Interim government of California

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The interim government of California existed from soon after the outbreak of the Mexican–American War in mid-1846 until U.S. statehood in September, 1850. There were three distinct phases:

• The first phase was from the beginning of the wartime military occupation until cession of California to the United States in 1848 by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The occupied areas included Alta California (occupied on July 7, 1846) and the Baja California Peninsula (occupied in 1847). Government during that period was essentially martial law.
• The second phase began with the 1848 cession. The area that is now the U.S. state of California became part of a U.S. territory, and the Baja peninsula was returned to Mexico. In the U.S. California, existing local government structures were largely left in place, but the military presence remained, and the military governors retained absolute authority to overrule any local decision.
• Transition to the third phase of interim government began with approval of the first California Constitution by a constitutional convention in October, 1849; followed in November by the election of the first civilian state government. The transition was completed by the handover of government from military to civilian on December 20.

The 1849 constitutional government anticipated that California's petition to be accepted as a state into the union of United States of America would soon be approved. However, although the last military governor resigned on December 20 in favor of the first elected governor, California remained a de facto quasi-state for the next nine-plus months, awaiting acceptance of the statehood petition by the U.S. Congress. The third and final interim government phase ended when Congress approved the California Statehood Act as part of the Compromise of 1850, making California the 31st state on September 9, 1850.