been the gains and setbacks for both sides? How do you respond to the notion raised in the textbook that "environmental protection and economic growth are not mutually exclusive?"

2. Summarize the major environmental problems facing California in the coming decades. What are the prospects that Californians will be able to deal with them successfully?

3. Describe briefly the California electricity energy crisis of the early 2000s. What caused the crisis? How did the state respond? Who was harmed and who benefited from the crisis?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 35

1. The authors of the textbook claim that “California’s economic growth in recent decades has been phenomenal.” What stimulated this growth? How did it change California and its economy?

2. Explain the "paradox of a strong economy" noted in the textbook. What are the challenges for the California economy in the twenty-first century?

ESSAY QUESTIONS – Chp 36

1. Summarize and explain the major issues confronting California in recent decades. What changes have been implemented, and how effective have these changes been in reducing crime?

2. Describe the nature of California's diverse population in the early twenty-first century. What are the state's major ethnic groups and their relative sizes? What are the major challenges facing these groups? In your view, what is the likelihood of California meeting the “challenge of diversity” in the years ahead?

Don’t forget to bring a green book to all exams!

The questions on PART I of the midterm and final exams

will be drawn from the following chronology tables.

CALIFORNIA CHRONOLOGY – FIRST MIDTERM

• 20,000-10,000 BP (BP – Before Present) – Peoples of north-east Asia cross into North America,

begin populating American continents

• 15,000 BP – First human settlements in California

• 13,000 BP-8,000 BP – disappearance of large game animals in North and South America,

• 12,500 BP – Santa Barbara Channel Islands settled

• 10,000-500 BP – Native California Indian cultures develop

• 1510 – Las Sergas de Esplandian (Adventures of Esplandian), a romance novel published in

Spain 1510, by Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo, referred to a mythical land named, “California”

• 1533 – First Spanish ships explore southern tip of Baja California

• 1535 – Hernando Cortes attempted, and failed, to plant a colony at La Paz, Baja California

• 1539 – Francisco de Ulloa explores the eastern and western coasts of Baja California

• 1540 – Antonio de Mendoza, Viceroy of New Spain, sends a sea expedition under Hernando de

Alarcon up the Gulf of California where they journey up the mouth of the Colorado River and become the first Europeans to enter California

• 1542 – Portuguese-born sailor, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, working for the Spanish, is the first

European to explore California; discovers San Diego Bay, Catalina Islands, San Pedro, Santa Monica, and the Santa Barbara Channel Islands

• 1579 – Sir Francis Drake lands north of San Francisco Bay, Drake’s Bay, claims the territory –

which he names Nova Albion – for England (though he missed San Francisco Bay entirely)

• 1595 – Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeno, explores the California coast as far north as Drake’s Bay

(like Drake, Cermeno completely missed San Francisco Bay)

• 1602 – Sebastian Vizcaino, Spaniard, explored the Alta California coast and Monterey Bay.

There would be no more major Spanish or other European explorations of the California coast for the next 167 years!

• 1765 – Jose de Galvez, Visitor General of New Spain, plans ambitious program for colonizing

Alta California 

• 1769 – Spanish explorer, Gaspar de Portola (1723-86), leads expedition from Mexico to establish

settlements in Alta California; arrives in San Diego June 29; July 14, discovers Monterey Bay; November 2, discovers San Francisco Bay

• 1769 – San Diego de Alcala – the first of 21 missions along a 650-mile trail, El Camino Real,

from San Diego to Sonoma – is established by Franciscan padres under the leadership of Padre Junipero Serra

• 1775 – First major Indian rebellion against Europeans in California occurs at San Diego mission

• 1775 – American militiamen in Massachusetts fire the first shots of the American Revolution

• 1775 – De Anza expedition brings numerous new Spanish settlers to California

• 1776 – Presidio of San Francisco and Mission Dolores founded

• 1781 – Yuma Indian Uprising

• 1784 – Chumash Revolt against missions

• 1812 – Russian fur traders establish Fort Ross, north of San Francisco

• 1820 – first ships from Boston begin to visit Spanish towns and Missions along the upper and

lower California coast. Barter for otter and beaver pelts, tallow, cow hides, and materials used by the natives and settlers

• 1820s – American trappers and hunters began to drift into the State from the East – some new

arrivals assimilate into Californio culture, marrying daughters of wealthy Mexican

ranchers, and some acquire large land grants

• 1821 – Mexico wins independence from Spain; California becomes an isolated province of

Mexico

• 1821 – Russian trading post, Fort Ross, completed near Bodega Bay, enabling Russians to

further explore the northern California coast, as well as hunt for fur seals and sea otters

• 1824 – End of Chumash rebellion against missions

• 1826 – After brutal treatment by the Spanish, a group of angry Native Americans attack San

Rafael mission, looting and burning buildings and supplies

• 1826 – American trapper and explorer, Jedediah Strong Smith, leads a party of U.S. trappers into

California - first overland trip to California from U.S.

