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1. The Early History of California Cultural and Musical Life California’s population exploded during each of its boom periods, as immigrants from all over the world converged there in pursuit of the California dream, based half on truth and half on myth, of a land abundant in wealth and possibilities. The histories of the various groups who migrated to California from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century were marred by conflicts between the old and new arrivals. The construction of culture involved the demarcation, reinforcement, and transgression of boundaries between the various constituencies, as Californians defined themselves as much by their differentiation from the other occupants of the increasingly crowded cultural space as by their affirmative claim on particular value systems. From the very beginning, prevailing aesthetic and ideological currents showed signs of polarization: between those of the northern and southern parts of the state, the Anglo majority and ethnic minorities, and the establishment and the counterculture that began to emerge at the turn of the century. By the 1920s, California was already outdistancing most of the country in population growth and cultural endowments. Cultural foundations in Los Angeles and San Francisco were laid piecemeal throughout the second half of the nineteenth century; in the twentieth century, public and private expenditures in the cultural arena surged, overtaking those of older American cities in a few giant strides. During the many boom and bust economic cycles of the region, capital accumulated in the hands of a few who determined the allocation of funding for the arts. In order to solidify their social positions and improve their cities’ images, the newly minted elite lavished large sums of money and energy into the construction of institutions for the propagation of highbrow culture, such as universities and concert halls. These institui -xii_1-192_Yang.indd 11 1/7/08 9:51:59 AM 12 california polyphony tions were not impervious, however, to the intellectual and aesthetic trends shaped by the various subcultures and countercultures that thronged in the western frontier lands. By the mid-twentieth century, Californians could hear symphonies and operas performed at the highest caliber alongside a fare of avant-garde music that worked to subvert elitist ideals of bourgeois gentility. Gleaming new concert halls—designed to be the exclusive and hallowed domains of high art for the white upper crust—showed fissures from the start, letting in snatches of the colorful and chaotic urban life outside their walls. Immigration and Growth, 1848–1945 From the beginning of European settlement, racially motivated violence and rivalries made their impact felt in the political and cultural life of the region. Since Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo’s sighting of Los Angeles, the Spanish had established twenty-one missions, four presidios, and two pueblos along the entire Californian coastline between 1769 and 1823. Although the missions were fairly prosperous, given the productivity of native labor, the Spanish did not settle in California in significant numbers. After winning independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico gained control of California and the southwestern states but in 1848 lost the war against the United States and ceded its territories in North America. Against the overwhelming migration of Anglo Americans, the Californios—as the Hispanics and mestizos living in California in the pre-American era were called—eventually lost their sizable fortunes. The region catapulted into the American era, with different rules and a new power structure.1 The gold rush unleashed a massive wave of immigration into California from all corners of the world. Following President James Polk’s State of the Union message of December 1848 confirming the discovery of gold, California was deluged by 90,000 Americans and foreigners from Latin America, Europe, and Asia. The population exploded from 15,000 in the beginning of 1848 to 224,435 only three years later.2 Lawlessness soon ran rampant in the mines. The presence of foreigners increased and intensified the conflicts that naturally arose within a society founded on greed. The early Californians successfully mounted a campaign to make life in the mines miserable for nonwhites. The California legislature enacted the foreign miners’ license tax, which levied heavy monthly fines on noncitizens. With nonwhites barred from testifying in the court of law, white miners could and did victimize and loot nonwhite miners with impunity. Native Americans, suffering from disease, malnutrition, overwork, and violence inflicted upon them by Amerii -xii_1-192_Yang.indd 12 1/7/08 9:51:59 AM [3.138.200.66] Project MUSE (2024-04...

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