The Automobile Industry: The Growth Of Southern California

California was a popular state to travel for mining, in addition to agriculture (“Transportation”). Furthermore, sometime around the 1890s, a group of “Mormons from

” When suburban housing became plentiful, the need for automobiles increased rapidly and the need for motor fuel more than doubled between the years of 1945 and 1958. With the abundance of well-paying jobs, easy access to credit and loans, and a new market of consumer goods, America was turned into a “. . . land of

Transportation and traveling before the new roads would take six months for the goods to go across California. Now with the new pavement the food production for farmers increased. According to Ken Hamilton, “Agriculture became the leading industry in California with the new roads and the opening of the transcontinental railroad.” With the opening of the railroad, farmers and other workers greatly benefited from the easy access to transporting goods. The economic growth in California was paved by the gold rush because of the thousands of people who shaped it into the diverse state it is

Prior to the Gold Rush of 1849, California was a meagerly populated, an irrelevant area of the United States for the most part possessed by the general population of Mexico. In any case, that all changed when on January 24, 1848; woodworker and little time sawmill administrator James W. Marshall found a gold piece in the American River that would always show signs of change the historical backdrop of California and America1. Not exclusively did the Gold Rush prompt California 's permission into the Union in 1850, it additionally revived the possibility of the American Dream. Hundred 's of thousands of individuals filled the state by the draw of brisk and unending wealth. Because of the Gold Rush, California in the end turned into a

Before the Gold Rush of 1849, California was a sparsely populated, unimportant territory of the United States mostly inhabited by the people of Mexico. However, that all changed when on January 24, 1848; carpenter and small time sawmill operator James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget in the American River that would forever change the history of California and America1. Not only did the Gold Rush lead to California’s admittance into the Union in 1850, it also rekindled the idea of the American Dream. Hundred’s of thousands of people poured into the state by the lure of quick and infinite riches. As a result of the Gold Rush, California

In the 1940's California was supporting a population of seven million people and contained 2.8 million registered vehicles. Within the next twenty years the population more than doubled to reach 16 million while the number of registered vehicles all but tripled increasing to eight million. This has been a common trend in California's documented history from the early twentieth century to today. There have been many historical and environmental factors that have assisted in contributing to increases such as these in California. One such factor was World War II, from the late 1930's to 1945, which triggered a boom in the population of California and the beginning of the urban sprawl. Increases in

California would not be the same as we see it today if it was not for the California Gold Rush of 1849. Around one hundred fifty thousand migrated to this territory over the course of three years, being one of the world’s largest migrations in history. The wealth gained by the “Forty-Niner’s” in this era provided the opportunity for the creation of the economic powerhouse we see California as today. The California Gold Rush is a very complex topic to understand. There is a common misconception of it simply being a time of profit or loss by miners digging for gold. When instead, the Gold Rush was a time when “Gold Fever” was a common sickness of people around the world, people of all ages and color striving to meet their dreams of success and fortune. This migration of miners is best understood when California’s history before the Gold Rush, the chaos over land ownership and lack of authority, and its short term and long term impacts are extensively analyzed (4).

According to Foner, “By 1960, 80 percent of American families owned at least one car, and 14 percent had two or more, nearly all manufactured in the United States”(). Many families owned automobiles, for it enabled long-distance vacationing and commuting to work, malls, etc. The ability for people to travel farther distances through means other than trains and trolleys stimulated a population shift from cities to suburbs. Approximately one third of Southern California, a mainly suburban area, was “paved over with roads and parking lots,” hence showing a transformation in American landscape. Infrastructure had to accommodate for cars as they became central to American life. Not only did the automobile alter the American landscape with a web of roads and freeways, but it also led to “the construction of motels, drive-in movie theaters, and roadside eating establishments”(). The automobile revolutionized America, as it allowed for individual mobility and private choice-a symbol of

While there was some agricultural growth the most iconic of these new western opportunities would have been cattle. Some American settlers, particularly in Texas, began to herd and domesticate cattle. Driving the cattle vast distances to larger cities to the east for the purpose of butchering and selling(Ramos). Not only did this develop the image of the American Cowboy it also proved that there was money to be made out west. Three years after James O’ Sullivan coins the term Manifest Destiny gold was discovered in 1848 in California. The discovery of gold was the single biggest contributor in developing California just two years after the discovery of gold California was accepted into the Union as the 31st state(History.com). Many miners flocked into California particularly to San Francisco to support the new booming mining towns. The expansion of the railroads at this time greatly supported the development of western towns and industries. The railroad brought it’s own jobs and monetary benefits but it

California was desirable territory for many countries ever since it’s very discovery. The first people from across the sea’s to discover California were Spanish missionaries in the 1700s. California wasn’t even US territory until acquired through The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The story of Sutter’s Mill had spread across the country a few years after this timely treaty. This inspired settlers to flock west in certainty that they would return home with bellies full of gold. This gold rush exploded California’s economy almost

The modern California emerged from the progressive era and World War 1, an important economic transformation and dramatic population change were under way. New, thriving industries in oil and the making of motion pictures turned Los Angeles into a booming manufacturing city just as a new migration brought hundreds of thousands of residents to the region. The decade after World War 1 was one of rapid economic development, marked by the evolution of modern, large-scale business organizations and the pervasive influence of the automotive. The railroad era and the Progressive era has contributed the transformation of modern California in the first half of the 20th century.

California, the place to turn cant’s into can’s and dreams into plans. The same situation and scenarios apply to today and even over one hundred and sixty five years ago. Then and now are not so different, people are thriving or failing from the land of plenty, supplying themselves with knowledge, wealth, or skill to either spread their wings and take flight or crash and burn. Each state in the United States of America has a correlating nickname to either why it’s famous or an explanation of its history. California’s state name is The Golden State, and going all the way back to 1849 is why this was such an influential time for California and all of America. This is the period of the Gold Rush. Reasons why this event was so impeccable, to the development of California, are the years leading up to the discovery, the first findings, the journey, and so much more.

There are several periods of population growth in Los Angeles: 1855 Gold Rush, 1885 Railroad, 1891 Oil Industry, 1914 Los Angeles Ports, 1932 Winter Olympics, and more. All of these periods have common: mass media. Mass media takes an important role within city population. It delivers information, rumors, and sometimes persuade or convince people. In 1855, as soon as people heard about Gold Rush rumors, they started to head toward California with a hope of a small chance of being wealthy. The roads from the Southern California were full of people on their way to the mines with all of their vehicles and animals (Guinn 127). Some of them became rich, and the more people joined to be like them. Since many people came from various regions, their

The 1901 discovery of the Spindletop field near Beaumont brought the oil boom to Texas. Cheap oil affected everything from transportation to state coffers to the establishment of higher education.

Richard Walker in his California’s Golden Road to Riches, described California’s economic order as “prospector capitalism,” or “resource capitalism.” Walker quotes David and Wright (1997:1) in order to describe this form- “intensity of search; new technologies of extraction, refining and utilization; market development and transportation investments…” (http://geog.berkeley.edu/PeopleHistory/faculty/R_Walker/CaGoldenRoad.html, Walker). This statement has clear comparisons to Takaki’s America Errand as both put a large focus on economic expansion via technology, increased transportation, and market development. Similar to when Takaki’s argument that the land must not go to waste, in the four statements that correspond to the dimensions of the capitalist economy it is written that “nature…converted into ‘resources’ or nature staked, claimed, and commodified”