Los Angeles
Two hundred and thirty years ago, the area now knows as Los Angeles was inhabited by the Gabrielinao, a tribe of Native Americans. These generally peaceful and affable people had helped the land virtually undisturbed for centuries. The Spaniards first visited the area in 1542. More than two centuries later, on August 6, 1771, a group of soldiers, sailors, and missionaries established San Gabriel, the first European missing near present-day Los Angeles.
When the company arrived at the site, they were immediately surrounded by a party of armed Indians who they assumed to be hostile. Fearing the loss of life, a priest unveiled a canvas with a painting of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The natives were “subdued” by the image and threw down their bows and arrows along with their beads and other decorum at the feet of the painting. The incident changed the attitude of Native Americans who then welcomed the European guests to their area.
By decree California’s Spanish governor Don Felipe de Neve on September 4, 1781, the first settlement was established in the area. The founding settlement was established in the area. The founding name was el pueblo de Nuestra Senora la reina de Los Angeles, or, in English, The Town of our Lady the Queen of the Angels. The original party of colonists was composed of eleven men; three Spaniards, two blacks, two mulattos and four Indians-and their families. It is not often reported that twenty-six of the original founders were black.
Heads of households were required to be “a man of the soil, healthy, robust, and without known vice or defect.” Three families left within six months, leaving the town with a starting population of only 32. By 1790 the city had grown considerably with a total population of 141, eighty of whom were under sixteen years of age. Although no blacks were listed, the group included 22 mulattos, 1 European, 72 Spaniards, 7 Indians and 30 mestizos. The area provided a pleasant climate, adequate water and good soil. The colony grew beyond all expectations. In the 1830s, a decade after Mexico declared its independence from Spain, the population reached 1,000 making Los Angeles the largest settlement in California.
In 1846 the United States gained control of California through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. On September 9, 1850, the territory became the thirty-first state to join the union. At statehood, Los Angeles was a humble agricultural village with only 1,610 people. The town had no railroads no natural harbor and very few streets. However, this was soon the change. The gold rush in 1848 started a great migration to the northern part of California and an increased demand for the cattle raised on the rancheros around Los Angeles. From 1850 to 1860, the population of Los Angeles grew by 172 percent to 4,385. In the next decade they had a 27 percent growth to 5,728.
The result of this growth was a great deal of social unrest. Under Spanish rule, law and order were easily maintained by the church and the strong Catholic family. One traveling preacher observed, “The name of this city is in Spanish the city of Angels but with much more truth it light be called at present the city of demons.” Taking not that there was not a Protestant church or minister in the city in 1856, the Star reported the situation “presents a case of destitution, we are certain, without precedent in the state.
The Mexican/Spanish majority in California was almost totally Catholic, but Protestant Christianity made some early inroads into the state. Some of the trappers and traders who worked their way into the state were Protestant Christians, and it is interesting to note that the President of Harvard, Edward Evertt, exhorted miners to go to the West Coast “with the Bible in one hand and your New England civilization inn the other and make your mark on the people and the country.” The Los Angeles press also appealed for missionary assistance.
The California Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal church organized on April 6, 1865. California had over 4,000 “free people of color” at the time. The first AME church in the state had been dedicated in San Francisco more than a decade earlier, on February 22, 1852. The Episcopal Church and African Methodist Episcopal Zion church were also involved in early missionary work among California’s black population. It can be contended that although Los Angeles went through many changes, it remained a Mexican pueblo until the 1880s. In 1887, competition between railroads led to a rate war, causing the city to grow dramatically. Los Angeles experienced a real estate boom and completed the transition from pueblo to American city.
In 1880, the census showed 11,183 inhabitants. Because Los Angeles had a population of less than 10,000 previous to this time, governance of the city had been controlled by acts of the state legislature. By 1889 the city had drawn up its own charter and began self government. A mayor along with nine councilmen and a board of education were elected. By 1885 the population had reached over 20,000, but this was only the beginning as we all know. By the year 1890 the city was over 50,000. Only a small percentage of the city, around 1200 people was African American. Many of these had fled the oppression they had endured in the Southern States. In another ten years Los Angeles was over 100,000, and by 1910 the population was 319,000.
When the revival started on Azusa Street in April 1906, there were approximately 228,298 residents in Los Angeles. This was more than double the figures from federal census taken only is years previously. Los Angeles was the seventeenth larges city in the United States.
The population of the city is only one facet in the story of this growing, sprawling urban area. Another aspect was that it had developed a reputation for racial equality. It is accurate to note that Los Angeles was, always had been and still remains a multicultural city. It is also justified to argue that in general, African Americans were treated better in Los Angeles than they would have been in Texas or other parts of the South. But to say that there were not still obstacles to overcome at this time in our national history would be inaccurate.
It is true that the city offered more opportunities and equality, but African Americans in Los Angeles still did not have the privileges for advancement that were available to the whites. It is fair to say that a de facto segregation pervaded the city and blacks and other non-whites were often refused food in restaurants, rooms in hotels, tickets at theaters, and denied other public accommodation. They were also denied communion by religious congregations, denied affiliations by commercial organizations, and membership in metropolitan associations.
Los Angeles newspapers were filled with advertisements and cartoons that were insulting and demeaning to African Americans. There was a definite tension between the races. On April 6, 1906 a young black man named John Davis was taken into custody but he managed to run away, fearing he would be lynched. A mob of over 100 African Americans tried to prevent him from being arrested by a police detective. This event happened just days before the revival at Azusa Street broke out. In the midst of this turmoil, God sent William Seymour, a humble servant of the Lord who was larger than life, about petty strife, racial tension, and lived in a higher realm of faith, hope and love.
