California

Population Boom

Social networks in California have always been affected by immigration into the state. Inhabited by varied indigenous peoples for some 15,000 years with precolonial population estimates between 100,000 and 700,000, California's Pacific coast was first visited by Spanish and British explorers in the mid-16th century. Spanish missions were founded in Baja California beginning in 1697, and the first permanent colonial settlements in present-day California were established in San Diego in 1769. An imperial Russian agricultural settlement located at Fort Ross was established in 1812 in order to supply Russian colonies in Alaska with food. In 1821, California was incorporated as a state in the First Mexican Empire, when independence from Spain was gained. Widely regarded as a barren frontier, California was affected little by the political unrest that oscillated Mexico between empire, republic, and back. At the brink of the Mexican-American War in 1846, American military forces invaded and quickly seized California. Governed by the military 1847–49, when a civilian government was established, California was granted statehood after the 1850 compromise that banned slavery within the state.

After the discovery of gold in California in 1849, the population burgeoned as prospective gold miners (the forty-niners) came to the state. Between 1849 and 1854, over 300,000 immigrated to the state as part of the California gold rush, hoping to make their fortune. Many of these immigrants were men of European descent, and their presence caused San Francisco to grow from a small mission with 500 residents in 1849 into a teeming boomtown with a population of 150,000 by 1870. The influx of immigrants prompted the building of [Page 100]roads, churches, schools, and towns. When many of the recently arrived miners decided to stay in California, transportation was needed to allow commerce and other development. As a result, railroads, steamships, and roads were all built, allowing communication and networking to take place. California's exponential population growth has continued to the present day, with the state's residents increasing from fewer than 100,000 in 1850 to over 37 million by 2010. Each wave of immigrants has resulted in social networks among those from similar backgrounds and has occasionally resulted in backlash against some groups. Immigration also has resulted in tremendous language diversity in California. Approximately 58 percent of California residents over the age of 5 speak English as their first language at home, while 28 percent speak Spanish, 2 percent Tagalog, 2 percent Chinese, 1 percent Korean, 1 percent Vietnamese, and 8 percent other languages. This language diversity has resulted in a plethora of newspapers, radio, and television stations and cable programming aimed at members of specific communities, strengthening social networks and creating opportunities for employment, affiliation groups, and the exchange of ideas.

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