California

==History==
{{Main|History of California}}
{{Further|History of California before 1900}}
[[File:California tribes & languages at contact.png|thumb|left|upright|A map of [[Indigenous Californians|indigenous Californian]] tribes and languages at the time of European contact]]

===Indigenous===
{{Main|Indigenous peoples of California}}

California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in [[pre-Columbian North America]].<ref>Klein, Barry T. Reference Encyclopedia of the American Indian. 7th ed. West Nyack, NY: Todd Publications, 1995</ref> Historians generally agree that there were at least 300,000 people living in California prior to European colonization.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eargle |first=Dolan H. Jr. |title=Native California guide: an introduction to the original peoples from earliest to modern times |date=2008 |publisher=Trees Co. Press |others=Fred Dodsworth |isbn=978-0-937401-11-8 |edition=Ed. 2008 |location=San Francisco |oclc=212858363 |quote=Estimates of the Native population in 1776 range from 300,000 to one million.}}</ref> The [[indigenous peoples of California]] included more than [[Classification of indigenous peoples of the Americas#California|70 distinct ethnic groups]], inhabiting environments ranging from mountains and deserts to islands and redwood forests.<ref>{{Cite web |title=California Indian History – California Native American Heritage Commission |url=https://nahc.ca.gov/resources/california-indian-history/ |access-date=November 25, 2022 |website=nahc.ca.gov}}</ref>

Living in these diverse geographic areas, the indigenous peoples developed complex forms of ecosystem management, including [[forest gardening]] to ensure the regular availability of food and [[medicinal plants]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Before the Wilderness: Environmental Management by Native Californians |publisher=Ballena Press |year=1993 |isbn=0-87919-126-0 |editor=Blackburn, Thomas C. and Kat Anderson |location=Menlo Park, California}}</ref><ref name="Cunningham2010">{{cite book |last=Cunningham |first=Laura |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nuYuYGHwCygC&pg=PA135 |title=State of Change: Forgotten Landscapes of California |publisher=Heyday |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-59714-136-9 |location=Berkeley, California |pages=135, 173–202 |access-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427074202/https://books.google.com/books?id=nuYuYGHwCygC&pg=PA135 |archive-date=April 27, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> This was a form of [[sustainable agriculture]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=M. Kat |url=https://archive.org/details/tendingwildnativ0000ande |title=Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge And the Management of California's Natural Resources |publisher=University of California Press |year=2006 |isbn=0-520-24851-1 |url-access=registration}}</ref> To mitigate destructive large wildfires from ravaging the natural environment, indigenous peoples developed a practice of [[controlled burn]]ing.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/firecaliforniase00sugi |title=Fire in California's Ecosystems |publisher=University of California Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-520-24605-8 |editor-first1=Neil G. |editor-last1=Sugihara |pages=[https://archive.org/details/firecaliforniase00sugi/page/n433 417] |chapter=17 |editor2=Jan W. Van Wagtendonk |editor-first3=Kevin E. |editor-last3=Shaffer |editor-first4=Joann |editor-last4=Fites-Kaufman |editor-first5=Andrea E. |editor-last5=Thode |url-access=limited}}</ref> This practice was recognized for its benefits by the California government in 2022.<ref name="Elassar-2022" />

These groups were also diverse in their political organization, with bands, tribes, villages, and, on the resource-rich coasts, large [[chiefdom]]s, such as the [[Chumash people|Chumash]], [[Pomo people|Pomo]] and [[Salinan]]. Trade, intermarriage, craft specialists, and military alliances fostered social and economic relationships between many groups. Although nations would sometimes war, most armed conflicts were between groups of men for [[Revenge|vengeance]]. Acquiring territory was not usually the purpose of these small-scale battles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sutton |first=Mark Q. |title=An introduction to native North America |date=2021 |isbn=978-0-367-54046-3 |edition=6th |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |chapter=A Broad Portrait of California Native Societies |oclc=1204267735 |quote=Though actual battles with numerous combatants were sometimes fought, most armed conflict concerned small groups of men bent on revenge. Acquiring territory was not usually the goal of warfare.}}</ref>

Men and women generally had different [[Gender role|roles]] in society. Women were often responsible for weaving, harvesting, processing, and preparing food, while men for hunting and other forms of physical labor. Most societies also had roles for people whom the Spanish referred to as ''joyas'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kroeber |first=Alfred Louis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4pcKAQAAIAAJ |title=Phonetic Constituents of the Native Languages of California |publisher=University Press |year=1912 |page=164 |language=en |quote=The institution of berdaches or women-men is one of frequent occurrence among the California natives... Among the coastal stocks south of San Francisco the custom flourished, and the individuals, termed 'joyas' by the Spanish...}}</ref> who they saw as "men who dressed as women".<ref name="Miranda-2010">{{Cite journal |last=Miranda |first=Deborah A. |date=April 1, 2010 |title=Extermination of the Joyas: Gendercide in Spanish California |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/glq/article/16/1-2/253/34704/EXTERMINATION-OF-THE-JOYASGendercide-in-Spanish |journal=GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies |language=en |volume=16 |issue=1–2 |pages=253–284 |doi=10.1215/10642684-2009-022 |s2cid=145480469 |issn=1064-2684}}</ref> ''Joyas'' were responsible for [[Death rituals|death]], [[burial]], and [[mourning rituals]], and they performed women's social roles.<ref name="Miranda-2010" /> Indigenous societies had terms such as [[two-spirit]] to refer to them. The [[Chumash people|Chumash]] referred to them as ''<nowiki/>'aqi.<ref name="Miranda-2010" />'' The early Spanish settlers detested and sought to eliminate them.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Contemporary archaeology in theory: the new pragmatism |date=2010 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |editor1-first=Robert W. |editor1-last=Preucel |editor2-first=Stephen A. |editor2-last=Mrozowski |isbn=978-1-4051-5832-9 |edition=2nd |location=Chichester, U.K. |oclc=495597287 |quote=In 1775, Alta California Governor Pedro Fages observed that there were two to three joyas in each village, and that all Indians were consequently addicted to 'this abominable vice.'}}</ref>

[[File:"Protecting The Settlers" Illustration by JR Browne for his work "The Indians Of California" 1864 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Between 1846 and 1873, U.S. government agents and private settlers perpetrated many massacres against [[indigenous Californians]]. At least 9,456 were killed with estimates as high as 100,000 deaths.<ref name="Madley">{{cite book |last=Madley |first=Benjamin |title=An American Genocide, The United States and the California Catastrophe, 1846–1873 |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-300-18136-4 |pages=11, 351}}</ref><ref name="Homepage of Chuck Smith" />]]

