California Becomes a U.S. State

Setting the scene

James Marshall's 1848 gold discovery at Sutter's Mill sent hundreds of thousands rushing west; California's population exploded, demanding self-government while Congress quarreled over whether new territories would permit slavery.

What happened

California became a state on September 9, 1850, when President Millard Fillmore signed the admission bill after Henry Clay's Compromise of 1850 also toughened fugitive slave laws.

Why it still matters

It entered as a free state in the Compromise of 1850, tipping the Senate balance and accelerating transcontinental railroad dreams; California's subsequent Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and agricultural Central Valley made it the nation's most populous and economically powerful state.

Background

It entered as a free state in the Compromise of 1850.