writing assignment
elinaa
class1_boosterismandoriginsofsoutherncalifornia.pptxBoosterism and the Origins of Southern California
Class: Political Economy of Southern California
Class 1
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Overview of Class 1 slides
Chronological view of early Southern California economic history
Learn about the beginnings of Anglo-American settlement in Southern California
Discuss the role that boosterism played in affecting the patterns of that settlement through the region’s labor history
Weigh the costs and benefits of boosterism
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Overview of the History
“[T]he growth of Southern California since 1870 should be regarded as one continuous boom punctuated at intervals by major explosions” (McWilliams, 1973)
1860-1870: Beginning of expansion
1870-1880: First “explosion” and “bust”
1880-1890: Second “explosion”
1890-1900: Cooling down
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1869: Transcontinental Railroad completed (linking to San Francisco)
1860: Anaheim Water Company founded
1876: First train to Los Angeles from San Francisco via the Southern Pacific
1870s: Agricultural
Sector Growth
1885: Price war between Santa Fe and Southern Pacific railroads helps fuel migration to the region and cause a real estate bubble
1881: Chaffey brothers found Ontario, a wealthy agricultural town
1880s: Many universities are built (USC, UCLA, Pomona College)
1900: growth of mining and agricultural processing in 1890s brings manufacturing to the region
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Before the Expansion: 1860s
California was founded as a state in 1850, but Southern California was barely populated at that time (even by indigenous groups)
Between 1860-1870: Southern California population grew by 28.4%
Effects of Gold Rush on Southern California?
Minor effect
Return of Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara to “fossil towns” by mid-1860s – more like the “wild, wild west”
Due to little irrigation, agriculture was limited to a few crops
Bee-ranching, grains, grapes for wine, livestock (cattle, sheep) for meat and hides
Anaheim Water Company (1860)
Drought in mid-1860s wiped out most livestock
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Snapshot of the Economy in 1870
Population numbers:
Los Angeles County: 15,309
Southern California: 39,729
California: 560,247
San Bernardino: highly concentrated land ownership (only 70 farms for a population of 3,988)
Small settlement of Mormons purchased it in 1851 from a major landowning group (toward end of the “Rancho” era)
Agricultural base, barely any manufacturing
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1870s: Growth From the Railroads
Southern Pacific in the 1870s: built to Los Angeles by 1876 (major funders: Charles Crocker, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Jr., and C. P. Huntington)
Crocker pivotal for financing and management
Chinese to work on Central and then Southern Pacific
Population growth in Southern California (101% over the decade) occurred mainly in the second half of 1870s
Panic of 1873 (lasted until 1879, depression lasted until 1883) did not significantly affect California
Led to a depression in rest of country: banking sector collapsed
Financial crisis driven by “railroad mania” which caused many railroad companies to default on their debts – but not in California
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Railroads and Boosters
Los Angeles, Santa Barbara saw tremendous growth during second half of 1870s, thanks to boosterism funded by railroad companies
First major boosterism wave
Remarking on local tourists: “Their overripe fancies are like the Dead Sea apples that turn into ashes with the tasting.” (L.A. Herald, 1876)
The region’s “fancies” were promoted by wealthy railroad barons, landowners, and journalists who sought to gain from the bubble they were fostering
The “ashes” were the undeveloped land and poor infrastructure that could not support the increase in population
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Boosterism
Boosterism: enthusiastic and usually excessive support for something, someone, or some place
Sometimes associated with something negative, such as when something is presented as much better than it actually is
Boosters worked with railroads to produce the first major Anglo-American settlements of Southern California
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Boosterism in a nutshell
"I have seen more drunken and disorderly men on a Saturday afternoon in an Eastern town of fifteen thousand, than may be seen on the streets of the large city of Los Angeles in an entire month" Charles Willard Fuller, Southern California booster, writing in 1894
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Boosterism: “Deceitful and Illusory”
Southern California always had its fair share of promoters
Charles Nordhoff (California: For Health, Pleasure, and Residence)
"In all our Western States there were, in the early days, numerous instances of [colonies]; and where the Indian disputed the white man's advance, no single family could hold its ground“ [Emphasis mine]
"The Indian, in this part of the State, is harmless. Being white, and of the superior race therefore, you have the privilege of entering any Indian's house, and you will be kindly received, and if you want to … cook your own dinner at his fire, you are welcome."
