The late 19th century saw a surge of people settling in Los Angeles, California. This was largely due to the discovery of gold in 1848, which prompted Americans to flock to the area. In 1851, the city published its first newspaper, and by 1870, the population had grown to 5,614.Los Angeles was officially declared a city by the Mexican Congress in 1835, and Governor Pedro Fages laid out instructions for the Los Angeles People's Body Guard in 1787.The Los Angeles River in Long Beach can swell to the size of the Mississippi River in St. Louis during storms.
The settlement was founded by Mexican families from Sonora, but it was named by the Spanish governor of California. During World War II, Los Angeles became a hub for aircraft, ships, war supplies and ammunition production. The first racially restrictive pact in Los Angeles dates back to 1902 and used the term “non-Caucasian” to prevent people of color from living in that home. The Japanese had plans to bomb Los Angeles with giant seaplanes as part of their proposed full-scale invasion of the continental United States.
By the late 1840s, El Pueblo had become the largest city in California and continued to grow. Restricting people of color from certain neighborhoods resulted in multiracial neighborhoods forming. Historian Antonio Rios-Bustamate noted that among the 44 people living there at the time were those of Spanish, Mexican, American Indian and African descent. At the same time that the Los Angeles Times was encouraging growth in the city, it was also trying to make it a union-free zone with stores open all hours.
During periods of low rainfall, people built too close to the riverbed and saw their homes and barns swept away during floods. The Japanese-American community in Los Angeles has been greatly affected since Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Despite Californians idealizing their state's 19th century Mexican heritage, they largely ignored the everyday issues faced by Mexican Californians today.
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