• 1831-1839 – Northern (norteno) and southern (surenos) Californios engage in a long conflict for

control of California province

• 1833 – Joseph Jeddeford Walker, and other U.S. fur trappers, make the first crossing of the

central Sierras into California from the U.S.

• 1839-40 – Johann Augustus Sutter acquires large land grant from Mexican authorities in the

Sacramento Valley, begins building Sutter’s Fort.

• 1846-47 – Donner Party attempts crossing of the Sierra in late October, 1846, becoming trapped,

at what would later be named Donner Lake, by early snows

• 1846 – The United States declares war on Mexico

• 1846 – “Bear Flag Revolt” in Sonoma proclaims “California Republic,” U.S. naval expedition

arrives in Monterey, U.S. Army expedition arrives in Southern California – California completely conquered by U.S. forces by 1847

• 1848 – Mexico cedes California to the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which

formally concludes the Mexican-American War

• 1848 – James Marshall discovers gold on the American River, in January 1848.

• 1849 – Gold Rush

• 1850 – California admitted into the Union as the 31st state, September 9, 1850

• 1850 – First Foreign Miners’ License Tax (aimed at Latinos)

• 1851 – Committee of Vigilance formed in San Francisco

• 1852 – Antonio Garra leads California revolt in San Diego

• 1852 – Second Foreign Miners License Tax (aimed at Chinese)

• 1856 – 1856 Committee of Vigilance in San Francisco

• 1856 – James King of William, editor of the Evening Bulletin, is shot and killed by James Casey.  

• 1858 – Sutro & Co. founded in San Francisco by Gustav, Charles, and Emil Sutro

• 1859 – David S. Terry, former Chief Justice of California Supreme Court, kills David C.

Broderick, United States Senator, in a duel

• 1859 – Comstock Lode, nation’s largest silver discovery, begins production.

• 1859 – Joshua A. Norton, proclaims himself “Emperor Norton,” in San Francisco on

September 17, 1859

CALIFORNIA CHRONOLOGY – SECOND MIDTERM

• 1860 – California's famous mail courier service, the Pony Express, commences operation,

April 1860. Ceases operation just 18 months later, due to prohibitive costs, October 1861

• 1861-65 – U.S. Civil War

• 1862 – Congress passes Pacific Railroad Act

• 1864 – William Ralston launches the Bank of California

• 1868 – Brothers Charles, and M.H., de Young, launch The Daily Morning Chronicle in

San Francisco in 1868

• 1869 – May 10, 1869, Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines joined at Promontory Summit,

Utah, completing the Transcontinental Railroad – first westbound train arrives in

San Francisco on September 6

• 1870 – San Francisco becomes the tenth largest city in the United States

• 1871 – Anti-Chinese Riot in Los Angeles

• 1872-73 – Modoc War

• 1877 – Workingmen’s Party of California founded

• 1878-79 – Second state constitutional convention held

• 1879 – Henry George publishes Progress and Poverty

• 1880 – January 8, Emperor Norton dies – 10,000-30,000 people attend his funeral

• 1880 – George Hearst takes over publication of the San Francisco Examiner

• 1882 – Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act, barring all Chinese immigration to U.S.

• 1882 – Harrison Gray Otis becomes editor of The Los Angeles Daily Times

(later, The Los Angeles Times).

• 1883 - "Black Bart", gentleman bandit who has been robbing Wells Fargo stages throughout

northern California, turns out to be respectable bank clerk, Charles Bolton

• 1886 – U.S. Supreme Court issues Yick Wo v. Hopkins decision

• 1888 – First use of refrigerated railroad cars to transport California fruit to the East

• 1892 – Sierra Club founded – John Muir is elected group’s president

• 1899 – Los Angeles builds harbor at San Pedro

• 1901 – Waterfront workers strike all along the West Coast, particularly in San Francisco

• 1901 – Union Labor Party founded

• 1901 – Oil discovered along the Kern River

• 1905 – The San Francisco Chronicle publishes an inflamatory series which accuses Japanese

immigrants of debauching white women, deliberately undermining the school system, and causing crime and poverty in California – the series inspires the founding of the Japanese and Korean Exclusion League, with a membership of 80,000