The indigenous peoples saw declines in their population under Spanish, Mexican, and American rule. A major cause was Eurasian diseases to which they had not yet developed a natural immunity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Destruction of the California Indians |url=http://www.learncalifornia.org/doc.asp?id=1617 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111207115225/http://www.learncalifornia.org/doc.asp?id=1617 |archive-date=December 7, 2011 |access-date=April 15, 2012 |publisher=LearnCalifornia.org }}</ref> After California became a part of the United States, they were often forcibly removed from their lands by American [[settler]]s and [[Act for the Government and Protection of Indians|''de facto'' enslaved]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Risling Baldy |first=Cutcha |title=We are dancing for you: native feminisms and the revitalization of women's coming-of-age ceremonies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rcxYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 |publisher=University of Washington Press |date=2018 |isbn=978-0-295-74345-5 |location=Seattle |pages=61–63 |oclc=1032289446}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Act for the Government and Protection of Indians {{!}} American Experience {{!}} PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldrush-act-for-government-and-protection-of-indians/ |access-date=March 3, 2021 |website=www.pbs.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=September 2, 2016 |title=Los Angeles' 1850s Slave Market Is Now the Site of a Federal Courthouse |url=https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/los-angeles-1850s-slave-market-is-now-the-site-of-a-federal-courthouse |access-date=December 28, 2022 |website=KCET |language=en}}</ref> Many [[indian reservation|reservations]] to which they were moved were not sustainable.<ref name="Homepage of Chuck Smith">{{Cite web |website=Homepage of Chuck Smith |title=Indians of California - American Period |url=http://www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/anth6_americanperiod.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511152205/http://www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/anth6_americanperiod.html |archive-date=May 11, 2012 |access-date=March 3, 2021}}</ref> Militias hired to protect settlers also perpetrated numerous massacres.<ref name="Homepage of Chuck Smith" /><ref name="Baumgardner 2005 171">{{Cite book |last=Baumgardner |first=Frank H. |title=Killing for Land in Early California: Indian Blood at Round Valley: Founding the Nome Cult Indian Farm |date=2005 |publisher=Algora |isbn=978-0-87586-803-5 |location=New York |page=171 |oclc=693780699}}</ref> There has been significant discussion over the scale of the Native American losses and whether it should be labeled an [[ethnic cleansing]] or [[California genocide|genocide]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Magliari |first=Michael F. |date=May 1, 2023 |title=The California Indian Scalp Bounty Myth: Evidence of Genocide or Just Faulty Scholarship? |url=https://online.ucpress.edu/ch/article/100/2/4/196102/The-California-Indian-Scalp-Bounty-MythEvidence-of |journal=California History |language=en |volume=100 |issue=2 |pages=4–30 |doi=10.1525/ch.2023.100.2.4 |s2cid=258779393 |issn=0162-2897}}</ref> Supporters of ''ethnic cleansing'' point out that most of the deaths resulted from diseases and settler actions.<ref name="Anderson 2016 407–433">{{Cite journal |last=Anderson |first=Gary Clayton |date=2016 |title=The Native Peoples of the American West: Genocide or Ethnic Cleansing? |journal=Western Historical Quarterly |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=407–433 |doi=10.1093/whq/whw126 |issn=0043-3810 |jstor=26782720}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Magliari |first=Michael |date=April 1, 2017 |title=An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846–1873 |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/ethnohistory/article-abstract/64/2/341/26348/An-American-Genocide-The-United-States-and-the |url-status=live |journal=Ethnohistory |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=341–342 |doi=10.1215/00141801-3789465 |issn=1527-5477 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501234045/https://read.dukeupress.edu/ethnohistory/article-abstract/64/2/341/26348/An-American-Genocide-The-United-States-and-the |archive-date=May 1, 2023 |access-date=May 1, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Alexander Nazaryan-2016"/> Supporters of ''genocide'' point to the role of the government in initiating and enabling the atrocities. In 2019, the 40th governor of California, [[Gavin Newsom]] apologized to the indigenous peoples of California for the events.<ref name="Soir.senate.ca.gov" /><ref name="Alexander Nazaryan-2016">{{Cite web |last=Alexander Nazaryan |date=August 17, 2016 |title=California's state-sanctioned genocide of Native Americans |url=https://www.newsweek.com/2016/08/26/california-native-americans-genocide-490824.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514162600/https://www.newsweek.com/2016/08/26/california-native-americans-genocide-490824.html |archive-date=May 14, 2022 |access-date=May 14, 2022 |website=[[Newsweek]] |language=en}}</ref>

===Spanish period===
{{main|Province of Las Californias|Spanish missions in California}}
[[File:The landing of Cabrillo on California (detail from mural by Daniel Sayre Groesbeck at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse).tif|thumb|left|Portuguese explorer [[Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo]] claiming California for the [[Spanish Empire]] in 1542]]

The first Europeans to explore the [[coast of California]] were the members of a [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] maritime expedition led by Portuguese captain [[Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo]] in 1542. Cabrillo was commissioned by [[Antonio de Mendoza]], the [[Viceroy of New Spain]], to lead an expedition up the Pacific coast in search of trade opportunities; they entered [[San Diego Bay]] on September 28, 1542, and reached at least as far north as [[San Miguel Island]].{{sfn|Rolle|1998|pp=20–21}} Privateer and explorer [[Francis Drake]] explored and claimed an undefined portion of the California coast in 1579, landing north of the future city of [[San Francisco]]. The first Asians to set foot on what would be the United States occurred in 1587, when [[Overseas Filipino|Filipino]] sailors arrived in Spanish ships at [[Morro Bay, California|Morro Bay]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Tillman |first1=Linda C. |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=vSKAAAAAQBAJ|page=202}} |title=The Handbook of Research on Educational Leadership for Equity and Diversity |last2=Scheurich |first2=James Joseph |date=August 21, 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-12843-2 |page=202}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Huping Ling |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=K-DdvbJM_gQC|page=109}} |title=Asian America: Forming New Communities, Expanding Boundaries |date=April 29, 2009 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-4867-8 |page=109}}</ref> Coincidentally the [[Agustin de Legaspi|descendants of the Muslim]] Caliph [[Hasan ibn Ali]] in formerly [[Kingdom of Maynila|Islamic Manila]] and had converted, then mixed Christianity with Islam, upon Spanish conquest, [[Tondo Conspiracy|transited through California (Named after a Caliph)]] on their way to [[Guerrero, Mexico]].{{sfn|Rolle|1998|p=24}} [[Sebastián Vizcaíno]] explored and mapped the coast of California in 1602 for [[New Spain]], putting ashore in [[Monterey, California|Monterey]].{{sfn|Rolle|1998|p=26}} Despite the on-the-ground explorations of California in the 16th century, Rodríguez's [[island of California|idea of California as an island]] persisted. Such depictions appeared on many European maps well into the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=California as an Island in Maps—Online Exhibits |url=https://exhibits.stanford.edu/california-as-an-island |access-date=June 15, 2016 |website=Stanford University Libraries}}</ref>

The [[Portolá expedition]] of 1769–70 was a pivotal event in the Spanish colonization of California, resulting in the establishment of numerous missions, [[presidio]]s, and [[pueblos]]. The military and civil contingent of the expedition was led by [[Gaspar de Portolá]], who traveled over land from [[Sonora]] into California, while the religious component was headed by [[Junípero Serra]], who came by sea from [[Baja California]]. In 1769, Portolá and Serra established [[Mission San Diego de Alcalá]] and the [[Presidio of San Diego]], the first religious and military settlements founded by the Spanish in California. By the end of the expedition in 1770, they would establish the [[Presidio of Monterey]] and [[Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo]] on Monterey Bay.

