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California and Texas
The Golden State and The Lone Star State, and there are important reasons why the two
have those nicknames.
More on that later.
Anyway, the two big ones.
Sure, Alaska is quite a bit bigger than both of them in terms of actual size, but both
have a higher population than any other state in these United States.
California has the highest population, and has around 10 million more people than Texas.
Still, Texas is one of the fastest growing states in the country.
And more folks are moving to the two than most other states.
The channel The World According to Briggs has just released a video going over how and
why so many have moved to California and Texas.
Be sure to check it out when you’re done watching this one.
While many Texans have moved to California in recent years, more Californians have moved
to Texas than any other state.
And while you could fit more than two Texases into Alaska, you can almost fit two Californias
into Texas.
How big is Texas?
El Paso, Texas is closer to San Diego, California, than it is to Houston, Texas..
How big is Texas?
There’s a ranch there bigger than the state of Rhode Island.
Ok, I’ll stop the how big is Texas stuff.
Being the two states with the most people and the two biggest economies, both heavily
influence the rest of the country, and I’ve noticed the trash talking between the two
has only gotten worse recently.
However, based on my research, it seems to be mostly Texans talking trash on all those
Californians moving to their beloved state.
Yeah, even the Texas governor has been in on the trash talking.
But perhaps Texas has more in common with California than most would assume.
First of all, both are so big they are hard to stereotype, even though I’d argue the
two are more stereotyped than any other states.
East Texas has more in common with Louisiana than El Paso, and El Paso arguably has more
in common with New Mexico than East Texas, but then go up to the upper Panhandle and
it feels like Kansas.
Even the four biggest metro areas in Texas- Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and
Austin, seem radically different from one another.
And California, first of all the major coastal cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and
San Diego, are dramatically different from any other part of the state, especially Northern
California and the Central Valley.
North of Sacramento is more culturally similar to Eastern Oregon than the rest of the state,
and the Central Valley could be mistaken for the Midwest at first glance.
Here’s a map of all the big regions in California.
Enough said.
Both border Mexico, and both have a nearly identical percentage of residents who identify
as either Hispanic or Latino (C- 39.3%, T- 39.6%) More on why that is in a bit.
And yeah, a lot of folks in both are bilingual.
Around 29% of Californians speak Spanish, whereas around 30% of Texans speak Spanish.
Both are ethnically diverse states overall.
Around 12% of Texans identify as African American, and 14.5% of Californians identify as Asian American.
A higher percentage of Californians were born in a foreign country.
Both have about the same crime rate.
Both have lots of beaches since both border huge bodies of water.
California, the Pacific Ocean.
Texas, the Gulf of Mexico.
Both have lots of palm trees.
Lots of people flock to both for their relatively mild climates, and yes both are part of the
Sun Belt, an area across the Southern United States known for milder weather and huge population
growth since the 1960s.
Shall I remind you that I made a video about the Sun Belt?
I made a video about the Sun Belt.
But don’t be fooled by those beautiful climates.
Both have to regularly deal with natural disasters.
California has to worry more about earthquakes and volcanoes, while Texas has to worry about
hurricanes and tornadoes.
California sits along the infamous Ring of Fire, an area where lots of earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions tend to occur.
What causes those earthquakes?
The San Andreas Fault going straight through the state.
It also even has three volcanoes considered a “very high threat” by the federal government.
Calforinians also have to regularly worry about wildfires and mudslides.
Dang California.
But hey, Texas has its own share of worries.
Part of it sits in tornado alley, for crying out loud, and some of the most devastating
hurricanes of the past century or so landed in Texas.
And Texas also has to deal with lots of thunderstorms.
California, not so much.
Texas even gets dust storms.
Ok, enough about natural disasters.
Geez.
Ok, so let’s talk about that Hispanic and Latino heritage.
Both used to be part of Mexico, and before that Spain.
This is why today you have prominent cities named San Antonio and Corpus Christi in Texas
and San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose in California.
When Spanish conquistadors conquered what would later be Texas and California in the
early 1500s, they encountered lots of different American Indian nations.
Here’s a map of California that shows the major tribal groups and languages at that time.
That’s a lot.
Here are the major tribal groups and languages of Texas.
That’s a lot.
So where did the name California come from?
A Spanish romance novel actually inspired it.
In the book, California was the name given to a mythical island where beautiful female
warriors lived.
The Spanish originally thought California was an island when they first came across
it, and thought it’d be fun to give it that name.
