...1821 Mexico gained independence from Spain and "Alta California" became a Mexican province rather than a Spanish colony. A new era began in California as ranch life flourished and American trappers began to enter the territory. The Mexican government secularized the missions in 1834 and they were eventually abandoned. In June 1846 a party of settlers occupied Sonoma Plaza and proclaimed a Republic of California and raised the bear flag in rebellion. Known as the Bear Flag Revolt, this insurrection represented one of the first aggressive actions that divided California from Mexico. In 1848 gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill and dramatically altered the course of California's history as miners rushed into the area. On September 9, 1850, California became a state. The Gold Rush brought thousands of immigrants, both foreign and domestic, to California. This and later mass migrations, combined with the state's natural riches, assured Calfornia's success as it developed its diversified agriculture and industry, fisheries, forestry, and mining industries, aircraft plants and shipyards, tourism and recreation, the film industry, and the technological sector epitomized by Silicon Valley (highlighted in another National Register itinerary: Santa Clara County: California's Historic Silicon Valley). More than 90,000 people made their way to California in the two years following the first discovery and more than 300,000 by 1854 — or one of about every 90 people then living in the United...
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...Task 1-A One significant environmental factor that contributed to the development of human society was the availability of an abundant supply of water, as provided by the rivers that helped contribute to the ancient civilization in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia, the area presently know as Iraq, is referred to as the “land between the rivers” (Hollar, 2011). In approximately 3300 BC, the people known as the Sumerians settled into an area known as the Plain of Shintar. In this area where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers converged, there was an amazing and consistent supply of water, which helped these people develop their way of life (Hollar, 2011). The largely watered area gave way to an abundant amount of rich soil. This soil provided the ability to build houses and create irrigation systems. These tasks required cooperation among the settlers, leading to the growth of their newly established government. The soil also allowed the Sumerians to benefit from the their agriculture. The first grown items were barley, emmer, olives, grapes and flax (Hollar, 2011). Task 1-B The process of the diffusion of tea between early human societies began as early as the first century AD. The origin of tea is not historically clear, although it is said to have originated in China (Saberi, 2010). Initially, tea was used for the treatment of various ailments, such as stomach problems and other illnesses (Saberi, 2010). During the Tang dynasty from 618-907 AD, tea earned the reputation of being refreshing...
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...Proxy Data Through Clues and Similarities of Physical Characteristics By Shelly Kniss Geog 178 Significant changes have been occurring in Earths’ climate history. Humans as an apex species are very prosperous in their adaptation of the world around and the world they have created. Past practices of this adaptation are now catching up with them. And to further the acknowledgment of the contributions to the rapid and increasing changes of Earth’s climate, paleoclimatologists survey and analyze these natural phenomena. Looking for clues and similarities to the vacillating conditions we see throughout the world. The West without Water by B. Lynne Ingram and Frances Malamud-Roam convey (even to the most novice naturalist)...
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...1950s. The advent of inexpensive motorized lawn mowers and fertilizing chemicals made lawns a reality for the middle class. America has over 50,000 square miles of grass in cultivation. Now in 2014, California is facing a drought like none seen before in modern times. Crops are withering, lakes are running dry, fires are catching everywhere and yet, around every corner, I see manicured lawns. Vast expanses of nothing but healthy, beautiful, allergy inducing grass. It’s irresponsible, and harmful to our environment and economy. The 2013-14 rainfall season is on track to be the driest in 434 years, according to Lynn Ingram, a paleo-climatologist at UC Berkley. The concern generated by this drought brought together a group of emergency planners and water managers for an event known as the “California Drought Outlook Forum” on February, 20 2014 in Sacramento, California. They determined that the water outlook for the state was similar to the droughts in the 1970s. However, our water obligations have increased greatly in the following decades. Marty Hoering of the NOAA states, “The stress created by the current failed rains is more severe than for similar rainfall deficits 40 years earlier.” The central focus for this concern is the substantial agricultural business that California sustains, from avocados to almonds to pistachios, a number of crops are grown in California’s fertile central valleys. A recent report estimated that indirect and direct losses to agriculture would amount...
