By Jan Siegel
September 9 is the date for the annual Heritage Barbecue sponsored by the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society. September 9 also marks the 163rd anniversary of California’s statehood. The Heritage Barbecue is an opportunity to bring old timers together with new residents to our community and to reminisce about days gone by. The event is held at Ranch Mission Viejo. Reservations are a must for this unique experience. Tickets are $25 per person and are available at the Historical Society, 31831 Los Rios Street.
California’s admission into the Union was not without a fair amount of controversy. When the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848, which ceded California to the United States, few people in the area knew that just nine days before, gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill. At the time of the treaty, the population of all of Alta California was 7,300. The gold rush, which brought over 60,000 people into California in 1860, enabled the area to apply directly for statehood. In order for a territory to apply for statehood, a population of at least 60,000 was one of the requirements. The hordes of people who arrived in California during the gold rush increased the population at an incredible rate, unheard of in other areas of the country. There was another problem facing the decision to become a state. Congress refused to act on the territory issue because the entry of California would upset the balance of free state and slave state issues being deliberated at the time. However, the military governor, Brig. Gen. Bennet Riley, understood that if something was not done quickly, chaos would take over any rules and regulations that the military had in place. So, he forced the issue, and on June 3, 1849, Riley called for a convention to draft a state constitution for submission to Congress. The convention ended on October 13 and the following issues were resolved: California would be a free state; suffrage would be given to white males only, although Indians and their descendants could be granted the right by special acts of the legislature; the border would not extend into Utah; married women could hold property separate from their husbands; and dueling would be outlawed.
The debate in Congress was very bitter and lasted all spring and the summer of 1850. In the end it was the debating skills of three great statesmen that eventually led to the Compromise of 1850. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, Henry Clay of Kentucky and Daniel Webster of Massachusetts argued back and forth over the issue of slavery and California. Finally on August 13, 1850, the Compromise of 1850 received enough votes to pass in the Senate and on September 7 passed the House of Representatives. On September 9, 1850, President Millard Fillmore signed it into law and California became the 31st state of the Union.
The Compromise of 1850 consisted of five laws, which were passed separately. California was admitted to the Union as a free state. New Mexico and Utah were added as territories without mention of slavery. Texas gave up its claims to New Mexico in exchange for 10 million dollars. Slave markets were outlawed in Washington, D.C. although slavery remained legal. The Fugitive Slave Act was strengthened.
Californians did not know that they had become a state until October 18 when the steamer Oregon sailed into San Francisco Bay with a banner proclaiming “California is a State.” While much celebration went on in San Francisco and Sacramento, most of the population was more interested in finding gold than in the news of statehood.
Come and spend a moment in time at the Historical Society Barbecue on September 9, and maybe you will find an old timer who had relatives living in our community at the time of our statehood and will share old family memories from that era.