[[File:Father Serra Celebrates Mass at Monterey by Léon Trousset.jpg|thumb|left|[[Junípero Serra]] conducting the first [[Mass in the Catholic Church|Mass]] in [[Monterey Bay]] in 1770]]

After the Portolà expedition, Spanish [[missionary|missionaries]] led by Father-President Serra set out to establish 21 [[Spanish missions of California]] along [[El Camino Real (California)|El Camino Real]] ("The Royal Road") and along the California coast, 16 sites of which having been chosen during the Portolá expedition. Numerous major cities in California grew out of missions, including San Francisco ([[Mission San Francisco de Asís]]), San Diego ([[Mission San Diego de Alcalá]]), Ventura ([[Mission San Buenaventura]]), or Santa Barbara ([[Mission Santa Barbara]]), among others.

[[Juan Bautista de Anza]] led a similarly important expedition throughout California in 1775–76, which would extend deeper into the interior and north of California. The Anza expedition selected numerous sites for missions, presidios, and pueblos, which subsequently would be established by settlers. [[Gabriel Moraga]], a member of the expedition, would also christen many of California's prominent rivers with their names in 1775–1776, such as the [[Sacramento River]] and the [[San Joaquin River]]. After the expedition, Gabriel's son, [[José Joaquín Moraga]], would found the pueblo of [[San Jose, California|San Jose]] in 1777, making it the first civilian-established city in California.
[[File:San_Juan_Capistrano,_California_(c._1806).jpg|thumb|right|The Spanish founded [[Mission San Juan Capistrano]] in 1776, the third to be established of [[Spanish missions in California|California's missions]].]]
During this same period, sailors from the [[Russian Empire]] explored along the northern coast of California. In 1812, the [[Russian-American Company]] established a trading post and small fortification at [[Fort Ross]] on the [[North Coast (California)|North Coast]].<ref name="Historical Atlas of California">Historical Atlas of California</ref>{{sfn|Rolle|1998|pp=51–52}} Fort Ross was primarily used to supply [[Russian America|Russia's Alaskan colonies]] with food supplies. The settlement did not meet much success, failing to attract settlers or establish long term trade viability, and was abandoned by 1841.

During the [[War of Mexican Independence]], Alta California was largely unaffected and uninvolved in the revolution,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.csun.edu/~sg4002/courses/417/readings/mexican.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222030913/http://www.csun.edu/~sg4002/courses/417/readings/mexican.pdf |archive-date=February 22, 2016 |url-status=live|title=California State University, Northridge - Mexican California: The Heyday of the Ranchos}}</ref> though many [[Californio]]s supported independence from [[Spain]], which many believed had neglected California and limited its development.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/california-first-person-narratives/articles-and-essays/early-california-history/mexican-california/|title=Mexican California &#124; Early California History: An Overview &#124; Articles and Essays &#124; California as I Saw It: First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900 &#124; Digital Collections &#124; Library of Congress|website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> Spain's trade monopoly on California had limited local trade prospects. Following Mexican independence, California ports were freely able to trade with foreign merchants. Governor [[Pablo Vicente de Solá]] presided over the transition from [[New Spain|Spanish colonial rule]] to independent Mexican rule.

===Mexican period===
{{main|Alta California|Ranchos of California}}
[[File:1836 alvarado flag.webp|thumb|left|The flag used by [[Californio]] leader [[Juan Bautista Alvarado]]'s 1836 [[California independence]] movement]]

In 1821, the [[Mexican War of Independence]] gave the [[Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire|Mexican Empire]] (which included California) independence from Spain. For the next 25 years, Alta California remained a remote, sparsely populated, northwestern administrative district of the newly independent country of Mexico, which shortly after independence became a republic. The [[Missions of California|missions]], which controlled most of the best land in the state, were [[secularized]] by 1834 and became the property of the Mexican government.<ref name=nps/> The governor granted many square leagues of land to others with political influence. These huge ''[[Ranchos of California|ranchos]]'' or cattle ranches emerged as the dominant institutions of Mexican California. The ranchos developed under ownership by [[Californio]]s (Hispanics native of California) who traded cowhides and tallow with Boston merchants. Beef did not become a commodity until the 1849 [[California Gold Rush]].

From the 1820s, trappers and settlers from the United States and Canada began to arrive in Northern California. These new arrivals used the [[Siskiyou Trail]], [[California Trail]], [[Oregon Trail]] and [[Old Spanish Trail (trade route)|Old Spanish Trail]] to cross the rugged mountains and harsh deserts in and surrounding California. The early government of the newly independent Mexico was highly unstable, and in a reflection of this, from 1831 onwards, California also experienced a series of armed disputes, both internal and with the central Mexican government.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Altman |first=Linda Jacobs |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=rAgL-tgWOecC|page=117}} |title=California |date=2005 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=978-0-7614-1737-8 |page=117 |access-date=March 16, 2013}}{{break}}{{cite book |title=Testimonios: Early California Through the Eyes of Women, 1815–1848 |url= {{google books |plainurl=y |id=DuvFpaRwJlgC||page=425}} |access-date=March 16, 2013 |date=2006 |publisher=Heyday |isbn=978-1-59714-033-1 |page=425}}</ref> During this tumultuous political period [[Juan Bautista Alvarado]] was able to secure the governorship during 1836–1842.<ref>{{harvnb|Starr|2007|p=17}}{{break}}{{Cite book |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=AYMPR6xAj50C||page=316}} |title=Historic Spots in California |date=2002 |publisher=Historic Spots in California |isbn=978-0-8047-7817-6 |editor-last=Hoover |editor-first=Mildred Brooke |page=316 |access-date=March 16, 2013 |editor-last2=Kyle |editor-first2=Douglas E.}}{{break}}{{cite book |last=Conway |first=J. D. |title=Monterey: Presidio, Pueblo, and Port |series=The Making of America Series |url= {{google books |plainurl=y |id=vz1jyn7Ti3oC|page=53}} |access-date=March 16, 2013 |date=2003 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-0-7385-2423-8 |pages=53–55}}</ref> The military action which first brought Alvarado to power had momentarily declared California to be an independent state, and had been aided by [[Anglo-Americans|Anglo-American]] residents of California,<ref name="Graham1840">{{Cite book |last1=Billington |first1=Ray Allen |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=YoV-k7VcyZ0C|page=203}} |title=Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier |last2=Ridge |first2=Martin |date=2001 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |isbn=978-0-8263-1981-4 |page=203 |author-link2=Martin Ridge (historian) |access-date=February 16, 2013}}</ref> including [[Isaac Graham]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hart |first=James David |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=teJCPQtWfOMC315|page=315}} |title=A Companion to California |date=1987 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-05544-5 |page=315 |access-date=March 16, 2013}}{{break}}{{cite book |last=Harlow |first=Neal |title=California Conquered: The Annexation of a Mexican Province, 1846–1850 |url= {{google books |plainurl=y |id=pApgP6lBVbMC|page=27}} |access-date=March 16, 2013 |date=1989 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06605-2 |page=27}}</ref> In 1840, one hundred of those residents who did not have passports were arrested, leading to the [[Isaac Graham|Graham Affair]], which was resolved in part with the intercession of [[Royal Navy]] officials.<ref name="Graham1840" />