Supposedly, the Spanish named Texas after the Caddo people’s word for “friends.”
The Caddo is an American Indian tribe based out of what is today East Texas.
However, the Spanish could have also named it Texas based on seeing some trees that looked
like yew trees there.
Tejo or teja means “yew tree” in Spanish.
The Spanish didn’t really settle both areas much, but they controlled them for around
300 years.
Well, the English claimed part of modern-day California, and the French settled part of
modern-day Texas in the 1680s and they also had claims in what is today North Texas, but
other than that it was all Spain.
When the Spanish did finally settle both areas, it was usually missions meant to convert the
local American Indian tribes, although that often did not go well.
Texas was mainly a buffer to the French for the Spanish, and modern-day California was
one of the last places the Spanish settled, not establishing the Fort Presidio of San
Diego until 1769.
After the residents of New Spain declared independence in 1821, they named their new
country after Mexico City, but dropped the city part.
By that time, Californios, as they were called, had picked up ranching in California and soon
the missions there were abandoned.
Many of these Californios became rich after getting large land grants from the Mexican government.
More and more Americans began to move to both, especially Texas, after Mexico opened up immigration
there to serve as a buffer this time against the Comanche, who constantly raided Tejano
settlers there.
Tejanos were the Mexicans who lived in Texas.
By 1830, the population of Texas had swelled to 30,000, with Americans, many of them who
came there illegally, outnumbering the native Tejanos 6 to 1.
Soon, the Americans became restless and this ultimately led to The Texas Revolution, which
I also have a video about.
Long story short- Texas declared independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836 and Mexico couldn’t
keep them, so it was an independent country for almost ten years before the United States
annexed it on December 29, 1845.
By the way, that Lone Star State nickname comes from the fact that Texas was once an
independent republic.
Meanwhile, California was never its own country, as Texans would gladly remind you of today,
and the 200 Californio families stayed fairly low key through all of this.
That all changed after the Mexican American War, which the United States handily won.
After the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, California was under U.S. control, and eventually many
Californios lost their lands, sometimes violently, to Americans who stole it.
And Americans began to come to California in DROVES after gold was discovered there in 1848.
In 1849, around 90,000 people, nicknamed 49ers, came to California to get rich quickly mining gold.
It was the most famous gold rush in American history, the California Gold Rush, which is
the main reason why California became a state in 1850.
Oh, and that’s how it got the Golden State nickname.
Sadly, it also directly led to thousands of American Indians dying due to disease, starvation,
destroyed habitats, and just straight up murder.
During the American Civil War, Texas seceded and joined the Confederate States of America.
In case you didn’t know, the Six Flags Over Texas theme park refers to the six different
countries that have governed Texas.
In case you forgot, let’s recap.
First there was Spain, then France, then Spain again, then Mexico, then the Republic of Texas,
then the United States of America, and then the Confederate States of America.
California, which had entered the Union as a free state, of course stayed with the United
States and greatly helped with the Union war effort.
Of note, some 5,000 Californian soldiers marched 900 miles to El Paso to keep Confederate Texans
from Arizona Territory and to kick them out of New Mexico Territory.
Throughout the rest of the 1800s and into the 1900s, both Texas and California steadily
grew, but Texas stayed far ahead in population until the Great Depression, when 250,000 farmers
moved to California from the Great Plains states to escape the Dust Bowl.
After that, California’s population continued to skyrocket as more and more folks simply
just came there for the beautiful climate and growing economic opportunities.
By 1963, California had more residents than any other state in the country and by 1994,
Texas had the second-most.
Today, if both were countries, California would have the fifth largest economy in the world.
That's ahead of India.
And Texas would have the tenth largest economy in the world.
That’s ahead of South Korea.
California is the world’s fifth biggest producer of food, while Texas is the world’s
fifth biggest producer of oil.
Christianity is the biggest religion in both states, but Texas is definitely more religious,
with 27% of California residents not identified with any religion at all.
What about differences?
California leans to the left more politically, and typically votes for Democratic Party candidates,
while Texans have generally supported more Republican candidates.
That said, more and more Texans have been voting Democratic in recent years, and some
predict Texas will be a swing state in future presidential elections.
California spends more money on education. (C- $11,183 per student, T- $10,178 per student).
California has a much higher cost of living.
In fact, only one state, Hawaii, is more expensive to live in.
The median household income is higher in California.
Texas also has a higher poverty rate.