• 1906 – San Francisco Earthquake and Fire devastates the city

• 1907 – “Gentlemen’s Agreement” limits immigration to the U.S. from Japan

• 1907 – Lincoln-Roosevelt League founded (a coalition of Republican progressives)

• 1907 – A combination of the San Francisco street railway strike in May, and evidence of

corruption in earthquake repair costs, leads to charges of corruption against the city’s mayor, “Boss Abe Ruef” and almost all the city supervisors, initiating a political struggle between local reform elements and the “political machine” that controlled the city

• 1909 – John Muir (1838-1914) launches movement to save the Hetch Hetchy Valley from

damming

• 1908-12 – Dr. Raymond G. Taylor helps create a temporary healthcare system, on behalf of the

Los Angeles Board of Public Works, to care for the 10,000 workers on the Owens Valley-Los Angeles Aqueduct project (forerunner of the first Health Maintenance Organization – HMO)

• 1910 – Angel Island Immigration Station opened (served as the West Coast point of entry to the

United States for many immigrants, just as Ellis Island in New York was the East Coast point of entry) – the immigration compound at Angel Island was initially built to enforce the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

• 1910 – Los Angeles Times building bombed

• 1910 – Progressive reformers capture control of the state legislature

• 1910-11 – Industrial Workers of the World (IWW – “Wobblies”) conduct a “free speech fight”

in Fresno

• 1911 – Legislature enacts long list of progressive reforms (e.g. initiative, referendum, and recall)

• 1911 – October 10, public ratifies California Senate Constitutional Amendment 8 (granting

voting privileges to women)

• 1911 – Ishi (last “wild” Indian in California, last surviving member of the of Yahi, who were the

last surviving group of Yana people) emerged from the wild near Oroville

• 1912 – IWW conduct a “free speech fight” in San Diego

• 1912 – State survey shows that Japanese Americans in California own 12,726 acres of farmland

• 1913 – Webb Act, more popularly known as the “Alien Land Law,” passes legislature,

prohibiting "aliens ineligible to citizenship" (i.e., all Asian immigrants) from owning land or property, but permits three-year leases – Ten other western states passed restrictive land-ownership laws between 1913 and 1923

• 1913 – Owens Valley-Los Angeles Aqueduct opens

• 1913 – Congress approves damming Hetch Hetchy Valley

• 1913 – Wheatland Riot

• 1914 – World War I begins in Europe

• 1915 – Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco (to commemorate the

opening of the Panama Canal)

• 1916 – Preparedness Day bombing in San Francisco

• 1917 – U.S. enters World War I

• 1918 – World War I ends

• 1919 – Legislature enacts Criminal Syndicalism Act (twenty states enacted such laws,

1917-1920, largely to suppress IWW)

• 1920 – ACLU founded

• 1920-21 – Major oil discoveries in Los Angeles Basin

• 1922 – Ozawa v. United States, U.S. Supreme Court reaffirms that Asian immigrants were not

eligible for naturalization

• 1924 – Congress finally confers citizenship on (some) Native Americans

• 1927 – Jazz Singer, first “talking” movie

CALIFORNIA CHRONOLOGY – FINAL EXAM

• 1929 – Great Depression begins

• 1930 – U.S. Census demonstrates that Los Angeles is the nation’s fifth-largest city

• 1930 – Long Beach Earthquake; Alcatraz Federal Maximum Security Prison opens

• 1933 – Franklin D. Roosevelt launches New Deal

• 1934 – May 9, Longshoremen strike on West Coast, known as “West Coast Waterfront Strike”

• 1934 – July 5, "Bloody Thursday" riot in San Francisco

• 1934 – Upton Sinclair creates EPIC movement, runs for governor

• 1935 – Works Progress Administration (WPA) created

• 1936 – San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (at that time, the largest and most expensive public

works project in the country) opened on November 12, 1936

• 1937 – Golden Gate Bridge opened on May 27, 1937

• 1939 – World War II begins in Europe

• 1939 – John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath published

• 1940 – Construction on Shasta Dam (first dam in the Central Valley Project) begins

• 1941 – June 25, Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order 8802, banning racial

discrimination in businesses contracting with federal government

• 1941 – December 7, Japanese attack Pearl Harbor – U.S. enters World War II (during the war,

nearly $1 out of every $5 spent by the federal government, nationwide, is spent in California)

• 1942 – February 19, FDR signs Executive Order 9066 – leads to incarceration of 110,000

Japanese Americans from the West Coast

• 1942 – Permanente Health Plan created in Oakland to serve Kaiser shipyard workers in the

Bay Area (forerunner of Kaiser Permanente, nation’s largest HMO by the end of the 20th century)

• 1942 – Bracero Program established

• 1943 – The University of California is selected to manage the United States atomic bomb project

– the Manhattan Project – in Los Alamos, New Mexico (UC continued to manage the United States’ principal nuclear weapons laboratories, Los Alamos and Livermore, for decades thereafter)

• 1943 – “Zoot Suit” riots in Los Angeles

• 1943 – All-American Canal completed

• 1943 – Congress passes Magnuson Act, repealing the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

• 1944 – Port Chicago explosion and “mutiny”

• 1945 – June 26, United Nations Charter signed, and first UN convention held, in San Francisco.

