LOS ANGELES — While the East Coast was shaped by English settlers, in California, Spanish-speaking families influenced the state’s policies.

What You Need To Know

  • The land originally home to the Tongva indigenous tribe, was then given to Juan Jose Dominguez by the King of Spain for being part of the Spain colonialization

  • The rancho era created a unique Californio culture that influenced Southern California

  • The Rancho San Pedro is the largest and oldest existing grant left in the family of the original grantees

  • Descendant of the Dominguez family, Manuel Dominguez and 47 other delegates from throughout California signed California’s State Constitution

The land originally home to the Tongva indigenous tribe was then given to Juan Jose Dominguez by the King of Spain for being one of the 62 Spanish soldiers who came to the Los Angeles region along with Catholic missionaries as part of the Spanish colonization of the United States. 

As the years passed, change came, but the Spanish-style house the Dominguez family built still stands. 

“This house has seen three different changes of political and administration, from the Spanish government to the Mexican government to even a one month stint by the California Bear Flag, and now the United States,” said Celeste Hernandez, Executive Director of the Dominguez Rancho Museum.

The impact of this family expanding to the nearby university, Cal State Dominguez Hills, where Professor of History, Andrea Johnson, teaches how the changes the Dominguez Family lived through tell a story of identity. 

“We always need to talk about what does it mean to be Californian or what does it mean to be American? And I would say that the folks in the 1840s and the 1850s are trying to figure this out. And Manuel Dominguez was part of these conversations,” said Johnson. 

That identity question remains today, as immigrants navigate assimilation. 

“The guys who were there signing the California state constitution, were largely from California. And that’s not necessarily an identity that we see around today. They were proud of their Spanish heritage, their Mexican heritage. They were friendly, but they were also fine with coming over to the American side as well and navigated that quite deftly,” said Johnson. 

And it says that history also influences how Californians react to immigration policies. 

“Even some of the most conservative folks in California will see things like immigration differently than some of the more conservative people in parts of the rest of the United States. Because our life and the way we live and the way that we all benefit from this is very different than folks in other parts of the U.S.,” said Johnson.