Chinese served as railroad builders, Native Americans as day laborers (later toward the end of 19th century, Mexicans), in a political economy that held remarkable control over racial/ethnic minorities because of differences in landownership
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Effects of Early (1860s-1880s) Boosterism
Positive effects:
Increased investment in the area (especially infrastructure and public services)
Area is good for people’s health, leading to more productive workers
Negative effects:
Increased racial conflicts
Created an individualist, competitive “get rich quick” culture
Since the boom was “manufactured”, many people left once the bubble popped, draining economic activity and resources from the area
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A snapshot of the economy in 1880
Population statistics:
L.A. County: 33,381
Southern California: 79,114
California: 864,694
San Bernardino County doubled in size (from 3,988 to 7,786) – farms increased by a factor of 10 as the ranches were further subdivided and sold off to families
Agriculture became tremendously profitable as the first major irrigation projects were completed (San Joaquin River projects – Kern County Land and Water Co. 1873)
Fruits (citrus, grapes - including raisin/wine varieties), olives, English walnut
Still very little manufacturing
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Migration to Southern California in the 1860s and 70s
“Southern California has been peopled with the very best of Eastern wealth, culture, education, and exquisite refinement. There are here the highest exponents of art, science, philosophy and belles-lettres.” – Charles Willard (Booster and Founder of the journal, The Land of Sunshine), 1886
What was so different about the typical migrant to California?
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Definitions
Literate: Can read, write, or both (range: 1-4)
Unskilled: Non-craft work such as drivers, servants, laborers, packers, employees of (paper, textile, railroad, etc.) manufactures
Skilled: Crafts/trades such as leatherworkers, fishermen, mechanics, carpenters, etc.
White-Collar: Clerks, lawyers, teachers, doctors, bookkeeper/accountant, chemist/metallurgist
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| Proportion of (1850-1880) sample with an occupation who are… | Migrants | Migrants to CA |
| Farmer | 40% | 29.1% |
| Unskilled | 27.7% | 30.1% |
| Skilled | 17.4% | 20.4% |
| White Collar | 14.9% | 20.4% |
| Head of household | 53% | 42% |
| Literacy score (average out of 4) | 3.21 | 3.21 |
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Table shows that the early migrants to California were predominantly not farmers and were more likely to be white collar than your typical migrant
“Has your town recovered yet from the boom?”
From 1880-1890, Southern California population grew 212.8%
By 1885, movement east (from LA): Etiwanda and Ontario become major agricultural towns, Riverside beginning to develop (incorporated 1883)
1887-1889: over 60 new towns, leading to growth of first universities in the region (USC [1880], Occidental [1887], UCLA [“State Normal School” – 1887], Pomona [1887], Stanford [1891] up north)
Profound change in the area due to new infrastructure: more boosterism (“Excursion trains”: to Smiley Heights, lunch at the Mission Inn)
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Frankish Fountain, Ontario
Smiley Heights, Redlands
1st Ramona Pageant
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Snapshot of the economy: 1890
Population statistics:
Los Angeles County 101,454
Southern California: 227,232
California: 1,208,130
Los Angeles County population tripled – manufacturing establishments (still a minor sector) increase by a factor of 4, with little growth outside of that area – rest of Southern California was agriculture
Completion of Santa Fe line, 1886: coincides with a Railroad price war that helped fuel the boom
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| Proportion (1880-1900) of all individuals with occupations | Migrants | Migrants to CA |
| Farmer | 35.8% | 34.4% |
| Unskilled | 33.8% | 24% |
| Skilled | 13.7% | 16.6% |
| White Collar | 16.7% | 25% |
| Head of household | 50.00% | 49.60% |
| Literacy (average) | 3.80 | 4.00 |
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Table shows that migrants to CA in the last quarter of the 19th century were becoming increasingly likely to be farmers, while white collar also continued to be a very common occupation
Summary of migration trends, 1880-1900
Shift in migration patterns – towards farmers, away from skilled workers
“Like flies on a bowl of sugar”, speculative class of “town-site sharks” descended on Southern California helping to launch real estate prices higher and attract middle and upper-middle class Easterners
The previous bubble was due exclusively to railroad boomers; the new trend also brought a lot of outside money from speculators and farmers (veterans of land booms in Wichita, Kansas City, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle)
While not the most fertile ground for the labor movement, L.A. did have some in Typographers and Printers, and mechanics trades (Carpenters and Joiners)
Noteworthy strike and boycott against Harrison Gray Otis’ L.A. Times in 1883
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Los Angeles Real Estate Boom of 1887
“Towns appeared ‘like scenes conjured up by Aladdin’s lamp… [i]f a town site was located in a river bottom, the promoters contended that sandy soils were the best in Southern California…. [i]f… located on the desert… planned as a health resort… swamp lands near the coast… ‘harbor cities’.”
