About This Event
California’s history is enjoying constant, dynamic reinvention, as fresh discoveries and innovative research reveal new perspectives on the past and challenge old presumptions. This course will explore the drama of California history from the profoundly consequential discovery of gold in 1848 to the early 20th century. Themes will include the distinctiveness of Gold Rush society and culture, the emergence of Barbary Coast San Francisco, and the consequences for California Native Americans. The course will also explore new perspectives on the development of the transcontinental railroad and the machinations of the Big Four railroad tycoons, the originality and vibrancy of California’s Gilded Age cultural life, the catastrophic earthquake and fire of 1906 and the remarkable recovery that followed, and the dramatic emergence of California as a distinctive regional culture in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.
About This Event
California’s history is enjoying constant, dynamic reinvention, as fresh discoveries and innovative research reveal new perspectives on the past and challenge old presumptions. This course will explore the drama of California history from the profoundly consequential discovery of gold in 1848 to the early 20th century. Themes will include the distinctiveness of Gold Rush society and culture, the emergence of Barbary Coast San Francisco, and the consequences for California Native Americans. The course will also explore new perspectives on the development of the transcontinental railroad and the machinations of the Big Four railroad tycoons, the originality and vibrancy of California’s Gilded Age cultural life, the catastrophic earthquake and fire of 1906 and the remarkable recovery that followed, and the dramatic emergence of California as a distinctive regional culture in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.