• 1947 – HUAC investigations of Hollywood begins

• 1947 – First air pollution control district created in Los Angeles

• 1947 – State legislature passed legislation prohibiting segregation in public schools.

• 1948 – Oyama v. California, U.S. Supreme Court declared some provisions of California Alien

Land Laws violations of the Fourteenth Amendment to U.S. Constitution

• 1948 – State legislature repealed miscegenation laws

• 1950 – State legislature adopts loyalty oath for state employees

• 1951 – Stanford Research Park (embryo of Silicon Valley) opens

• 1952 – Sei Fuji v. California – California Supreme Court invalidates California Alien Land Laws

(1913 Webb Act)

• 1955 – Disneyland opens in Anaheim

• 1956 – Alan Ginsberg publishes Howl – in 1957, he and Lawrence Ferlinghetti (owner of City

Lights bookstore in California) are prosecuted, and acquitted, for obscenity

• 1956 – National Interstate and Defense Highways Act passed by Congress (foundation for much

of California’s freeway system)

• 1958 – Dodgers and Giants relocate from New York to Los Angeles and San Francisco,

respectively – Major League Baseball first comes to California

• 1958 – Edmund G. “Pat” Brown elected governor

• 1959 – Introduction of the integrated circuit microprocessor made of silicon (“the chip”)

• 1959 – Legislature enacts Fair Employment Act and Unruh Civil Rights Act

• 1960 – Legislature enacts the nation’s first automobile anti-smog law.

• 1960 – State Master Plan for Higher Education adopted by legislature

• 1961 – Save San Francisco Bay founded

• 1962 – Max Rafferty elected State Superintendent for Public Instruction

• 1962 – National Farm Workers (later renamed, United Farm Workers) founded

• 1963 – Rumford Fair Housing Act passed by legislature (later repealed in 1964, in a public

referendum)

• 1964 – UC Berkeley Free Speech Movement

• 1965 - First combat troops sent to Vietnam

• 1965 – Watts Riot

• 1965 – UFW and Cesar Chavez launch Delano Grape strike

• 1965 – U.S. Immigration Act of 1965 abolishes race-baced immigration quotas

• 1965-1970 – Major anti-war demonstrations at California universities, especially UC Berkeley

• 1970 – U.S. Census confirms that California is the nation’s largest state by population

• 1966 – Ronald Reagan elected governor

• 1966 – Black Panther Party established in Oakland

• 1967 – “Summer of Love” in San Francisco (especially Haight-Ashbury)

• 1969 – Family Law Act passed by legislature (making California the first state in the Union to

allow true “no-fault” divorce)

• 1969 – Brandenburg v. Ohio, U.S. Supreme Court invalidates Criminal Syndicalism laws,

including the one enacted by California in 1919

• 1969 – first two nodes of what would become the ARPANET (and later the internet) were

interconnected between UCLA's School of Engineering and Applied Science in Los Angeles and SRI International (Stanford Research Institute) in Menlo Park, California.

• 1969-71 – Occupation of Alcatraz Island by Indians of All Tribes, Inc.

• 1972 – Bay Area Rapid Transit System begins operation

• 1973-74 – Arab Oil Embargo triggers state energy crisis

• 1975 – Agricultural Labor Relations Act passed by legislature

• 1975 – Homosexuality decriminalized by legislature

• 1976 – Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and found Apple, which begins operations from the garage of

Jobs’ parents’ home in Los Altos

• 1978 – Voters pass Proposition 13 (dramatically reducing property taxes)

• 1978 – Regents of University of California v. Allan Bakke – U.S. Supreme Court rejects racial

quota systems in state affirmative action programs

• 1978 – Dan White assassinates gay politician Harvey Milk and San Francisco Mayor George

Moscone – Diane Feinstein succeeds Moscone as Mayor of San Francisco

• 1980 – AIDS identified by Centers for Disease Control

• 1984 – Berkeley, California becomes the first city in the U.S. to adopt a program of domestic

partnership health benefits for city employees; West Hollywood is founded and becomes

the first U.S. city to elect a city council where a majority of the members are openly gay or lesbian

