California becomes 31st state in record time
Spain took it from Mexico, USA moved in. |
Mexico had reluctantly ceded California and much of its northern territory to the [Northern] United States in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Native Los Angeles could have been capital |
Suddenly, the greatest gold rush in history was on, and “forty-niners” began flooding into California chasing after the fist-sized gold nuggets rumored to be strewn about the ground just waiting to be picked up. California’s population and wealth skyrocketed.
Native U.S. history (beacon.org) |
But with gold fever reaching epidemic proportions around the world, more than 60,000 people from around the globe came to California in 1849 alone. Faced with such rapid growth, as well as a thorny congressional debate over the question of slavery in the new territories, Congress allowed California to jump straight to full statehood without ever passing through the formal territorial stage.
After a rancorous debate between the slave-state and free-soil advocates, Congress finally accepted California as a free-labor state under the Compromise of 1850, beginning the state’s long reign as the most powerful economic and political force in the far West. More
1776: UCA changes name to “USA”
On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress formally declares the name of the new nation to be the “United States” of America. This replaced the term “United Colonies,” which had been in general use. In the Congressional declaration dated September 9th, 1776, the delegates wrote, “That in all continental commissions...” More
1776: UCA changes name to “USA”
We'll still be a land for white men, right? |
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