[[File:"General Vallejo Reviewing His Troops in Sonoma, 1846".jpg|thumb|right|250px|General [[Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo|Mariano G. Vallejo]] reviewing his troops in the [[Sonoma Plaza]], 1846]]

One of the largest ranchers in California was [[John Marsh (pioneer)|John Marsh]]. After failing to obtain justice against squatters on his land from the Mexican courts, he determined that California should become part of the United States. Marsh conducted a letter-writing campaign espousing the California climate, the soil, and other reasons to settle there, as well as the best route to follow, which became known as "Marsh's route". His letters were read, reread, passed around, and printed in newspapers throughout the country, and started the first wagon trains rolling to California.<ref>Lyman, George D. ''John Marsh, Pioneer: The Life Story of a Trail-Blazer on Six Frontiers'', pp. 237–39, The Chautauqua Press, Chautauqua, New York, 1931.</ref> He invited immigrants to stay on his ranch until they could get settled, and assisted in their obtaining passports.<ref>Lyman, pp. ix, 209, 231, 238–39, 246–51, 266–67, 268–71.</ref>

After ushering in the period of organized emigration to California, Marsh became involved in a military battle between the much-hated Mexican general, [[Manuel Micheltorena]] and the California governor he had replaced, Juan Bautista Alvarado. The armies of each met at the [[Battle of Providencia]] near Los Angeles. Marsh had been forced against his will to join Micheltorena's army. Ignoring his superiors, during the battle, he signaled the other side for a parley. There were many settlers from the United States fighting on both sides. He convinced each side that they had no reason to be fighting each other. As a result of Marsh's actions, they abandoned the fight, Micheltorena was defeated, and California-born [[Pio Pico]] was returned to the governorship. This paved the way to California's ultimate acquisition by the United States.<ref>Lyman, 1931, pp. 250–62.</ref><ref>Stone, Irving. ''Men to Match My Mountains,'' pp. 70–72, Berkley Books, New York, New York, 1982. {{ISBN|0-425-10544-X}}.</ref><ref>Winkley, John W. ''Dr. John Marsh, Wilderness Scout,'' pp. 67–69, The Parthenon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1962.</ref><ref>Stone, Irving. ''From Mud-Flat Cove to Gold to Statehood,'' pp. 66–68, Word Dancer Press, Clovis, California, 1999. {{ISBN|1-884995-17-9}}.</ref><ref>Salomon, Carlos Manuel. ''Pio Pico: The Last Governor of Mexican California,'' pp. 68–76, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, 2010. ISBN 978-0-8061-4090-2.</ref>

===U.S. Conquest and the California Republic===
{{Main|Conquest of California|Bear Flag Revolt}}
[[File:Fremont Raising the Bear Flag (engraved, c. 1860).jpg|thumb|left|The 1846 [[Bear Flag Revolt]] declared the [[California Republic]] and prefaced the [[Conquest of California|American conquest of California]].]]

In 1846, a group of American settlers in and around [[Sonoma, California|Sonoma]] rebelled against Mexican rule during the [[Bear Flag Revolt]]. Afterward, rebels raised the [[Bear Flag]] (featuring a bear, a star, a red stripe and the words "California Republic") at Sonoma. The Republic's only president was [[William B. Ide]],<ref name="William B. Ide Adobe SHP">{{Cite web |title=William B. Ide Adobe SHP |url=http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=458 |access-date=December 25, 2009 |publisher=California State Parks}}</ref> who played a pivotal role during the Bear Flag Revolt. This revolt by American settlers served as a prelude to the later American military invasion of California and was closely coordinated with nearby American military commanders.

The California Republic was short-lived;<ref>{{Cite web |last=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2015 |title=Bear Flag Revolt |url=http://www.history.com/topics/bear-flag-revolt |access-date=June 5, 2015 |publisher=History.com}}{{break}}{{Cite web |last=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1998 |title=The United States and California |url=http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cbhtml/cbstates.html |access-date=June 5, 2015 |publisher=Library of Congress |newspaper=The Library of Congress}}</ref> the same year marked the outbreak of the [[Mexican–American War]] (1846–1848).<ref>{{Cite web |last=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1999 |title=The U.S. Mexican War |url=https://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/timeline/5.html |access-date=June 5, 2015 |website=The Border |publisher=KPBS}}{{break}}{{Cite book |last1=Matthew Kachur |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=1g2ReKdEZfIC|page=25}} |title=The Mexican-American War |last2=Jon Sterngass |date=July 1, 2006 |publisher=World Almanac Library |isbn=978-0-8368-7290-3 |pages=25–26}}{{break}}{{Cite book |last=Thomas M. Leonard |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=NQugPgduF0kC|page=141}} |title=James K. Polk: A Clear and Unquestionable Destiny |date=2001 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8420-2647-5 |pages=141–143}}</ref>

Commodore [[John D. Sloat]] of the [[United States Navy]] sailed into [[Monterey Bay]] in 1846 and began the [[Conquest of California|U.S. military invasion of California]], with Northern California capitulating in less than a month to the United States forces.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spencer Tucker (Militärhistoriker) |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=FZVQcZpic-8C|page=55}} |title=The Encyclopedia of the Mexican-American War: A Political, Social, and Military History |date=2013 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-85109-853-8 |pages=55–56}}</ref> In Southern California, Californios continued to resist American forces. Notable military engagements of the conquest include the [[Battle of San Pasqual]] and the [[Battle of Dominguez Rancho]] in Southern California, as well as the [[Battle of Olómpali]] and the [[Battle of Santa Clara (1847)|Battle of Santa Clara]] in Northern California. After a series of defensive battles in the south, the [[Treaty of Cahuenga]] was signed by the [[Californios]] on January 13, 1847, securing a censure and establishing [[de facto]] American control in California.<ref>{{Cite book |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=3cE1AAAAIAAJ|page=199}} |title=The Quarterly |date=1907 |publisher=Historical Society of Southern California |pages=199–201}}{{break}}{{cite book|first1=Hunt|last1=Janin|first2=Ursula|last2=Carlson|title=The California Campaigns of the U.S.-Mexican War, 1846–1848|url= {{google books |plainurl=y |id=_ImhCAAAQBAJ|page=149}}|date=April 20, 2015|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-2093-0|pages=149–151}}</ref>

===Early American period===
{{see also|California Gold Rush|Interim government of California}}
[[File:Map of the States of California and Nevada by SB Linton 1876.jpg|thumb|Map of California and Nevada by SB Linton, 1876]]
[[File:Treaty of Cahuenga.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The [[Treaty of Cahuenga]], signed in 1847 by Californio [[Andrés Pico]] and American [[John C. Frémont]], was a ceasefire that ended the U.S. [[Conquest of California]].]]

