California Research Paper

The state of California has a rich history, and is also currently one of the leading states in agriculture. It contains a wide array of geographic features, varying from mountains to deserts, with lush, fertile farmland in between. The Mexicans fought to gain control of California from the Spanish, but soon lost it to the European settlers. When war erupted between Mexico and the settlers for control of California, the end result was California gaining Statehood with the United States. The Gold Rush of 1949 brought unprecedented prosperity. California has been blessed with a beautiful landscape. Originally, California referred to the peninsula on the west coast of modern Mexico. This is now known as Baja or Lower California. When the Spaniards

The first people to inhabit the land were Asians that had crossed over the Bering Straits to Alaska thousands of years ago and filtered down into the rest of the continent. Since there are many mountain ranges on the Pacific Coast, these early settlers had no contact with the cultures of bordering colonies. These mountain ranges, along with deserts, made it difficult to travel long distances, so the natives were isolated even from each other. These problems caused the development of 135 different dialects. The plus side of having many mountain ranges is that warfare was impractical. Due to the severe lack of rain, agriculture was not an option for livelihood. They survived by gathering wild nuts and berries and catching fish from the crowded streams. Other Americans gave them the name Diggers, and Digger Indians, due to their focus on gathering from the

When the rumors first commenced John Fremont had an army of 60 soldiers at hand having crossed the Sierras into California in 1844. Fremont and several other Americans formed a rebellion, which ended several months later. After the failed attempt, the rebels enlisted in the military. A war formed with Mexican troops and native Californians on one side and American soldiers and settlers on the other. The war ended in January 1847 in the American’s