Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/3076
Date of Award
6-2025
Degree Name
MA in History
Department/Program
History
College
College of Liberal Arts
Advisor
Cameron Jones
Advisor Department
History
Advisor College
College of Liberal Arts
Abstract
California has a rich and diverse history marked by various communities. From its Indigenous peoples to the significant influx of immigrants in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the state has embraced individuals from a wide range of cultures. However, one often-overlooked group is the gente de razón, or ‘people of reason,’ California’s earliest non- Indigenous settlers from Mexico in the eighteenth century. Many arrived for military service to assist Spanish missionaries, while others settled with their families, creating some of California’s vibrant towns. Despite being a smaller population compared to later immigrants, they left a lasting impact on place names, food, and culture. Recent research analyzing Spanish census records from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries reveals a compelling narrative often overshadowed by romanticized views of California’s history. Notably, many gente de razón had mixed European, African, and Indigenous Mexican heritage during an era when racial hierarchies were beginning to form in Latin America and the United States. Their relative isolation in California may have shielded them from potential discrimination, but their diverse backgrounds ultimately melded into a collective identity known as the Californios. Intriguingly, after the United States gained control of California in the mid-nineteenth century, many Californios were categorized as “White” in U. S. Census records. Given the United States’ racially motivated strategies to maintain social hierarchies concerning African-descended individuals and Indigenous populations, it is notable that many Californios actively participated in government and were integrated into the expanding United States. Their wealth as landowners may have played a role in this integration, but it ultimately underscores how race is a social construct influenced by regional and contextual factors. This thesis aims to explore why the Californios were designated as such and how their historical and societal status in California shaped their identity in relation to the evolving concept of race over time.