Following the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]] (February 2, 1848) that ended the war, the westernmost portion of the annexed Mexican territory of Alta California soon became the American state of California, and the remainder of the old territory was then subdivided into the new American Territories of Arizona, Nevada, [[Colorado]] and [[Utah]]. The even more lightly populated and arid lower region of old Baja California remained as a part of Mexico. In 1846, the total settler population of the western part of the old Alta California had been estimated to be no more than 8,000, plus about 100,000 Native Americans, down from about 300,000 before Hispanic settlement in 1769.<ref name="Osborne2012">{{Cite book |last=Osborne |first=Thomas J. |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=FvA3jL4CFCMC}} |title=Pacific Eldorado: A History of Greater California |date=November 29, 2012 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-118-29217-4}}</ref>

In 1848, only one week before the official American annexation of the area, gold was discovered in California, this being an event which was to forever alter both the state's demographics and its finances. Soon afterward, a massive influx of immigration into the area resulted, as prospectors and miners arrived by the thousands. The population burgeoned with United States citizens, Europeans, Middle Easterns, Chinese and other immigrants during the great [[California Gold Rush]]. By the time of California's application for statehood in 1850, the settler population of California had multiplied to 100,000. By 1854, more than 300,000 settlers had come.<ref>{{Cite web |title=California Gold Rush, 1848–1864 |url=http://www.learncalifornia.org/doc.asp?id=118 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727033216/http://www.learncalifornia.org/doc.asp?id=118 |archive-date=July 27, 2011 |access-date=July 22, 2008 |website=Learn California.org, a site designed for the [[California Secretary of State]]}}</ref> Between 1847 and 1870, the population of San Francisco increased from 500 to 150,000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1870 Fast Facts |url=https://www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/fast_facts/1870_fast_facts.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190305053406/https://www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/fast_facts/1870_fast_facts.html |archive-date=March 5, 2019 |access-date=March 5, 2019 |website=United States Census Bureau}}</ref>

{{multiple image
| direction         = vertical
| align             = left
| width             = 220
| header            = [[California Gold Rush]]
| image1            = California Clipper 500.jpg
| caption1          = An ad to sail to California, {{circa|1850}}
| image2            = SanFranciscoharbor1851c sharp.jpg
| caption2          = [[San Francisco]] harbor, {{circa|1850–51}}
| image3            = Mining_on_the_American_River_near_Sacramento,_circa_1852.jpg
| caption3          = Mining near [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]], {{circa|1852}}
}}

The seat of government for California under Spanish and later Mexican rule had been located in [[Monterey, California|Monterey]] from 1777 until 1845.<ref name="nps">{{Cite web |title=Introduction |url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/ca/intro.htm |access-date=August 26, 2012 |website=Early History of the California Coast |publisher=National Park Service}}</ref> Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of Alta California, had briefly moved the capital to Los Angeles in 1845. The United States [[consulate]] had also been located in Monterey, under consul [[Thomas O. Larkin]].

In 1849, a state Constitutional Convention was first held in Monterey. Among the first tasks of the convention was a decision on a location for the new state capital. The first full legislative sessions were held in San Jose (1850–1851). Subsequent locations included [[Vallejo, California|Vallejo]] (1852–1853), and nearby [[Benicia, California|Benicia]] (1853–1854); these locations eventually proved to be inadequate as well. The capital has been located in [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]] since 1854<ref name="Wilson 2006">{{Cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Dotson |url=http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pdf/caleg11.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pdf/caleg11.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |title=California's Legislature |last2=Ebbert |first2=Brian S. |date=2006 |publisher=California State Assembly |edition=2006 |location=Sacramento |oclc=70700867}}</ref> with only a short break in 1862 when legislative sessions were held in San Francisco due to [[Great Flood of 1862|flooding in Sacramento]].
Once the state's Constitutional Convention had finalized its state constitution, it applied to the U.S. Congress for [[Admission to the Union|admission to statehood]]. On September 9, 1850, as part of the [[Compromise of 1850]], California became a [[Slave states and free states|free state]] and September{{spaces}}9 a [[California Admission Day|state holiday]].

During the [[American Civil War]] (1861–1865), California sent gold shipments eastward to Washington [[California in the American Civil War|in support of the Union]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.civilwar.org/learn/articles/10-facts-california-during-civil-war |title=10 Facts: California during the Civil War |work=American Battlefield Trust |date=August 13, 2013 |access-date=September 9, 2017}}</ref> However, due to the existence of a large contingent of pro-South sympathizers within the state, the state was not able to muster any full military regiments to send eastwards to officially serve in the Union war effort. Still, several smaller military units within the Union army, such as the [[2nd Regiment of Cavalry, Massachusetts Volunteers|"California 100 Company"]], were unofficially associated with the state of California due to a majority of their members being from California.

At the time of California's admission into the Union, travel between California and the rest of the continental United States had been a time-consuming and dangerous feat. Nineteen years later, and seven years after it was greenlighted by President Lincoln, the [[first transcontinental railroad]] was completed in 1869. California was then reachable from the eastern States in a week's time. Much of the state was extremely well suited to fruit cultivation and agriculture in general. Vast expanses of wheat, other cereal crops, vegetable crops, cotton, and nut and fruit trees were grown (including oranges in Southern California), and the foundation was laid for the state's prodigious agricultural production in the Central Valley and elsewhere. In the nineteenth century, a large number of migrants from China traveled to the state as part of the [[Gold Rush]] or to seek work.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Chinese Experience in 19th Century America |url=http://teachingresources.atlas.illinois.edu/chinese_exp/introduction04.html |website=teachingresources.atlas.illinois.edu}}</ref> Even though the Chinese proved indispensable in building the transcontinental railroad from California to Utah, perceived job competition with the Chinese led to anti-Chinese riots in the state, and eventually the US ended migration from China partially as a response to pressure from California with the 1882 [[Chinese Exclusion Act]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Immigration to the United States, 1851-1900 {{!}} Rise of Industrial America, 1876-1900 {{!}} U.S. History Primary Source Timeline {{!}} Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress {{!}} Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/rise-of-industrial-america-1876-1900/immigration-to-united-states-1851-1900/ |website=Library of Congress}}</ref>

