HIST 139: History of California

Citrus College Course Outline of Record

Citrus College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Effective Term: Spring 2024
Credits: 3
Total Contact Hours: 54
Lecture Hours : 54
Lab Hours: 0
Hours Arranged: 0
Outside of Class Hours: 108
Total Student Learning Hours: 162
Strongly Recommended: ENGL 101.
District General Education: D1. History and Political Science
Transferable to CSU: Yes
Transferable to UC: Yes - Approved
Grading Method: Standard Letter

Catalog Course Description

A survey of the political, social and economic development of the State of California from early Pre-Columbian American Indian communities and Spanish settlements to the present. 54 lecture hours.

Course Objectives

  • Analyze the cultural heritage of California.
  • Explain the development and struggle that has taken place in California from the beginning to the present.
  • Weigh evidence and judge with discrimination controversial state and local problems.
  • Analyze the significance of current problems in this area and how they relate to the present in light of what has happened in the past.

Major Course Content

  1. Defining California
    1. California geography
    2. California as a state of mind
  2. California Indians
    1. Regions
    2. Tribes and cultures
  3. Spanish Exploration and Settlement
    1. Spanish foundations
    2. Discovery of California
    3. Explorations reviewed
    4. Franciscan missions
    5. Planting the colony
    6. Indian relations
  4. Mexican California
    1. Mexican independence
    2. Secularization
    3. California economy and culture
  5. Early American Period
    1. Early contact
    2. United States -Mexican War
    3. California-Anglo relations
    4. Land titles
    5. Gold
    6. Immigration
    7. Chinese experience
    8. Liquidating the Indians
  6. The New Economy
    1. Railroads
    2. The “Big Four”
    3. Silver boom
    4. Land monopoly
    5. The Workingman’s Party
    6. The Constitution of 1879
    7. Chinese exclusion
  7. San Francisco and Los Angeles
    1. Rise of the Barbary Coast
    2. Rise of unions in San Francisco
    3. The citrus industry and real estate promotion
    4. Rise of Los Angeles
    5. The triumph of the open shop in Los Angeles
  8. Reform
    1. Boss Ruef and the Union Labor Party
    2. The Good Government movement
    3. Utility regulation
    4. Political reform and women’s suffrage
    5. Conversation
  9. Oil, Water and Movies
    1. Oil boom of the 1920s
    2. Hetch-Hetchy
    3. Owens Valley
    4. Central Valley project
    5. The movies discover California
  10. The Great Depression
    1. Okies
    2. Mexican deportation
    3. Labor strife
    4. Upton Sinclair and EPIC
    5. New Deal in California
  11. Wartime Growth and Problems
    1. The impact of federal spending
    2. Rosie the Riveter
    3. Sleepy Lagoon and the Zoot Suit riots
    4. Japanese American “relocation”
  12. Post-war California
    1. Rise of the defense industry
    2. Hollywood on trial
    3. Freeways, suburbs, and the automobile
    4. McDonalds and Disneyland
  13. Social Unrest
    1. Campus unrest
    2. Black radicalism
    3. Rise of the Counterculture
  14. Rise of Conservatism
    1. Reagan years
    2. Tax revolt
    3. Contemporary politics
  15. California Today
    1. The New Gold Rush: Silicon Valley
    2. The New Californians
    3. Contemporary issues

Suggested Reading Other Than Required Textbook

About one chapter from the course text per week in a sixteen week semester. Supplemental readings and media are also recommended.

Examples of Required Writing Assignments

At least one major "Blue Book" writing assessment. The "Blue Book" writing assessment would typically be on the midterm and/or final examination. A sample topic would be to describe and analyze the rise of a conservative political movement in California in response to the social and political challenges of the 1960s.

Examples of Outside Assignments

An example of an outside assignment would consist of students reading a brief biography of a Californio and comparing his/her experiences with the text reading on the time period. The assignment might consist of a brief essay, discussion board post or an in-class discussion.
DEGREE APPLICABLE COURSE: 2 hours of independent work done out of class per each hour of lecture or class work, or 3 hours lab, practicum, or the equivalent, per unit.

Instruction Type(s)

Lecture, Online Education Lecture

IGETC Area 4: Social and Behavioral Sciences

4F. History