Decline of the Californios: A Social History of the Spanish-Speaking Californias, 1846-1890 [Paperback]

Leonard Pitt (Author), Ramon A. Gutierrez (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520219589 | ISBN-13: 978-0520219588 | Publication Date: June 8, 1999 | Edition: 1

In his enduring study of Spanish-speaking Californians--a group that includes both native-born Californians, or Californios, and immigrants from Mexico--Leonard Pitt charts one of the earliest chapters in the state's ethnic history, and, in the process, he sheds light on debates and tensions that continue to this day. In a new foreword for this edition, Ramón A. Gutiérrez discusses the shaping and reception of the book and also views this classic work in light of recent scholarship on California and ethnic history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Focuses on the circumstances that caused the native-born Californians, or Californios, to lose numerical supremacy, land, political influence, and cultural dominance, and become a disadvantaged social group. It is the story of the decline but no less of the . . . perseverance of a subgroup which in the twentieth century was transformed into the largest minority in the Far West--the Mexican-Americans."--"Choice

From the Inside Flap

"Decline of the Californios is one of those rare works that first gained fame for its pathbreaking and original nature, but which now maintains its status as a classic of California and ethnic history."--Douglas Monroy, author of Thrown among Strangers

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Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (June 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520219589
• ISBN-13: 978-0520219588
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #412,324 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic California - Here We Come!, December 27, 2000

By 

B. J Wilson (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Decline of the Californios: A Social History of the Spanish-Speaking Californias, 1846-1890 (Paperback)

Pitt's history of the decline of the Californios is an extremely important record of California's past. Few contemporary Californian's are familiar with the rugged settlers who came to this place and created a society of their own. Largely abandoned by the Spanish and then Mexican overseers, robbed by the invading Americanos, the Californios left their indelible mark upon us. their influence is subtle now, but we still live in the various "ranchos" they founded and ranched. This is a very accessible and well-written piece of scholarship. It is simple enough to qualify as a popular history, well researched enough to be taken seriously in academia.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting revelation of the altering of history starting in the 60's, August 15, 2009

By 

Gary L. Bishop "Pawnable" (Pacific Palisades, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Decline of the Californios: A Social History of the Spanish-Speaking Californias, 1846-1890 (Paperback)

The new introduction by Gutierrez and myopic views of Americano "robbery" are more indicative of the current state of mind than reflective of Leonard Pitt's original assessment. The Californios were colorful, benevolent, brutal and highly racist. Yet, much current commentary attempts unsuccessfully to lay their demise at the feet of unfettered white expansionism. Pitt's own Preface states, "...the Spanish and Mexican Californians were numerically too small and culturally too backward to contribute to mankind much that was new or original." This along with the book was written in 1966, while Gutierrez' 1998 Foreword asserts the book is "brutally honest about Anglo discrimination toward ethnic Mexicans." To fully understand this bias, one should read Pio Pico's Historical Narrative. Pico, himself a Californio and the last Mexican Governor of Alta California, tells a harrowing tale of helping his sister elope with an Anglo American in the 1830s, because the Mexican Government, administered locally by Californios, forbade the wedding on grounds of the Anglo's race. Pico also provides great recollections of the Californios' whippings, incarcerations and executions of the native tribes of California whose residency predates the Spanish and the Mexicans. Serious historians of this era will also be aware of the New Spain policy of "stamping" every individual by race (quatroons, mulattoes, etc.) - a policy adopted by the emergent Mexican "republic," and hence the Californios, after its independence from Spain. In the 19th century it was common for any nation and/or race to promulgate the fortunes of its own. Certainly the Anglo-Americans did that, also certain is that the Californios did as well. Pitt was balanced in these facts, Gutierrez, and current PC-oriented commentary does a disservice painting these tough, rugged Rancheros as docile victims. Andres Pico showed that at the Battle of San Pasqual they would fight hard and kill Anglos, which they did, to save their hegemony over Alta California, hoping to preserve their own brand of discrimination.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Decline of the Californios: A Social History of the Spanish-Speaking Californias, 1846-1890, September 5, 2005

By 

Kat Kansas "Kitty" (KS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Decline of the Californios: A Social History of the Spanish-Speaking Californias, 1846-1890 (Paperback)

Wonderful genealogical source for those with ties to the "Californios"...great reading for anyone interested in early California history as well.