Major Problems in California History

This volume compiles carefully selected documents and essays to illuminate the most important controversies in the history of California from the precontact period to the present.

List of contents

Note: Each chapter concludes with Further Readings.
1. The Significance of California History
ESSAYS
James D. Houston, The Place Called California
Carey McWilliams, California as "The Great Exception"
James N. Gregory, The Shaping of California History
2. The First Californians
DOCUMENTS
Map of Tribal Territories
Indian Material Culture
The Three Worlds of the Chumash
Pablo Tac Approves of His Tribe''s Conversion, 1835
Father Geronimo Boscana Describes the San Juan Capistrano Indians, 1832
A Sacramento Union Editorial Ponders the Indians'' Fate, 1855
ESSAYS
Arthur F. McEvoy, California Indians as Capable Resource Managers
Albert L. Hurtado, Indian and Hispanic Family Patterns Compared
3. The Spanish Impact on the Indians, 1769-1821
DOCUMENTS
Father Luis Jayme Criticizes the Behavior of Spanish Soldiers, 1772
Father Junipero Serra Reports the Destruction of the San Diego Mission, 1775
Captain Alejandro Malaspina Praises the Beneficial Impact of Spanish Missions, 1792
Lorenzo Asisara Narrates the Assassination of a Priest by Santa Cruz Indians, 1812
ESSAYS
Francis F. Guest, O.F.M., Cultural Perspectives on Death and Whipping in the Missions
Antonia I. Castaeda, Spanish Violence Against Amerindian Women
4. Mexican California: A Study in Contrasts
DOCUMENTS
A Mexican Commission Urges the Secularization of the California Missions, 1833
Angustias de la Guerra Ord Defends the Virtue of Mission Priests, 1878
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Criticizes the Mexicans in California, 1834
Guadalupe Vallejo Reminisces About the Ranchero Period
William Robert Garner Promotes the American Annexation of California, 1847
Selected Articles from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848
ESSAYS
Hubert Howe Bancroft, Mexican California as "Lotus-Land"
Douglas Monroy, The Making of Mexican Culture in Frontier California
5. Conflicts over Land in a New State, 1850s-1870s
DOCUMENTS
E. Gould Buffum Exults in Gold''s Discovery, 1850
Louisa Clapp Pokes Fun at Her Experience as a Gold "Mineress," 1851
J. D. Borthwick Observes Chinese Gold Miners, 1851
John F. Morse Supports Traditional Agrarian Values, 1865
Henry George Censures Land Monopoly, 1871
ESSAYS
JoAnn Levy, Women in the Gold Rush
Paul Wallace Gates, Early California Land Policy Defended
Douglas Monroy, Land and the Conflict of Legal Cultures
6. Disputes over Water, 1880s-1910s
DOCUMENTS
Lux v. Haggin Establishes the "California Doctrine," 1886
The Wright Act Asserts Community Water Rights, 1887, 1889
Congress Acts: Selections from the Reclamation Act of 1902
John Muir Admires the Hetch Hetchy Valley, 1908
Robert Underwood Johnson Decries Paying Too High a Price for Water, 1909
ESSAYS
Donald Worster, The Capitalist Control of Water Use
Norris Hundley, Jr., American Political Culture and Water Use
7. Big Business and Urban Labor, 1860s to 1930s
DOCUMENTS
Henry George Expresses Skepticism about Railroads, 1868
Leland Stanford Extols the Public Benefits of Railroad Construction, 1887
Collis P. Huntington Shows Contempt for Congress, 1887
Frank Norris Excoriates the Railroad as the "Octopus," 1901
Denis Kearney Organizes the Workingmen''s Party of California, 1877
Henryk Sienkiewicz Appraises Chinese Labor in California, 1880
The American Federation of Labor Opposes Chinese Immigration, 1902
ESSAYS
Michael Kazin, The Rise of the Labor Movement in California
William Deverell, The Southern Pacific Railroad Survives the Pullman Strike of 1894
8. California Progressives: The Ambiguities of Political and Moral Reform
DOCUMENTS
Franklin Hichborn Praises Reform Governor Hiram W. Johnson, 1911
John Randolph Haynes Advocates Direct Legislation, 1911
Chester H. Rowell Analyzes the Problem of Japanese Immigration, 1914
Carrie Chapman Catt Argues That Home and Government Are Related, 1907
Katherine Phillips Edson Boasts of Women''s Influence on State Legislation, 1913
Mary S. Gibson Explains Why Progressive Women Should Uplift Immigrant Women, 1914
ESSAYS
Gerald Woods, Progressive Efforts to Banish Vice
Gayle Gullett, Women Progressives and Immigrant Women
9. Hollywood and the California Dream, 1910s-1930s
DOCUMENTS
Cecil B. DeMille Reveals How He Creates Special Effects, 1927
A. H. Giannini Explains Why He Decided to Finance the Film Industry, 1926
Harmon B. Stephens Exposes How Films Lower Moral Standards, 1926
Ruth Suckow Analyzes the Appeal of Hollywood Movie Sets, 1939
ESSAYS
Lary May, Hollywood and the California Dream
Mike Davis, California''s Dark Underside
10. Farmworker Struggles in the 1930s
DOCUMENTS
The California Department of Industrial Relations Evaluates Agricultural Labor Contracts, 1930
