Rapid formation of an effective state government in California seemed especially urgent because
a. proslavery Californians were gaining effective control of the territory.
b. of the threat that Mexico would reconquer the territory.
c. of the need to provide state subsidies for a transcontinental railroad.
d. there was no legal authority to suppress the violence and lawlessness that accompanied the California gold rush.
e. the influx of gold-seekers from around the world was causing ethnic conflict.
Answer: D