2. 1908 Josiah Royce, Publishes Race questions Provincialism, and Other American Problems.
He states that US Americans feel the human need for community, And in an ever more global world, they
cling to their state hoods as a form of Identity.
The Literature of California in the 1850’s was characterized by humor history and memoir: in
the 1860s by local color literary journalism and poetry and the 1870’s witnessed a continuation of these
genres, with emphasis on nature writing closely connected with geology and economic essays. In the
70s and 80s there was efflorescence of historical writings promotional literature and the first instances of
long fiction.
Through the 70s southern California was relatively unsettled. In 1870 a railroad from
San Francisco made it to LA. Soon after infrastructure followed. From the 1880s to the 1900s So Cal would
under go a change and would be inspired by Mediterranean architecture and layout.
At the end of the 1800s, northern California was a national leader in wheat production. In the
south citrus, vineyards and other forms of intensive agriculture. Capable of being started by the middle class
on little land and at the same time aesthetically shaping the land.
Mass transportation in the 1900’s helped LA boom. In ten years the population surged.
Railroad companies dominated politics and the rights to the land and often forced ranchers to foreclose by
raising the price per acre drastically.
In 1906 a 8.6 magnitude earthquake destroyed much of California’s infrastructure.
And the following years would hold the key to developing an infrastructure for a super state.
6 HIGER PROVINCIALISM
3. The first Forty years of statehood saw California organize its political and socioeconomic
structures and lay the foundations of its built environment.
Inits second forty years as a state the public works infrastructure of California was established.
The dams, aqueducts, reservoirs, power plants, industrial sites, bridges, roadways, public
buildings, and stadiums created served the growing population of the state.
Earlyengineers used the Colorado river to irrigate the southern half of California.
As aqueducts were built to the small towns they boomed into productive cities.
Through the early 1900s the population steadily grew
Most of the immigrants were white from the Midwest, but California had a diverse population.
During the prosperity of the 1920s California embarked on many ambitious construction
projects.
Even during the depression California continued to expand and improve its infrastructure.
Growing numbers of automobiles in California increased the demand for improvements to the
Roadways
Many of the bridges in the bay area were built to facilitate this need.
GREAT EXPECTAIONS
