California Statehood Act

An Act for the Admission of the State of California into the Union was the formal title given to the Congressional legislation passed by the 31st Congress, and signed by President Millard Fillmore on September 9, 1850, which admitted California as the 31st state to the Union. Per the terms of the Compromise of 1850, California was admitted as a free state. The Act may informally be referred to as the California Statehood Act or the California Admission Act. ==Background==

Start of Mexican-American War and Bear Flag Revolt The United States declared war on Mexico on May 13, 1846. After receiving word of the declaration of war, a force consisting mostly of American settlers in California staged a revolt on June 15, 1846 against Mexican authorities, which became known at the Bear Flag Revolt. They overwhelmed and captured the small Mexican garrison at Sonoma and declared the California Republic (Spanish: La República de California), or Bear Flag Republic, raising the original Bear State flag over the captured garrison. Their control was largely restricted to the area around Sonoma, California and lasted for 25 days. On July 5, 1846, Brevet Captain John C. Frémont assumed control of the republic's forces and integrated them into his California Battalion. Fremont and his soldiers had not participated in the revolt, though he had given his tacit approval for it. On July 9, 1846, Navy Lieutenant Joseph Warren Revere arrived in Sonoma and replaced the Bear Flag with the flag of the United States, formally declaring the United States possession of California. End of Mexican-American War The Mexican–American War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. In the treaty, Mexico ceded a large portion of northern Mexico in what is now the southwestern United States. With the acquisition of the large territory, Congress began debating how to organize it. Initially, there was no cause to rush the organization, as the territory was sparsely populated. However, with the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, California, a large migration of Americans began, as well as an influx of new immigrants from Europe and Asia seeking to find gold or provide goods and services to those seeking gold. The migration gave rise to the immediate necessity of organizing the territory to provide services such as recording land deeds and claims, providing court services and law enforcement, and organizing local governments. ==Admission debate==

The issue of the expansion or restriction of slavery was a fundamental dispute in the admission of new states to the Union since before the passage of the Missouri Compromise in 1820. The size of the California territory, its natural resources, access to the Pacific, and the speed at which the territory's population was expanding added a special urgency to organizing and admitting California into the Union. Some feared that if the United States did not act swiftly an independence movement could erupt that might sever California from the United States. A fierce debate raged over the status of California and the other territories ceded to the U.S. by Mexico for most of the 31st Congress. General Zachary Taylor, a hero of but also a staunch opponent of the Mexican War, had become President in March 1849. Although Taylor was a southern slaveowner, he believed that slavery was economically unfeasible in the acquired territories and therefore opposed the expansion of slavery as pointless and controversial, which became a serious obstacle impeding agreement in Congress on a solution to the territorial issue. In Taylor's 1849 State of the Union message to Congress, he commented extensively on the issue of California, stating in part, The extension of the coast of the United States on the Pacific and the unexampled rapidity with which the inhabitants of California especially are increasing in numbers have imparted new consequence to our relations with the other countries whose territories border upon that ocean. It is probable that the intercourse between those countries and our possessions in that quarter, particularly with the Republic of Chili, will become extensive and mutually advantageous in proportion as California and Oregon shall increase in population and wealth. … No civil government having been provided by Congress for California, the people of that Territory, impelled by the necessities of their political condition, recently met in convention for the purpose of forming a constitution and State government, which the latest advices give me reason to suppose has been accomplished; and it is believed they will shortly apply for the admission of California into the Union as a sovereign State. Should such be the case, and should their constitution be conformable to the requisitions of the Constitution of the United States, I recommend their application to the favorable consideration of Congress. The California Constitution was adopted on November 13, 1849, and Taylor submitted a proposition to admit California as a new state to Congress for debate on February 13, 1850. In a 1949 address, CA state senator Herbert Jones suggests this was done as a compromise to make the state's admission more palatable to the South, ==Texts==

Clay Resolutions On January 29, 1850, Senator Clay proposed eight resolutions to end the heated debate over the status of the territories acquired from Mexico. Congress adopted Clay's resolutions, collectively known as the Clay Resolutions, which prepared the way for the passage of the five acts making up the Compromise of 1850. The first resolution concerned the admission of California and reads as follows: Resolved, That California, with suitable boundaries, ought, upon her application to be admitted as one of the States of this Union, without the imposition by Congress of any restriction in respect to the exclusion or introduction of slavery within those boundaries. California Admission Act The California Admissions Act was the second act of the Compromise of 1850 to be passed by Congress. The text of the act contained three sections and enacted five main provisions: ==Admission==

{{Infobox holiday With the signing of the Compromise of 1850, California was formally admitted to the Union as the 31st state in the Union on September 9, 1850. The United States House of Representatives approved the bill on September 7, 1850 by a vote of 150 to 56. The United States Senate under the careful leadership of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster had previously voted on January 17, 1850 to admit California into the Union by a vote of 48 to 3 and they concurred with the House vote on September 7, 1850. The ad hoc territorial legislature, which would become the first legislature of the State of California after admission, first met on December 15, 1849, at San Jose, California. The first American governor of California was Peter Hardeman Burnett, who was inaugurated as the first civilian governor on December 20, 1849, prior to statehood, and continued in the position until January 9, 1851. The first two members from California to the United States Senate were San Franciscans John C. Fremont and William M. Gwin, both of whom were members of the Democratic Party and took their oaths of office on September 10, 1850. California Admission Day California Admission Day (September 9) is an annual legal holiday in the state, celebrated as a day of observance to commemorate its admission into the Union as the thirty-first state on that date in 1850. The city of Monterey, where the state Constitutional Convention was first held, observes this day as a City holiday, where city offices and most facilities are closed. ==Sources==