California

by Royce, Josiah

• ISBN13: 9781890771522
• ISBN10: 189077152X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-08-01
• Publisher: Heyday Books

Summary

Cultural Writing. American West. History. Introduction by Ronald A. Wells. "This book is meant to help the reader toward an understanding of two things: namely, the modern American state of California, and our national character as displayed in that land"--Josiah Royce, 1886. California has recently been blessed with a number of careful and colorful works by authors who do not hesitate at-and perhaps even enjoy-shattering the state's historic icons in order to present an honest view of the state's formative events and their causes. Josiah Royce's CALIFORNIA, published in 1886, is the prototype for this approach. With keen attention to detail, Royce produced a passionate narrative-at times ironic, at times outraged, at times in awe of pioneer courage-that sought to ground our history in truth and to reveal the moral consequences of the American conquest of Mexican California.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	viii
Foreword	ix
Introduction: The Territory and the Strangers	3	(36)
The Land	4	(4)
Outlines of Older California History	8	(17)
The Californians as a People	25	(3)
The Americans in California before the Conquest	28	(11)
The American as Conqueror: the Secret Mission and the Bear Flag	39	(80)
The Confidential Agent, and the Beginnings of War	40	(8)
The Bear Flag Heroes	48	(19)
Sloat, the Administration, and the Mystery of the Secret Mission	67	(2)
The Mystery as Formerly Expounded by Captain Fremont's Friends	69	(5)
Californian Hostility as a Cause for War	74	(14)
The Mystery as Now Expounded by General Fremont	88	(9)
The Mystery Deepens	97	(5)
Only One Dispatch Contains the Secret Mission	102	(3)
The Mystery as Expounded by the One Dispatch	105	(6)
Supplementary Evidence and Summary	111	(8)
The Conqest Completed, the Interregnum, and the Birth of the State	119	(95)
The Conquerors and Their Consciences	120	(3)
Sloat, the Larkin Intrigue, and the English Legend	123	(14)
The Wolf and the Lamb	137	(8)
The Revolt and the Reconquest	145	(11)
The Conquerors as Rulers and as Subjects; Quarrels, Discontent, and Aspiration	156	(12)
The Beginnings of the American San Francisco	168	(6)
Gold, Newcomers, and Illusions	174	(11)
The Ways to the New Land	185	(9)
The Struggle for a Constitution	194	(11)
The Constitutional Convention and Its Outcome	205	(9)
The Struggle for Order: Self-Government, Good Humor, and Violence in the Mines	214	(83)
The Philosophy of California History during the Golden Days	214	(5)
The Evolution of Disorder	219	(4)
Pan and Cradle as Social Agents: Mining Society in the Summer of 1848	223	(14)
Mining Society in 1849 and 185o, and the Beginning of Sluice-Mining	237	(10)
The Spirit of the Miners' Justice of 1851 and 1852: The Miners on Their Own Law	247	(9)
Miners' Justice in Action: Characteristic Scenes and Incidents	256	(15)
A Typical History of a Mining Camp in 1851-2	271	(10)
The Warfare against the Foreigners	281	(9)
The Downieville Lynching of July 5, 1851	290	(5)
The Attainment of Order	295	(2)
Social Evolution in San Francisco	297	(70)
The New City and the Great Fires	298	(10)
The Moral Insanities of the Golden Days	308	(5)
Conservatism, Churches, and Families	313	(7)
Popular Justice in February 1851	320	(8)
The First Vigilance Committee	328	(5)
Social Corruption and Commercial Disaster	333	(7)
The New Awakening of Conscience	340	(4)
The Crisis of May 1856	344	(9)
Popular Vengeance and the New Movement	353	(4)
Perils and Triumphs of the Great Committee	357	(10)
Land-Titles and Politics	367	(27)
Early Land Troubles	367	(11)
The Native Population, and the Later Struggle for the Land	378	(9)
Early Political Conflicts	387	(6)
Conclusion	393	(1)
Index Follows Page	394