California History

Why is California statehood part of the national history of slavery?

• The issue concerned only foreign trade.
• Statehood had no connection to sectional politics.
• Its admission as a free state was tied to the Compromise of 1850.
• California entered as a slave state in 1776.

How did the Spanish mission system reshape Indigenous California?

• It imposed new labor, religious, and settlement systems.
• It established U.S. state government.
• It created the transcontinental railroad.
• It left Native life completely unchanged.

What was one result of Mexican secularization in California?

• Spain regained full control.
• All ranchos disappeared immediately.
• California joined the United States that same day.
• Control of former mission lands changed and the rancho economy expanded.

What political change followed U.S. victory in the Mexican-American War?

• California joined Canada.
• California became independent permanently.
• California’s sovereignty shifted from Mexico to the United States.
• California returned to Spain.

Why did the transcontinental railroad promote migration and trade?

• It cut travel time and transportation costs.
• It made journeys longer and more expensive.
• It connected only local farms.
• It carried no passengers or freight.

Why was the Gold Rush a transformational event rather than only a mining boom?

• It changed no cities or institutions.
• It affected only gold prices.
• It happened after California was already fully developed.
• It changed demography, settlement, infrastructure, and politics together.

What made California’s route to statehood unusual?

• It became a state before U.S. control.
• It entered as one of the original thirteen states.
• Rapid migration led quickly to statehood without a long organized-territory period.
• It remained an organized territory for centuries.