===1900–present===
{{Main|History of California 1900–present}}
[[File:Post-and-Grant-Avenue-Look (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|View of the destruction from the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake]]]]

In the twentieth century, thousands of Japanese people migrated to the US and California specifically to attempt to purchase and own land in the state. However, the state in 1913 passed the [[California Alien Land Law of 1913|Alien Land Act]], excluding Asian immigrants from owning land.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The U.S. Mainland: Growth and Resistance |url=https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/japanese/the-us-mainland-growth-and-resistance/ |website=Library of Congress}}</ref> During World War II, [[Internment of Japanese Americans|Japanese Americans in California were interned]] in concentration camps such as at [[Tule Lake National Monument|Tule Lake]] and [[Manzanar]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Behind the Wire: Japanese Immigration and Relocation in U.S. History |url=https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/japanese/behind-the-wire/ |access-date=February 8, 2021 |website=Library of Congress}}</ref> In 2020, California officially apologized for this internment.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dil |first=Cuneyt |date=February 20, 2020 |title=California apologizes for Japanese American internment |url=https://apnews.com/article/4b9234383de4814974f81e78a1edaa95 |access-date=February 8, 2021 |website=AP NEWS}}</ref>

Migration to California accelerated during the early 20th century with the completion of major transcontinental highways like the [[Lincoln Highway]] and [[U.S. Route 66 (California)|Route 66]]. In the period from 1900 to 1965, the population grew from fewer than one million to the greatest in the Union. In 1940, the Census Bureau reported California's population as 6.0% Hispanic, 2.4% Asian, and 89.5% non-Hispanic white.<ref>{{Cite web |title=California—Race and Hispanic Origin: 1850 to 1990 |url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0056/twps0056.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224151538/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0056/twps0056.html |archive-date=December 24, 2014 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau}}</ref>

To meet the population's needs, major engineering feats like the [[California Aqueduct|California]] and [[Los Angeles Aqueduct]]s; the [[Oroville Dam|Oroville]] and [[Shasta Dam]]s; and the [[San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge|Bay]] and [[Golden Gate Bridge|Golden Gate]] Bridges were built across the state. The state government also adopted the [[California Master Plan for Higher Education]] in 1960 to develop a highly efficient system of public education.
[[File:Paramount Pictures studio gate, c. 1940 (cropped).jpg|thumb|In the early 20th century, [[Major film studios|Hollywood studios]], like [[Paramount Pictures]], helped transform [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] into the world capital of film and helped solidify [[Los Angeles]] as a global economic hub.]]
Meanwhile, attracted to the mild Mediterranean climate, cheap land, and the state's wide variety of geography, filmmakers established the [[studio system]] in Hollywood in the 1920s. California manufactured 8.7 percent of total United States military armaments produced [[California during World War II|during World War II]], ranking third (behind [[New York (state)|New York]] and [[Michigan]]) among the 48 states.<ref>[[Whiz Kids (Department of Defense)|Peck, Merton J.]] & [[Frederic M. Scherer|Scherer, Frederic M.]] ''The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis'' (1962) [[Harvard Business School]] p. 111</ref> California however easily ranked first in production of military ships during the war (transport, cargo, [merchant ships] such as [[Liberty ship]]s, [[Victory ships]], and warships) at drydock facilities in San Diego, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shipbuilding Essay—World War II in the San Francisco Bay Area: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary |url=https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wwiibayarea/shipbuilding.htm |website=Nps.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Richmond Shipyard Number Three: World War II in the San Francisco Bay Area: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary |url=https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wwIIbayarea/ric.htm |website=Nps.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rosie the Riveter National Historical Park, Kaiser Shipyards |url=https://cdn.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/ca/ca3300/ca3393/data/ca3393data.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://cdn.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/ca/ca3300/ca3393/data/ca3393data.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |website=Csn.loc.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=August 11, 2010 |title=Saving the Bay—The Greatest Shipbuilding Center in the World |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhCiGY75wVw |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203135248/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhCiGY75wVw |archive-date=December 3, 2017 |work=[[KQED Inc.|KQED]] |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date=July 10, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> Due to the hiring opportunities California offered during the conflict, the population of the state greatly multiplied from the immigration it received due to the work offered in its war factories, military bases, and training facilities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/2010census/data/apportionment-pop-text.php|title=Resident Population Data – 2010 Census|website=Census.gov|access-date=October 7, 2017}}</ref> After World War II, California's economy greatly expanded due to strong [[Aerospace manufacturer|aerospace]] and [[Defense industry|defense]] industries,<ref name="BWatkins2012">{{cite news |title=How California Lost its Mojo |first=Bill |last=Watkins |url= http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2012/10/how-california-lost-its-mojo/ |newspaper=Fox and Hound Daily |date=October 10, 2012 |access-date=June 25, 2013}}{{break}}{{Cite book |last1=Nancy Kleniewski |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=dWuQ70MtnIQC|page=91}} |title=Cities, Change, and Conflict: A Political Economy of Urban Life |last2=Alexander R. Thomas |date=March 1, 2010 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0-495-81222-7 |pages=91–92 |access-date=June 26, 2013}}</ref> whose size decreased following the end of the [[Cold War]].<ref name="BWatkins2012" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rosa Maria Moller |date=May 2008 |title=Aerospace States' Incentives to Attract The Industry |url=http://www.library.ca.gov/crb/08/08-005.pdf |access-date=June 25, 2013 |website=library.ca.gov |publisher=California Research Bureau |pages=24–25 |archive-date=August 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824080139/http://www.library.ca.gov/crb/08/08-005.pdf }}{{break}}{{cite web |url=http://laedc.org/reports/AerospaceinSoCal_0812.pdf |title=The Aerospace Industry in Southern California |first1=Robert A. |last1=Kleinhenz |first2=Kimberly |last2=Ritter-Martinez |first3=Rafael |last3=De Anda |first4=Elizabeth |last4=Avila |date=August 2012 |publisher=laedc.org |access-date=June 25, 2013 |page=10 |quote=In 1987, California accounted for one in four aerospace jobs nationally, and in Los Angeles County, the share was one in ten. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the Department of Defense (DOD) sharply curtailed procurement spending. In 1995, DOD spending fell below $50{{spaces}}billion for the first time since 1982. Nowhere in the country were the changes in Pentagon outlays more apparent than in Southern California. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512204822/http://laedc.org/reports/AerospaceinSoCal_0812.pdf |archive-date=May 12, 2013 }}{{break}}{{cite book |first1=Eric John |last1=Heikkila |first2=Rafael |last2=Pizarro |title=Southern California and the World |url= {{google books |plainurl=y|id=upaN7waaW7AC|page=18}} |access-date=June 25, 2013 |date=January 1, 2002 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-275-97112-0 |page=18}}{{break}}{{cite book |first=James |last=Flanigan |title=Smile Southern California, You're the Center of the Universe: The Economy and People of a Global Region |url= {{google books |plainurl=y|id=T-_FMngVdI4C|page=25}} |access-date=June 25, 2013 |date=2009 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-5625-9 |page=25}}</ref> [[Stanford University]] and its Dean of Engineering [[Frederick Terman]] began encouraging faculty and graduates to stay in California instead of leaving the state, and develop a high-tech region in the area now known as [[Silicon Valley]].<ref name="Markoff">{{Cite news |last=Markoff |first=John |date=April 17, 2009 |title=Searching for Silicon Valley |work=The New York Times |url=http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/travel/escapes/17Amer.html |access-date=February 26, 2011}}</ref> As a result of these efforts, California is regarded as a world center of the entertainment and music industries, of technology, engineering, and the aerospace industry, and as the United States center of agricultural production.{{sfn|Cohen|2003|pages=115–116}} Just before the [[Dot-com bubble|Dot Com Bust]], California had the fifth-largest economy in the world among nations.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Clark Davis |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=6QxvAAAAQBAJ|page=11}} |title=The Human Tradition in California |last2=David Igler |date=August 1, 2002 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=978-1-4616-4431-6 |page=11}}{{break}}{{cite news |last=Treanor |first=Jill |date=July 17, 2001 |title=Pink slip season in Silicon Valley |url= https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2001/jul/17/internetnews.business |newspaper=The Guardian |location=United Kingdom |access-date=April 22, 2015 |quote=This micro-economy—the world's fifth largest economy in its own right—started to feel the pain of the new technology meltdown first.}}</ref>