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Los Angeles Real Estate Boom of 1887, continued
California Southern Railroad: 1885, from Barstow, through the Cajon Pass, to San Diego
Owned by the Santa Fe, competed with San Francisco (route owned by the Southern Pacific) for passengers to L.A.
The price war made it cheaper to come and attracted new kinds of migrants
Option dealing during the bubble: Buy a property in a year from now at a low price (the option), start rumors about profitability and sell the property at a much higher price than what you initially bought it for
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San Bernardino Times, 1887: "Of all the booming booms in the booming city of San Bernardino, the boomiest boom is the boom in the Heart Tract, the garden spot of the Beautiful Base Line."
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Collapse?
Realestate collapse in 1889
Sudden drop in prices due to extent of speculative fervor on which the initial explosion was based - property values wiped out quickly
The collapse also weakened the labor movement, though there was another strike against the Times in 1890 and the Pullman strike of 1894 spread to L.A. as well
Led to the establishment of the Merchants and Manufacturers Association in 1896
And yet: this is still a “boom” because of the growth in infrastructure, laying the groundwork for future expansion
Abandoned hotels converted into schools
Also irrigation projects were a product of the boom: 57 new irrigation companies formed between 1880 and 1892
Artesian wells and canals (from Santa Ana River and San Joaquin valley)
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Snapshot of the economy: 1900
Population rose to 337,328 in Southern California (Los Angeles County: 170,298; California: 1,485,053)
LA County Remains an agricultural region, though significant expansion of manufacturing (foundries, smelting) due to the mining industry – manufacturing establishments almost triple between 1890-1900, though under an open shop
Coming in first part of 20th century: more boosterism, industrial development, oil, and (of course) Hollywood
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Population in LA County, Southern California, and California, 1870-1900 (1870=100)
Pop, LA County 1870 1880 1890 1900 100 218.04820693709581 662.70821085635896 1112.404467960024 Pop, SoCal 1870 1880 1890 1900 100 199.1 3413375619831 571.95499509174647 849.07246595685797 Pop, Cal 1870 1880 1890 1900 100 154.34156720160931 215.64238630461199 265.07112041653062
History of Southern California: Expansion at a Remarkable Pace
“This boom is based on the simple fact that hereabouts the good Lord has created conditions of climate and health and beauty such as can be found nowhere else, in this or any other land, and until every acre of this earthly paradise is occupied, the influx will continue.” (San Diego real estate firm, quoted in McWilliams, pg. 123)
Rich soil, though (obviously) a need for water
Railroad promotions, irrigation projects, and boosters engineered the boom
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Summary/Conclusions
“Los Angeles has not grown: it has been conjured into existence…”
The economic history of Southern California is defined by its boosterism
*A* future of Southern California? -> “[W]hen the human race cuts its wisdom teeth, it will no longer crowd into dirty, noisy, malodorous cities, but will seek health and fresh air all the year round. Southern California will loom up more and more as an ideal place for building up a vast city in the country... in which each house will be surrounded by ten or twenty acres of irrigated land, capable of producing all the fruits and vegetables...“ (from another booster in the early 1890s – Henry T. Finck)
This agrarian ideal of small proprietor farms was never fully realized (though there were exceptions – see the history of Fontana)
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