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...In discussion of the crisis of the drought, one controversial issue has been the conflict between water reductions. On the one hand, Justin Sullivan argues that this drought has been a difficult burden since people will argue about who cuts more of their water usage. He states, “People will say, ‘What about the farmers?’ Farmers will say, ‘What about the people who water their lawns”. As we all know outdoor use of water wastes much more water that is not even necessary. Some examples include: watering lawns, washing cars, watering gardens, and cemeteries over watering their grass. Sullivan argued that Mr. Brown stated that California would enforce these water restrictions and have a 25 percent cut in water consumption. People should value the importance of water and it should not be wasted on the contrary, it should be used in only the most necessary things. On the other hand, Damon Winter contends that the 25 percent of water reduction does not apply to farms and they are the ones who consume a great amount of the state’s water. Others like for example Mark Hertsgaard, maintain that the water is priced more cheaply than it should be; therefore, it encourages over consumption which leads people to waste water. My own view of this drought is if we the people don’t make changes and save water the drought will eventually worsen since their won’t be any people cooperating and trying to make a difference. When it comes to the topic of who has the right of using most of the state’s...
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...now known as the Gold Rush. After President James K Polk validated claims of gold found in California, the rush began (PBS, 2006). Tales of riches to be had from the mining of gold caused massive amounts of people from all over the United States and beyond to migrate into California. The chance of making a better life from the easy money that could be made from the gold was, to many irresistible. According to Eyewitness to History, the population in San Francisco, California rose from seventy-nine buildings in April 1847 to about one hundred thousand buildings by December of 1849 (“The California Gold Rush”, 2003). As California was not yet a part of the United States this significant increase in population could have only helped to insure California be included into the United States and allow the United States expand its borders. Gold was just one of many reasons for some people to migrate out west, fertile farmland was another. People are always looking for a chance to have a better life and this is no different from those farmers who migrated into the western plains. Farmers began to clear the land and the wheat that they had planted began to rise in value so much that even more land was cleared and more farming was done. That is until in 1931 when after the land had been overly farmed, a massive drought occurred (“The Dust Bowl,” n.d.). Because of the drought the crops began to wither and die and the soil began to erode. This loss in money from selling...
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...plants, houses, and artificial recreation areas. By people settling on this area they have used a large amount of resources the river offers. Some of the problems the creation of this plumbing system has cause is it has wreaked havoc on the river resulting in most of the native fish are endangered, that major bird migration stops are severely truncated and degraded, that some of the most spectacular scenery in the world is less spectacular, and that the national and world economies are at risk. One of the problems identified by the Colorado River Task Force is that the current usage of the Colorado Rivers unsustainable. The existing plumbing system is vulnerable to natural events, such as drought or earthquakes. Reconstructed histories of the region strongly suggest that prolonged droughts, several times longer than those experienced in the last 150 years, are real, although irregular, features of...
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...Major Water Scarcity in California And it’s Effect on the American South West This essay explains the lack of precipitation in South West America and its effects on California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. It also explores the numerous alternatives that could be used in order to solve this water crisis. The cause of the drought in California is the lack of snowfall in the Rocky Mountains, which caused the river to evaporate. As temperatures are rising, it causes water to evaporate and dry out soil that we need to plant crops. Authorities are reducing the flow from Colorado’s two reservoirs, Lake Powell, which supplies the upper Colorado Basin, and Lake Mead, which supplies Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Evidence suggests “For the...
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...Themes in U.S. and World History GKE Task 1 Geography and the Development and Diffusion of Human Societies A. One significant physical geographic factor that contributed to the development of Mesopotamia was the location of, and access to, the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, as well as their tributaries. Located in a region known as the “Fertile Crescent”, Mesopotamia was able to utilize these rivers for transportation and irrigation of crops. As a result of flooding by the Euphrates, large silt deposits provided rich soil and promoted the cultivation of emmer, barley, beans, olives, grapes and flax. In turn, these harvested crops provided not just food for the farmers but also served as a trade medium with nomadic tribes in the area. Because of the availability of water and rich soils, the area was attractive to settlement and communities developed. The clay soil also was an excellent material for the production of bricks which were used to build more permanent structures. In order to divert the waters, irrigation canals were dug and dams were built. The need for cooperation between individuals in order to complete some of the larger irrigation and flood control projects led to the growth of government and the establishment of laws. None of this would have been possible without the presence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. B. The diffusion of the chariot between societies came about primarily due to its primary designed purpose. The original purpose of the...
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...California is experiencing a major drought that has continued on from climate change. Like Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board said, (“ In the cities of a changed California, brown is the new green”). People are having to change their lifestyles because of this, such as giving some of their lawn away to be able to sustain droughts. Basically, trading their regular grass for artifical turf. It’s a sad sight, when people of the areas see people and companies growing things that use so much of their water. Their water supply has been cut down (according to the natives of California) by farmers using it to grow almonds, alfalfa, and even raising cattle. Growing alfalfa (“consumes about 20 percent of the states...
