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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page overview of the agricultural history of California. This author traces this history from the Spanish land grant to the early half of the twentieth century. Central to the tremendous development which occurred was the migrant worker, groups of which McWilliams describes as the “wake of a machine”. The industry of thousands of workers, some white, some yellow, some brown, is what has fueled California’s great corporate expansion into agriculture. It is that industry to which California should be the most beholding. The picture revealed by McWilliams, however, is not one of gratitude, it is instead one of monopolization and domination. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: AM2_PPmigrnt.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
Originally published in 1939 McWilliams "Factories in the Field" is an account of the social and environment damage wielded in the wake of the expansion of corporate agriculture into
California. Beginning with the scandals of the Spanish land grant purchases and continuing through the first three decades of the twentieth century, McWilliams paints a picture of the grim
experiences of the various ethnic groups who have been exploited by Californias agricultural industry. This picture includes the more commonly acknowledged workers such as the Chinese, the Japanese, and
the Mexicans, as well as lesser known groups such as the Filipinos and the Armenians. It etches the hardships of the Great Depression and the turbulent periods of labor
unrest deeply into out social cognizance. Interestingly, McWilliams "Factories in the Field" was published just a couple of months after John Steinbecks fictional
account of this same era in "The Grapes of Wrath". McWilliams account, however, is far removed from fiction. McWilliams provides both a factual and chronological account of this
most interesting time in history. What is revealed is that corporate agriculture in California has not always comprised the major industry which it comprises today. This utilization of
western lands actually didnt start until relatively recently in U.S. history, in fact. It is a history, however, which dates back to Spanish ownership of these western lands.
McWilliams illuminates the fact that prior to 1848 and the transition of the Spanish holdings in the Southwest to the United States
it was common practice for the Spanish crown to grant land to individuals, communities and parishes. With the Treaty of Guadelupe Hildalgo, signed on February 2, 1848, Mexico ceded
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