rated in the constitution, are both a valuable
measure of the degree of intelligence at that time, and an indication of
what men considered important in the problems of the day. The
constitution itself was one of the best of the thirty-one state
constitutions that then existed. Though almost every provision in it was
copied from some other instrument, the choice was good. A provision
prohibiting slavery was carried by a unanimous vote. When the convention
adjourned, the new commonwealth was equipped with all the necessary
machinery for regular government.[3]

[3: The constitution was ratified by popular vote, November 13, 1849;
and the machinery of state government was at once set in motion, though
the State was not admitted into the Union until September 9. 1850.]

It is customary to say that the discovery of gold made the State of
California. As a matter of fact, it introduced into the history of
California a new solvent, but it was in no sense a determining factor in
either the acquisition or the assuring of the American hold. It must not
be forgotten that a rising tide of American immigration had already set
in. By 1845 the white population had increased to about eight thousand.
At the close of hostilities it was estimated that the white population
had increased to somewhere between twelve and fifteen thousand. Moreover
this immigration, though established and constantly growing, was by no
means topheavy. There was plenty of room in the north for the Americans,
and they were settling there peaceably. Those who went south generally
bought their land in due form. They and the Californians were getting on
much better than is usual with conquering and conquered peoples.

But the discovery of gold upset all this orderly development. It wiped
out the usual evolution. It not only swept aside at once the antiquated
Mexican laws, but it submerged for the time being the first stirrings of
the commonwealth toward due convention and legislation after the
American pattern. It produced an interim wherein the only law was that
evolved from men's consciences and the Anglo-Saxon instinct for order.
It brought to shores remote from their native lands a cosmopolitan crew
whose only thought was a fixed determination to undertake no new
responsibilities. Each man was living for himself. He intended to get
his own and to protect his own, and he cared very little for the
difficulties of his neighbors. In other words, the discovery of gol