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...This year, California is experiencing its worst drought ever recorded in history. “The drought is so dire that experts are considering adding a fifth level to the four-tiered drought scale” (Hamblin, 3). Due to the constant dry heat during the winter and the rise of global warming, California’s water supplies has become limited. In California, there are three major water sources that they use: snowpack, reservoirs, and groundwater. “This year the snowpack is at a record low, just 5 percent of normal. Reservoirs are doing a bit better, at about two-thirds of normal. Groundwater has made up some of the difference, and is being pumped at a rate thirty-four percent above normal” (Holthaus, 2). As a result of over-pumping, the integrity of the...
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...all: sadness. The Dust Bowl occurred in the 1930's and was a time of great depression when droughts had struck the Great Plains in America. These droughts dramatically effected farmers in Oklahoma and Texas, and other neighboring areas, and eventually lead to farmers being forced off of their land in search of work in the West (“History”). These farmers who migrated to the West were formally known as “Okies”, a nickname given to them by Californians. Therefore, the Okies played a significant role during the dust bowl due to the incredible amounts of people who migrated to places, such as California, the hardships they experienced during the Dust Bowl era, and the long journey it took to find work in the West. Certainly, Okies experienced the most heartache and difficulties during the period of the severe droughts that struck America. Something that really catches the eye...
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...Meghan Fletcher GKE1 February 12, 2014 Task 1 The Mesopotamian society was influenced by many factors. The most significant factors that contributed to the development of Mesopotamian society were the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. Virtually every aspect of Mesopotamian life was influenced by the presence of these two rivers. From the beginning, the Mesopotamian’s had to develop an irrigation system so they could better utilize the river’s water. From this point, water from these rivers became the building blocks their society was built upon. “The soil itself is largely a gift of the rivers, which deposit tremendous quantities of silt on their lower course and in the northern part of the Persian Gulf.” (Hollar, 2011) The soil consisted of clay and silt, the Mesopotamian’s then used the clay from the soil to make bricks to build houses out of. Crops flourished due to the rich soil, the irrigation system put into place by the Mesopotamians, making them a self-sustaining agricultural society. French fries, mashed potatoes, tater tots and hash browns: potatoes are a main staple in America and many other countries. They are found in almost every country in the world and date back to ancient Andean society. As the Incan Empire grew, it absorbed the nearby Andean Society, as well as their use of potatoes. When the Spanish conquered the Incan empire, they discovered the many uses of potatoes. The Spanish Explorers then brought them back to Spain. The Spanish then cultivated potatoes...
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...Farmers across the nation, primarily along the west coast, are dealing with some form of financial decline due to soil erosion, drought, and costs to income ratios. The cultivation of hemp will restore our economy and environment. In the article titled “The Forgotten History of Hemp,” author Jack Herer claims that: Farming only six percent of continental US acreage with hemp could end America’s dependence on fossil fuels. Capable of producing ten tons of biomass per acre in four months without chemical fertilizers, hemp-energy farms could return billions of dollars’ worth of natural resource potential back to the farmers and bring millions of jobs back to America’s heartland. (Herer) The cultivation itself helps farmers, as no chemicals...
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...more tornados, typhoons and hurricanes over the past few years. And the most predominant effect, Increased Drought and Famine, where although much of the impact from climate change and its effects on water is related to the increase in storms and coastal flooding described above, one thing a lot of people don’t realize is that there is an associated change in the distribution of water on the planet overall. Some areas get too much water, but some aren’t getting enough , leading to the increase of drought and famine. Scientist’s studies shows that Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is released into the atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels, oil, coal and gas, which traps heat and acts like a blanket to warm the planet. The more gas we emit into the air, the more heat is trapped, which means the earth gets hotter and hotter. The importance of this is crucial because the hotter the world gets, the faster the world dries up and soon we will be in the worst drought ever. There are many things that needs to be done on a government level to help fix Global Warming like reduce the use of fossil fuels and its carbon dioxide emissions. To me, either idea is great, its just about are we willing to do it and keep it up. California’s drought is another effect situation that’s crucial, due to Global Warming. Heat from the trapped gases causes dryness of the world. Honestly, you can’t fix the drought situation,...
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