Carlos Bulosan Describes the Harsh Existence of Filipino Migrant Farmworkers
John Steinbeck Portrays Social Pressures in Agricultural California, 1939
James Rorty Reports on Conditions in the Imperial Valley, 1935
Grower Frank Stokes Defends Mexican Farmworkers'' Efforts to Organize, 1936
Ralph H. Taylor Rallies California''s Growers to Protect Their Interests, 1938
ESSAYS
Cletus E. Daniel, Communist Organizers in the Imperial Valley Labor Struggles
Devra Anne Weber, Mexicano Farmworkers on Strike
11. The Impact of World War II on California''s Economy
DOCUMENTS
The U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Reports on California''s Airframe Industry, 1945
Kaiser Shipyard Workers Fight on the Home Front, 1943
Marye Stumph Recalls Her Work Experiences in an Aircraft Factory
Industrial Leaders Assess the West''s Postwar Economic Prospects, 1946
ESSAYS
Gerald D. Nash, World War II Transforms California''s Economy
Paul Rhode, An Economic Historian Challenges the Nash Thesis
12. The Changing Lives of Women and Minorities, 1940s-1950s
DOCUMENTS
Charles Kikuchi Observes Life in an American "Concentration Camp," 1942
Two Poems about the Camps, "Barracho Home" and "Mud"
Fanny Christina Hill Fights Discrimination against Black Workers in the Aircraft Industry
Willard Waller Announces the Postwar Battle of the Sexes, 1945
ESSAYS
Sucheng Chan, The Incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II
Albert S. Broussard, Changes in the Status of African Americans in the 1940s and 1950s
Joan M. Jensen and Gloria Ricci Lothrop, Women''s Wartime and Postwar Experiences
13. Politics and Protest, 1960s-1970s
DOCUMENTS
Mario Savio Defends the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley, 1965
Ronald Reagan Denounces "The Morality Gap at Berkeley," 1966
Bobby Seale Explains What the Black Panther Party Stands For, 1968
Manifesto of the Chicano Student Conference, 1969
Declaration of the Asian American Political Alliance, 1969
Indians of All Tribes Occupy Alcatraz Island, 1970
Why Secretaries in Academia Are Fed Up, 1971
ESSAYS
W. J. Rorabaugh, Berkeley in the 1960s
Lou Cannon, Ronald Reagan as Governor
14. The Rise of Information Capitalism
DOCUMENTS
California Computer Companies, 1989
Art Garcia Describes California''s New Economic Frontier, 1984
Donald Woutat Comments on the Resignation of Steven Jobs from Apple Computer, 1985
Faith Alchorn Details the Use of Computers in Political Campaigns, 1988
Duane Spilsbury Reports on Telecommuting, 1989
ESSAYS
AnnaLee Saxenian, The Origins and Business Culture of Silicon Valley
Judith Stacey, Women, Families, and Work in the Information Industry
Spencer C. Olin, Globalization and the Politics of Locality in Orange County
15. The Environment and the Quality of Life Since 1960
DOCUMENTS
Samuel E. Wood and Alfred Heller Oppose Urban Sprawl, 1961
Frank M. Stead Assesses California Water Pollution, 1968
Richard Reinhardt Looks at Air Pollution Problems, 1982
A Government Commission Discusses the Dangers of Pesticides, 1988
Carl Anthony Outlines Why African Americans Should Be Environmentalists, 1990
Ronald Bailey Denounces the "Eco-Scam," 1993
ESSAYS
Tim Palmer, California''s Threatened Environment
Dixy Lee Ray, Natural Ways to Reduce Urban Air Pollution
Robert D. Bullard, Environmental Racism and Justice
16. Racial and Class Tensions, 1960s-1990s
DOCUMENTS
The McCone Commission Analyzes the Watts Riot, 1965
David Rieff Sees Los Angeles as the Capital of the Third World, 1991
Mwatabu S. Okantah Protests the Beating of Rodney King, 1993
Armando Navarro Provides a Latino Perspective on the 1992 Disorders, 1993
Eui-Young Yu Offers a Korean American Perspective on the Los Angeles Riots, 1992
Patrick J. Buchanan Condemns the "Barbarism" of the Rioters, 1992
John Bryant Encourages Corporate America to Invest in Minority Communities, 1995
Lynell George and David Ferrell Analyze the Staggering Racial Complexity of Los Angeles, 1995
George Regas Advocates a Shared Moral Vision, 1995
ESSAYS
Melvin L. Oliver, James H. Johnson, Jr., and Walter C. Farrell, Jr., The Causes of the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Disorders
Sumi K. Cho, Perceptions Across the Racial Divide
Document Sources
Essay Sources

Summary

This volume compiles carefully selected documents and essays to illuminate the most important controversies in the history of California from the precontact period to the present.

Product details

• Authors: Sucheng Chan, Sucheng Olin Chan, Spencer Olin, Thomas Paterson
• Assisted by: Sucheng Chan (Editor), Spencer C. Olin (Editor)
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 09.10.1996
• EAN: 9780669275889
• ISBN: 978-0-669-27588-9
• No. of pages: 512
• Series: Major Problems in American His
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; USA Westen, History - U.S., HISTORY / United States / State & Local / West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY)