Carey Mcwilliams, Southern California: An Term Paper

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Climatology, in "semi-tropical" Southern California, a place that was as dry and hot as Italy although mercifully "without the Italians," tourists even from the United States "discovered that umbrellas were useless against the drenching rains of Southern California but that they made good shade in the summer; that many of the beautifully colored flowers had no scent; that fruit ripened earlier in the northern than in the southern part of the state; that it was hot in the morning and cool at noon...jack rabbits carried water on their backshere, in this paradoxical land, rats lived in the trees and squirrels had their homes in the ground" (96; 105) Economic fortunes seemed as unstable as the weather -- wharfs, railways, hotels sprung up only to be abandoned after the bubble of expectation in the real estate market went bust (116).

However, almost despite itself, the booms and busts increased the population density of the region, as many people who came seeking prosperity remained to stay in the state, and it also created wealth that remained within California, sustaining the promise of the golden state, where strange fruits grew from the trees (125). The economic roller coaster of rapid development of the economy unstable and it was partially made possible because of "depraved and crooked politicians" like Harrison Gray Otis who dominated the legislative landscape. Politically, California was just as colorful as its citrus crop (275). Early on, evangelicals and health food zealots were attracted to the state, and the free-for all atmosphere spilled into politics. However, the common worker seldom benefited from the struggles -- California had an open-shop, or non-union policy that made it attractive to manufactures, but its cheap labor force of exploited Mexicans and Whites alike generated wealth for some, but misery for others (277).

The Japanese-Americans and Asian-Americans in general were one, final influential ethnic group to shape Californian culture, bringing new culinary exotics like canned fish, and other products that are now staples of the state and national economy.

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The Japanese immigrants made remarkable progress in the Southern Californian economy, soon shirking the availability of working on farms for the opportunity to toil on their own plot of land, a move that proved lucrative, but also generated much resentment in the Anglo community. Sadly, the tale of the Japanese ends with another story of racism gone amuck, although McWilliams notes parenthetically that after their 1942 removal to internment camps Japanese-Americans begin to return in 1945.

The cultural blend of California helps explain why it seems at once the nation's most liberal state, having produced Hollywood -- but also the most conservative, as it was the birthplace of Ronald Reagan. It helps show how economic prosperity and the ability to make money quickly required the near slave labor of Indians, Mexicans, Japanese, Chinese, and non-unionized White workers, and any success by these individuals was profoundly resented. Thus McWilliams' book, although first written in 1946, is a strikingly refreshing text to read against more conventional and seemingly balanced histories such as the Elusive Eden a New History of California, which begins with a more scientific discussion of the climate as opposed how Americans from elsewhere perceived it, and attempts to render a more balanced perspective of the relationship between Anglos and the other various populations of the region. McWilliams tells a story of corrupt politicians and even more corrupt political policies, and while Richard B. Rice, William a. Bullough, and Richard J. Orsi may offer a more balanced and linear text, and less digressions, ultimately McWilliams' passionate history seems to better express the land, and why California is still so complex, so racially divided, and provokes such passion today, even amongst non-state residents.

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