However, California has a more pronounced homelessness crisis.
By most measures, Texas is more business-friendly.
California’s minimum wage will be $15 an hour by 2023, and it’s just $7.25 in Texas.
Also, taxes are lower in Texas, overall.
More California residents have college degrees.
Texans are younger, on average.
California has a much more varied climate and geography.
It has a reputation for having a nice climate, and this is mostly true, especially along
the coasts.
Much of the state is classified as a Mediterreanean climate, with warm, dry summers, and cool,
somewhat wet winters.
However, California also has quite a bit of desert and semi-arid areas.
Supposedly, California is home to the hottest temperature ever recorded.
While that might be a myth, on June 30, 2013 it did get to 54 degrees!
Celcius!
Which is 129.2 Fareinheit in Death Valley, a part of California that is often the hottest
place in the country.
But California also has lots of mountains that get plenty of snow.
Of note, the Sierra Nevada dramatically rise in the eastern and central portion of the
state, but there are also the California Coast Ranges by the...uh...coast.
The Central Valley of California and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas seem to have some things
in common, but generally Texas doesn’t have near the mountains California has.
It has four big physical regions: The Gulf Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains,
and Basin and Range Province.
While most of Texas is prairie and hills, Texas does have mountains in the Basin and
Range Province.
That’s Guadalupe Peak.
What a beauty.
Ok, California I see your Yosemite Valley, but most everybody already knows about it, ok?
Most of Texas has a humid subtropical climate, but the further west you go, the drier it
generally gets as you get semi-arid and desert climates.
Although, Texas gets more precipitation each year overall.
California gets more sunny days.
And overall, it definitely gets both hotter and colder in Texas.
California has some of the most comfortable temperatures in the world.
Oh, and less bugs.
I’ve been to Southern California the last three summers, and each time I’m amazed
how I just sit outside and rarely have to worry about flies or mosquitoes.
Major industries in California include agriculture, technology, tourism, film and financial services.
Major industries in Texas include also tourism and agriculture, and additionally energy,
healthcare, and aeronautics.
California’s Central Valley is one of the most productive farming regions on the planet.
How productive?
Well more than half the country’s fruits, vegetables, and nuts come from there yo.
Texas is the reason why we have Tex-Mex food today, and boy do I freaking love my Tex-Mex.
Thank you Texas.
California has legal marijuana, and was the first state to have legal “medical” marijuana
way back in 1996.
It’s not legal in Texas.
Nah I mean "party." You know, get high, get stoned.
Hank: aaahhhh!
Texans get more history of their own state than residents of all other states.
They get two years of Texas history in school- in both 4th grade and 7th grade.
California is known around the world for wine, with more than 4,600 wineries.
In fact, if it were an independent country, it’d be the world’s fourth largest wine producer.
(audible gasps)
How's that?
Texas likely has more tigers living in captivity than all the tigers living in the wild around
the entire world.
California has more national parks.
In fact, it has more than any other state.
It also has the tallest and oldest trees not only in the country, but the entire world.
Experts estimate that one of those trees, an unnamed Great Bristlecone pine, is more
than 5,000 years old.
At 380 feet, or 116 meters, a redwood tree in California named Hyperion is the tallest
tree in the world.
I would argue that American football is more popular in Texas than it is anywhere else
on the planet.
Want proof?
Most of the largest high school football stadiums are in the state.
California has both the highest and lowest point in the contiguous United States.
The highest- Mount Whitney, and the lowest- Death Valley.
Ok, how about terrific burger joints?
In-N-Out Burger originated in California, Whataburger originated in Texas, but Texas
wins here because there are In-N-Out Burgers in Texas but no Whataburgers in California.
And now I’m getting hungry, so I think I’ll end it there.
In conclusion, there is little evidence to prove that California or Texas WON’T continue
to dominate over the rest of the country any time soon, for better or for worse.
Regardless, it’s smart for the rest of us to always keep our eyes on what they are up to.
(music)
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Again, this is a collaboration with the channel The World According to Briggs.
I am a long-time subscriber of Briggs, and he has an entertaining yet educational channel
that, perhaps accidentally, teaches a lot of geography.
Check out his new video about why so many folks have moved to California and Texas.
A shout out to Patrick, a California native from the channel Corporis, and Sam, a Texas
native from the channel Until Now, for both looking over my script for this video.
Which states should I compare next?
I always love to hear your feedback.
And may the trash talking begin! (looking over and down) Oh it already started.