Californian Genocide – World History – Free PDF Download

BACKGROUND

• Prior to Spanish arrival, California was home to an indigenous population. While there was great diversity in the area.
• The various groups appear to have adapted to particular areas and territories. California habitats and climate supported an abundance of wildlife, including rabbits, deer, varieties of fish, fruit, roots, and acorns
• California was one of the last regions in the Americas to be colonized. The first of 21 missions, at what developed as present-day San Diego in the southern part of the state along the Pacific.

GENOCIDE

• Spanish and Mexican rule were devastating for native populations. “As the missions grew, California’s native population of Indians began a catastrophic decline.”
• Most of the deaths stemmed from imported diseases and the disruption of traditional ways of life, but violence was common.
• In the latter half of the 19th century Californian state and federal authorities incited, aided, and financed miners, settlers, ranchers, and people’s militias to enslave, kidnap, murder, and exterminate a major proportion of displaced Native American Indians.

GENOCIDE

• The California Act for the Government and Protection of Indians was enacted in 1850 (amended 1860, repealed 1863).
• This legalized a form of slavery in California. White settlers took 24,000 to 27,000 California Native Americans as forced laborers, including 4,000 to 7,000 children.
• By one estimate, at least 4,500 Californian Indians were killed between 1849 and 1870.
• One estimate that during this period at least 9,492 to 16,092 Californian Indians were killed by non-Indians.

World History  Free PDF

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