| Book Review | The Western Historical Quarterly, 38.2

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| Book Review | The Western Historical Quarterly, 38.2 | The History Cooperative

This Small City Will Be a Mexican Paradise: Exploring the Origins of Mexican Culture in Los Angeles, 1821–1846. By Michael J. González. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2005. x + 254 pp. Notes, bibliography, index. $22.95, paper.)
Michael González contends the Mexican citizens of Los Angeles embraced liberal ideas and customs because they feared their indigenous neighbors. He suggests the focus on liberalism forced citizens to distance themselves from and commit violence against Indians. "Once the Indian died or kneeled in submission, the angeleños could seek some tie to Mexico." Thus, "Mexico, often in the form of liberal appeals, lifted the angeleños out of their isolation ..." (p. 188). The author challenges the leading historians of the Mexican era who argue Californios were dissatisfied with a disinterested, incompetent, and distant central government.	1
Alta California, with its twenty-one Catholic missions and a few scattered towns, had to rely on the industry and martial abilities of its meager population. Settled in 1781, Los Angeles never exceeded three thousand citizens before American conquest. According to González, Angeleños aspired for the ideal hombre nuevo (the new man), who made his way through talent and hard work, restraint and respect, rather than seeking status based on caste, color, and tradition.	. . .

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