The History Of Los Angeles

It’s hard to imagine a city with secrets, especially one as candid as Los Angeles. Founded by Mexican and Spanish settlers, and along with the rest of the United States, once occupied by Native Americans, the history of Los Angeles seems like a clean cut history of cultivating a heap of land into a bustling city. What is failed to be mentioned is the treatment of those who did the labor, including their conditions and constant struggle with inequality in an era thought to of ended slavery.

Addressing and understanding the history most natives to SoCal have of Los Angeles plays a large part in why we tend to forget what we were built upon. Also known back then as El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porcincula, LA was first

With an ever-growing population, an aqueduct was built to provide water. Soon after in 1913, Cecil B. DeMille hired a barn in the suburb called Hollywood for film making. This sparked a new future for Los Angeles, a future that also included activism. During the 20th century came many riots, including the Zoot Suit riots in which Mexicans were attacked, riots in 1965 which resulted in 34 deaths, and the 1992 Rodney King riots which resulted in 58 deaths occurred. In 1994 Los Angeles suffered from the Northridge earthquake but recovered quickly, minus the lives lost and the billions of dollars in damage. Today the population is at 4 million and continues to flourish economically and industrially.

LA has remained the symbol of an ever growing and changing city. When researching the history of Los Angeles most sources I came across focused almost entirely on the improvement and expansion. I found it odd how little I knew about how and why Los Angeles was built as opposed to which events changed its environment and communities

Native American Californians were grouped into 2 categories, the first being wild Indians- those who lived outside of the town, and if encountered with must be killed immediately. The other group, Christianized Indians, whom were referred to as “tame Indians” or “mission Indians” were used for cheap labor. During the 1850s, Angelenos used the Mission Indians through indentured servitude, using alcohol as an incentive. This system provided cheap labor for the town and in turn was in the midst of destroying the Natives