• 1989 – October 17, 7.1 magnitude Earthquake hits Bay Area - The Loma Prieta Earthquake

• 1991 – End of the Cold War leads to dramatic cuts in defense spending in California, which

produces a deep economic recession in the state

• 1992 – Los Angeles riots

• 1993-2000 – “Dot Com” boom

• 1993 – Congress approves North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

• 1994 – Northridge Earthquake

• 1994 – Voters pass Proposition 187 (to prohibit illegal aliens from using health care, public

education, and other social services – later overturned by federal courts)

• 1995 – O.J. Simpson Trial

• 1996 – Voters pass Proposition 209 (to prohibit state public institutions from considering race,

sex, or ethnicity, in admittance to state programs and institutions – thereby dismantling state “affirmative action” programs)

• 2000 – U.S. Census demonstrates that California has no ethnic majority

• 2000-2001 – State energy crisis

• 2001 – “Dot Com” Crash

• 2001 – U.S. invades Afghanistan following September 11 terrorist attacks

• 2002 – Legislature grants registered domestic partners the same rights under state law as married

spouses

• 2003 – Governor Gray Davis recalled, Arnold Schwarzenegger elected governor

• 2003 – U.S. invades Iraq – California National Guard units periodically deployed to Iraq

• 2004 – Gavin Newsom, mayor San Francisco, issues marriage licenses during the summer of that

year, regardless of applicants’ gender, in violation of state law, precipitating court challenges

• 2008 – May 15, In re Marriage Cases, California Supreme declares state's ban on same-sex

marriages

• 2008 – Proposition 8 – voters overturn California Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex

marriages, precipitating U.S. federal court challenges

• 2008-11 – Mortgage and Financial crisis leads to worst economic downturn in U.S.

(and California) since the Great Depression, causing a long-term state budget crisis

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

* identify, explain, and evaluate the major social, political, economic, and cultural developments in

California history;

* distinguish the difference between primary and secondary sources, demonstrate how each is used to

make historical claims, and critically analyze and assess historical evidence upon which different

explanations and interpretations of historical phenomena are founded;

* design, organize, and construct, orally and/or in writing, analytical historical compositions that

recognize and explain the complexity of historical phenomena;

* analyze California history and society in a comparative context and understand the historical

construction of differences and similarities among groups and regions (e.g. race, class, gender,

nationality, and ethnicity);

* demonstrate an understanding of the influence of synergistic global forces in California history and

evaluate their connections to local and international developments (e.g., European settlement, the US

conquest, industrialization, commercialization of agriculture, technological change, civil and human

rights struggles, environmental movements, ideological clashes over capitalism and state power, the

rise of multinational corporations, etc.);

* assess how contemporary California has been shaped by its historical development.

* appraise the role of California's diverse geography in its history;

* examine the origins of the California constitution, the constitutional revision in 1878, and Progressive

Era reforms, especially the nonpartisan ballot, as well as the initiative, referendum, and recall;

* identify the historical origins of California’s multicultural society and appraise the contributions of

different cultural groups to California's historical evolution.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE – READING, ASSIGNMENTS, EXAMINATIONS:

Week 1 – August 27-31 Week 9 – October 22-26

Reading: California, chp. 1-2 Reading: California, chp. 19-20,

Week 2 – September 4-7 Week 10 – October 29-November 2

Reading: California, chp. 3-4 Reading: California, chp. 21-22

Week 3 – September 10-14 Week 11 – November 5-9

Reading: California, chp. 5-7 Reading: California, chp. 23-24

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 8

SECOND MIDTERM EXAM

Bring a green book!

Week 4 – September 17-21 Week 12 – November 12-16

Reading: California, chp. 8-10 Reading: California, chp. 25-26, 29

Week 5 – September 24-28 Week 13 – November 19-21

Reading: California, chp. 11-12 Reading: California, chp. 27-28, 30

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27 TUESDAY NOVEMBER 20

FIRST MIDTERM EXAM DOCUMENTARY PROBLEM DUE

Bring a green book! November 22-23 Thanksgiving!

Week 6 – October 1-5 Week 14 – November 26-30

Reading: California, chp. 13-14 Reading: California, chp. 31-32

Week 7 – October 8-12 Week 15 – December 3-7

Reading: California, chp. 15-16 Reading: California, chp. 17-18

Week 8 – October 15-19 Week 16 – December 10-13 Reading: California, chp. 33-34 Reading: California, chp. 35-36

THURSDAY DECEMBER 20

FINAL EXAM 12:45-2:45 pm

Bring a green book!

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