Not sure how one describes "always" in the US considering the westward expansion. We've only been 50 states since post WWII. The US was in a constant state of expansion since its founding. And virtually all of that was at the point of a gun in one way or another. The Indian Wars. The Spanish American War. The Mexican American War. The Texas Rebellion. Not to mention innumerable skirmishes including the hunt for Poncho Via among others. Heck, when Lewis and Clark go exploring, they meet the Indians out west and the first thing they want is guns, which he wouldn't arrange for them. He did ask for their "loyalty" to the President.

Westward expansion was enabled greatly by the proliferation of "forts" in the west maitained by the army (a legacy they live with to this day). Albeit many of them appeared to be more locations of commerce than defense (or offense for that matter). By the time the states are being admitted into the union "freely" they had already been "conquered" by the US federal government, and the only folks basically allowed to "vote" were white men of european descent.

And the quite diverse population of California is such that there is no "majority". And the VAST majority of them aren't "illegals", especially the asians. And you'll find the same language issues in China town that you'll find in areas of LA.