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8
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Unit
1
Aland
of
diversity
绗竴鍗曞厓
涓�涓鍏冩枃鍖栫殑鍥藉湡
Reading
CALIFORNIA
California is the third largest state in the USA but has the largest population. It also has the distinction of being the
most
multicultural state in the USA, having
attracted people from all over the world. The customs and languages of the
immigrants live on in their new home. This diversity of culture is not surprising when you know the history of California.
NA
TIVE AMERCANS
Exactly when the first people arrived in what we now know as California, no one really knows. However, it is likely
that
Native
Americans
were
living
in
California
at
least
fifteen
thousand
years
ago.
Scientists
believe
that
these
settlers
crossed the Bering Strait in the Arctic to America by means of a land bridge which existed in prehistoric times. In the 16th
century, after the arrival of the Europeans, the native people suffered greatly. Thousands were killed or forced into slavery.
In addition, many died from the diseases brought by the Europeans. However, some survived these terrible times, and today
there are more Native Americans living in California than in any other state.
THE SPANISH
In the 18th century California was ruled by Spain. Spanish soldiers first arrived in South America in the early 16th
century, when they fought against the native people and took their land. Two centuries later, the Spanish had settled in most
parts of South America and along the northwest coast of what we now call the United States. Of the first Spanish to go to
California, the majority were religious men, whose ministry was to teach the Catholic religion to the natives. In 1821, the
people of Mexico gained their independence from Spain. California then became part of Mexico. In 1846 the United States
declared war on Mexico, and after the war won by the USA, Mexico had to give California to the USA. However, there is
still a strong Spanish influence in the state. That is why today over 40 of Californians speak Spanish as a first or second
language.
RUSSIANS
In the early 1800s, Russian hunters, who had originally gone to Alaska, began settling in California. Today there are
about 25,000 Russian
-
Americans living in and around San Francisco.
GOLD MINERS
In 1848, not long after the American
-
Mexican war, gold was discovered in California. The dream of becoming rich
quickly attracted people from all over the world. The nearest, and therefore the first to arrive, were South Americans and
people from the United States. Then adventurers from Europe and Asia soon followed. In fact, few achieved their dream of
becoming rich. Some died or returned home, but most remained in California to make a life for themselves despite great
hardship. They settled in the new towns or on farms. By the time California elected to become the thirty
-
first federal state of
the USA in 1850, it was already a multicultural society.
LATER A RRIV
ALS
Although Chinese immigrants began to arrive during the Gold Rush Period, it was the building of the rail network from
the west to the east coast that brought even larger numbers to California in the 1860s. Today, Chinese
-
Americans live in all
parts of California, although a large percentage have chosen to stay in the "Chinatowns" of Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Other immigrants such as Italians, mainly fishermen but also wine makers, arrived in California in the late 19th century.
In 1911 immigrants from Denmark established a town of their own, which today still keeps up their Danish culture. By the
1920s the film industry was well established in Hollywood, California. The industry boom attracted Europeans including
many Jewish people. Today California has the second largest Jewish population in the United States.Japanese farmers began
arriving in California at the beginning of the 20th century, and since the 1980s a lot more have settled there. People from
Africa have been living in California since the 1800s, when they moved north from Mexico. However, even more arrived
between 1942 and 1945 to work in the ship and aircraft industries.
MOST RECENT ARRIV
ALS
In
more
recent
decades,
California
has
become
home
to
more
people
from
Asia,
including
Koreans,
Cambodians,