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88 Law. Libr. J. 488 (1996)
California Legal History: The Legal System under the United States Military Government, 1846-1849

handle is hein.journals/llj88 and id is 490 raw text is: California Legal History: The Legal System Under the United States Military Government, 1846-1849* Myra K. Saunders** Professor Saunders examines the legal system implemented in California after its occupation by the United States in 1846, but prior to statehood, and reviews the materials available for researching the legal history of this period. Introduction The legal system established by the early state legislators was not only a product of the Anglo-American legal culture in which those men were raised, but it was also a very pointed rejection of the legal systems, both Spanish- Mexican and military, that preceded statehood in California. This is the second in a series of articles that explore the legal framework of historic California and the materials available to research California legal history. The first article covered the period of Spanish and Mexican rule in California before its acquisition by the United States.1 This paper examines the legal system imple- mented after the United States occupation in 1846. It includes an annotated bibliography of materials helpful to this research. Historical Background California was first identified by the Spanish in the mid-sixteenth century, but colonization of California did not occur for more thai 125 years. Mexico (which then included California) rebelled against Spain and gained its inde- pendence in 1821. The Mexican-American War began in 1846 and the United States occupied California in July of 1846. Gold was discovered in California © Myra K. Saunders, 1996. I would like to thank Susan Westerberg Prager, Clyde Spillinger and Ward Saunders for their comments, advice, and encouragement. I would also like to thank Lori Duperon for her research assistance and all of my colleagues at the UCLA School of Law for their support of this project. Law Librarian and Assistant Professor of Law in Residence, UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, Califoinia. I. Myra K. Saunders, California LegalHistory: A Review ofCalifornia s Spanish andMexican Legal Institutions, 87 L. LaR. J. 487 (1995). There is naturally some overlap between the two periods: to reduce repetition, readers will be referred to the earlier article as appropriate.

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