Population per 2012 census- 38,041,430
On September 9th 1850, as the 31st state the United States Congress hesitatingly agreed to admit another free state to the union. It was called California.
Her motto is "Eureka" (I have found it).
CA's official nickname, since 1968, is ‘The Golden State” .
As the 12th largest financial power in the world and the 3rd largest State by land mass, it is no surprise that California is home to 1 in 8 Americans!
Let's work together to turn this State Red!
Click here for 2013 Political Statistics for California -by County
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In 1848 gold was first discovered in California. People swarmed the ‘lawless’ territory from everywhere including folks from nations beyond our shores . Her population grew rapidly. Some say as many as 300,000 souls seeking their fortune made the trek to the soon to be state of California.
Samuel Brennan, a newspaper publisher in San Francisco, after confirming that gold was found and indeed the ‘real McCoy’ ran through the streets of San Francisco yelling “"Gold! Gold! Gold! from the American River!" and the California Gold Rush was on.
The area of California was not governed as where other traditional territories nonetheless it was itching for statehood.
In Congress there existed much political debate about those western territories seeking statehood being slave or free states. Balance of power between the South and North was of prime concern. The Compromise of 1850 plus the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 all part of an Omnibus Bill were key to not only California being allowed statehood as a free state but others as well. President Millard Fillmore signed the bills and they are accredited for delaying the Civil War by a decade.
Early Statehood: 1850 – 1880s: California & the Civil War
For another overview of California and her involvement during the Civil War refer to California in the American Civil War.
Additional reading found to be interesting is Republicanism and the Compromise of 1850.
California gave the nation the following presidents: Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Richard Nixon was the only native son of California.
Hoover was born in Iowa, at the time of his election to the presidency he lived in California.
Ronald Reagan was born in Illinois. He was Governor of California and jettisoned from a two term Governorship to the 40tth President of the United States, serving two terms. It is difficult to comprehend that Reagan was once a Democrat he switched parties in 1962.
Another piece of trivia both Hoover and Nixon have roots as Quakers.
