1. By Josh Lester “California” By Kevin StarrChapters 7 & 12
2. The first 40 years California was a state it was working on its socioeconomic and political foundation. During the second 40 years the state was working on the population growth by building stadiums, bridges, dams, aqueducts, road ways, and power plants. In California 2/3 of the rainfall is the northern part of the state, where the rest of California has a dessert environment. The northern part of the state has 2 water sources the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River, the southern part of the state’s water source is the Colorado River. Chapter 7 Great Expectations
3. The technology of irrigation came from a technology that came from the gold rush which was developed for moving water across land. That’s how the southeastern part of the state got its water from the Colorado River, was irrigation. It took over 6 years for the Los Angeles aqueduct system to be constructed. It has over 235 miles of canals conduits and tunnels just to bring water from the Owens River to the city. Chapter 7 Great Expectations
4. San Francisco has a water system which look over 11 years to build. There is over 100 miles of pipeline and over 65 miles of tunnels bringing the water from the Tuolumne River to San Francisco. Both of these water systems created major environmental damage. But at the same time the water systems made both of these cities grow substantially. The growth of both of these cities were influenced by the major universities, parks and beautiful architecture. Chapter 7 Great Expectations
5. Both San Francisco and Los Angeles exploded in population growth. Most of the people moving in to these cities at the time were Whites from the Midwest. Of course both cities also had their share of other ethnicities. All of this construction and population growth took place in the first third to half of the 20th century. Not even The Great Depression could hold California back from growing. Chapter 7 Great Expectations
6. California is probably one of the most ethnically diverse states in the United States. As it has been for pretty much ever. California was founded on Racism and repression. By the early 1900’s San Francisco had the highest population of immigrants to total population ratio then any other city. The ethnic and racial diversity and tension will continue to cause problems for a long time. Chapter 12
7. The Arrest of a drunk black man in Los Angeles causes 5 days of riots, which lead to more arrests and police roughing up the crowd. Stores were torched along with automobiles, looting and snipers were terrorizing the city. 26 years later police stop a black man and beat him almost to death, and that caused the biggest riot in the history of the United States. The whole O.J. Simpson trial and mess was taken place in Los Angeles. Chapter 12
8. California is made up of mostly Hispanic, then Whites, then Asians, then blacks. A quarter of the population is 18 and under. California has became a society of which the minorities take over the majorities. Chapter 12