In the mid and late twentieth century, a number of race-related incidents occurred in the state. Tensions between police and African Americans, combined with unemployment and poverty in inner cities, led to violent riots, such as the 1965 [[Watts riots]] and 1992 [[1992 Los Angeles riots|Rodney King riots.]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 12, 2017 |title=Watts Rebellion (Los Angeles) |url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/watts-rebellion-los-angeles |access-date=February 7, 2021 |website=The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute |publisher=Stanford University}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Sastry |first1=Anjuli |last2=Grisby Bates |first2=Karen |title=When LA Erupted In Anger: A Look Back At The Rodney King Riots |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/524744989/when-la-erupted-in-anger-a-look-back-at-the-rodney-king-riots |access-date=February 7, 2021 |website=NPR|date=April 26, 2017 }}</ref> California was also the hub of the [[Black Panther Party]], a group known for arming African Americans to defend against racial injustice <ref>{{Cite web |date=July 23, 2019 |title=The Black Panther Party: Challenging Police and Promoting Social Change |url=https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/black-panther-party-challenging-police-and-promoting-social-change |access-date=February 7, 2021 |website=National Museum of African American History and Culture}}</ref> and for organizing free breakfast programs for schoolchildren.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.com/news/free-school-breakfast-black-panther-party|title=How the Black Panthers' Breakfast Program Both Inspired and Threatened the Government|first=Erin|last=Blakemore|website=HISTORY|date=January 29, 2021 }}</ref> Additionally, Mexican, Filipino, and other migrant farm workers rallied in the state around [[Cesar Chavez]] for better pay in the 1960s and 1970s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pao |first=Maureen |title=Cesar Chavez: The Life Behind A Legacy Of Farm Labor Rights |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/08/02/488428577/cesar-chavez-the-life-behind-a-legacy-of-farm-labor-rights |access-date=February 7, 2021 |website=NPR|date=August 12, 2016 }}</ref>
[[File:Cesar Chavez and Brown Berets at peace rally.jpg|thumb|left|Civil rights activist [[Cesar Chavez]], flanked by [[Brown Berets]], at a 1971 rally during the [[Chicano movement]]]]
During the 20th century, two great disasters happened in California. The [[1906 San Francisco earthquake]] and 1928 [[St. Francis Dam]] flood remain the deadliest in U.S. history.<ref name="IIIMcNeill2004">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dmky95hwKr0C&pg=PA540 |title=Encyclopedia of World Environmental History, Volume 3: O–Z |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-93735-1 |editor-last=Krech |editor-first=Shepard III |pages=540– |access-date=November 23, 2012 |editor-last2=Merchant |editor-first2=Carolyn |editor-last3=McNeill |editor-first3=John Robert}}</ref>

Although air pollution problems have been reduced, health problems associated with pollution have continued. The brown haze known as "[[smog]]" has been substantially abated after the passage of federal and state restrictions on automobile exhaust.<ref>William Deverell, and Greg Hise, eds. ''Land of Sunshine: An Environmental History of Metropolitan Los Angeles'' (2005).</ref><ref>James E. Krier, and Edmund Ursin, ''Pollution and Policy: A Case Essay on California and Federal Experience with Motor Vehicle Air Pollution, 1940–1975'' (1978)</ref>

An [[2000–01 California electricity crisis|energy crisis in 2001]] led to [[rolling blackout]]s, soaring power rates, and the importation of electricity from neighboring states. [[Southern California Edison]] and [[Pacific Gas and Electric Company]] came under heavy criticism.<ref>Severin Borenstein, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2696582 "The Trouble With Electricity Markets: Understanding California's Restructuring Disaster"], ''Journal of Economic Perspectives'', Winter 2002, Vol. 16 Issue 1, pp. 191–211 (in JSTOR)</ref>

Housing prices in urban areas continued to increase; a modest home which in the 1960s cost $25,000 would cost half a million dollars or more in urban areas by 2005. More people commuted longer hours to afford a home in more rural areas while earning larger salaries in the urban areas. Speculators bought houses they never intended to live in, expecting to make a huge profit in a matter of months, then rolling it over by buying more properties. [[Mortgage]] companies were compliant, as everyone assumed the prices would keep rising. The [[subprime mortgage crisis|bubble burst]] in 2007–8 as housing prices began to crash and the boom years ended. Hundreds of billions in property values vanished and foreclosures soared as many financial institutions and investors were badly hurt.<ref>Robert M. Hardaway, ''The Great American Housing Bubble: The Road to Collapse'' (2011) p. 22</ref><ref>Stephen D. Cummings and Patrick B. Reddy, ''California after Arnold'' (2009) p. 102</ref>
[[File:Steve Jobs presents iPhone (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|The 2007 launch of the [[IPhone (1st generation)|iPhone]] by [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] founder [[Steve Jobs]] in [[Silicon Valley]], the largest [[Technopole|tech hub]] in the world]]
In the twenty-first century, droughts and frequent wildfires attributed to climate change have occurred in the state.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Scott |date=December 5, 2019 |title=Fires, floods and free parking: California's unending fight against climate change |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/climate-environment/climate-change-california/ |access-date=February 8, 2021 |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Flavelle |first=Christopher |date=September 20, 2020 |title=How California Became Ground Zero for Climate Disasters |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/20/climate/california-climate-change-fires.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920201702/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/20/climate/california-climate-change-fires.html |archive-date=September 20, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=February 8, 2021 |website=The New York Times}}</ref> From 2011 to 2017, a [[2011–2017 California drought|persistent drought]] was the worst in its recorded history.<ref>{{Cite web |title=California Facing Worst Drought on Record {{!}} NOAA Climate.gov |url=https://www.climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/california-facing-worst-drought-record |access-date=February 8, 2021 |website=www.climate.gov}}</ref> The 2018 wildfire season was the state's deadliest and most destructive, most notably [[Camp Fire (2018)|Camp Fire]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=2018 California Wildfires |url=https://www.census.gov/topics/preparedness/events/wildfires/2018-ca-wildfires.html |access-date=February 8, 2021 |website=The United States Census Bureau}}</ref>

One of the first confirmed [[COVID-19]] cases in the United States that occurred in California was first of which was confirmed on January 26, 2020.<ref name="Wheeler2">{{cite news|last=Wheeler|first=Ian|date=February 4, 2020|title=Orange County coronavirus patient released, in good condition, health officials say|work=Orange County Register|url=https://www.ocregister.com/2020/02/04/risk-of-catching-coronavirus-in-so-cal-is-low-health-officials-say/|url-status=live|access-date=February 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205195530/https://www.ocregister.com/2020/02/04/risk-of-catching-coronavirus-in-so-cal-is-low-health-officials-say/|archive-date=February 5, 2020}}</ref><ref name="uk.reuters.com2">{{cite web|date=February 2, 2020|title=Ninth case of fast-moving coronavirus confirmed in U.S.|url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-health-usa-california-idUKKBN1ZX01P|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203011127/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-health-usa-california-idUKKBN1ZX01P|archive-date=February 3, 2020|access-date=February 3, 2020|work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> Meaning, all of the early confirmed cases were persons who had recently travelled to China in Asia, as testing was restricted to this group. On this January 29, 2020, as disease containment protocols were still being developed, the U.S. [[US Department of State|Department of State]] evacuated 195 persons from Wuhan, China aboard a chartered flight to [[March Air Reserve Base]] in [[Riverside County, California|Riverside County]], and in this process, it may have granted and conferred to escalated within the land and the US at cosmic.<ref name="reuters-evac-cv2">{{cite web|last1=Beech|first1=Eric|last2=Gorman|first2=Steve|date=February 6, 2020|title=Two more U.S. evacuation planes leave coronavirus epicenter Wuhan|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-usa/two-planes-left-wuhan-china-en-route-to-us-state-department-idUSKBN20105M|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216045906/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-usa/two-planes-left-wuhan-china-en-route-to-us-state-department-idUSKBN20105M|archive-date=February 16, 2020|access-date=February 15, 2020|work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Diamond|first=Dan|title=U.S. handling of American evacuees from Wuhan increased coronavirus risks, watchdog finds|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/28/wuhan-americans-evacuation/|access-date=February 25, 2021|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> On February 5, 2020, the U.S. evacuated 345 more citizens from Hubei Province to two military bases in California, [[Travis Air Force Base]] in [[Solano County, California|Solano County]] and [[Marine Corps Air Station Miramar]], [[San Diego]], where they were quarantined for 14 days.<ref name="reuters-evac-cv2" /><ref>{{cite news|date=February 5, 2020|title=Hundreds of Americans Were Evacuated From the Coronavirus Epicenter. Now Comes the Wait.|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/us/coronavirus-flights-wuhan.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206130218/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/us/coronavirus-flights-wuhan.html|archive-date=February 6, 2020}}</ref> A [[State of emergency#United States|state of emergency]] was largely declared in this state of the nation on March 4, 2020, and remained in effect until Governor [[Gavin Newsom]] ended it on February 28, 2023.<ref>{{cite news|date=March 21, 2023|title=California Ends COVID-19 State of Emergency|work=State Center Community College District|url=https://www.scccd.edu/news/2023/california-ends-covid-19-state-of-emergency.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A mandatory statewide [[stay-at-home order]] was issued on March 19, 2020, due to increase, which was ended on January 25, 2021, allowing citizens to return to normal life.<ref>{{Cite web|date=January 26, 2021|title=California Governor Gavin Newsom lifts virus stay-at-home orders|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-covid-stay-at-home-order-lifted/|url-status=live|access-date=February 24, 2021|website=CBS News|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126123803/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-covid-stay-at-home-order-lifted/ |archive-date=January 26, 2021 }}</ref> On April 6, 2021, the state announced plans to fully reopen the economy by June 15, 2021.<ref name="REOPENING">{{cite news |last1=Money |first1=Luke |last2=Luna |first2=Taryn |title=California aims to fully reopen its economy June 15 |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-06/california-aims-to-fully-reopen-the-economy-june-15 |access-date=April 6, 2021}}</ref>

Cultural and [[language revitalization]] efforts among indigenous Californians have progressed among several tribes as of 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 28, 2022 |title=What Does It Take To Reawaken a Native Language? |url=https://www.kcet.org/news-community/what-does-it-take-to-reawaken-a-native-language |access-date=January 2, 2023 |website=KCET |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Whitebear |first=Luhui |title=Unsettled Records and the Restoration of Cultural Memories in Indigenous California |chapter=Drifting across Lines in the Sand: Unsettled Records and the Restoration of Cultural Memories in Indigenous California |chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781351174282-5/drifting-across-lines-sand-luhui-whitebear |publisher=The Routledge Companion to Gender and the American West |doi=10.4324/9781351174282-5 |isbn=978-1-351-17428-2 |access-date=January 7, 2023}}</ref> Some [[Land Back|land returns]] to indigenous stewardship have occurred throughout California.<ref>{{Cite web |last=agencies |first=Dani Anguiano and |date=January 25, 2022 |title=Native American tribes reclaim California redwood land for preservation |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/25/native-american-tribes-california-redwood-preservation |access-date=January 4, 2023 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=November 22, 2022 |title=Native American land return movement makes gains, faces obstacles |url=https://andthewest.stanford.edu/2022/native-american-land-return-movement-makes-gains-faces-obstacles/ |access-date=January 7, 2023 |website=& the West |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ahtone |first=Tristan |date=April 5, 2022 |title=California offers $100 million for tribes to buy back their land. It won't go far. |url=https://grist.org/indigenous/california-offers-100-million-for-tribes-to-buy-back-their-land-it-wont-go-far/ |access-date=January 4, 2023 |website=Grist |language=en-us}}</ref> In 2022, the largest [[dam removal]] and river restoration project in US history was announced for the [[Klamath River]] as a win for California tribes.<ref>{{Citation |title=California Tribes Hail Dam Removal Plan After 20-Year Fight |date=December 16, 2022 |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/california-tribes-hail-dam-removal-plan-after-20-year-fight/6877208.html |language=en |access-date=January 7, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=December 8, 2022 |title=Largest River Restoration Project in American History Set to Begin |url=https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/12/08/75829/ |access-date=January 7, 2023 |website=California Governor |language=en}}</ref>
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