California Gold Rush Research Paper

With all these travelers from the east and different country made California a “melting pot” of different people and culture. When news that California that had gold began to spread outside of the United State it first hit Mexico and Hawaii lead to the first wave of immigrants with the purpose of mining. Then, news the quickly across the world from South America to Europe and from Australian to Asian, the impact was so big that the text said, “Irish immigration to the United States, already at 100,000 a year in 1847, more than double to 220,000 by 1851” (Gillon, 297). With all these people mining towns would quickly pop up across California, and these towns with every race you could think such as Black, French, Irish, Chinese, Mexican, and etc. The towns were constantly busy with people moving to and from mine and rivers. With a day or a week of work could make you a nice amount of profit, you could entertain yourself for a while before you had to go back to mining with bars, gambling parlors, and whore house. Prostitutes made good money because in text said that, “ One prostitute in California Boasted of making more than $50000in a year.” (Gillon, 297). I could imagine myself being there if I made it there.

African Americans were able to finally escape from slavery when coming to California. Gold became the solution for many slaves to free themselves or their families by selling gold dusts to their owners. A fine example and quote to explain how well African Americans were doing in the west coast is from Stephen Magag, who published, Fortune Smiled on Many Black Miners, says “African Americans hit plenty of California pay dirt -- by 1863, they were collectively worth about $5 million (the equivalent of $100 million today).” The Gold Rush was able to give freedom for African Americans; and with that independence, they were able to create their own businesses in California. Not only was wealth being brought to people who were working or receiving gold, California was taking in a lot of money which made a large impact for a wealthy state. William Swain, a man traveling to the west to find gold, sent his brother, George, a letter about his journey. I found that it was interesting the amount he had spent on things in California, and how he was totally okay with spending a lot of money on somethings. He spent between 50 cents to ten dollars on food and 10 to 40 dollars on clothing pieces. The west part of the states knew all the people the gold was bringing in so they only made a beneficiary choice on behalf of their wealth and popularity. California was already known as a wealthy and expensive state, so the probability to become a wealthy person, with a wealthy lifestyle in California, was very hard. Many of the people who did travel to the gold rush, had to sleep in homemade boroughs, or sleep in their wagons. According to the documentary film, “Speck of The Future,” the biggest part of the Gold Rush was getting there. Historian, J.S Holliday, mentioned how many immigrants dreaded the travel through the desert and Sierra Nevada because of

The indigenous people of California had existed on the lands as hunters-gathers before the arrival of the Spanish who were the first Europeans to reach this part of the Americas. These settlers who began surveying the area since 1530, helped introduce the mission system around 1697 as part of an effort to set up permanent bases for new arrivals and as a bulwark against other European powers. This establishment caused the natives to transition from their original lifestyle into agrarian farmers to help bring in revenue for the Spanish crown which led to them being exploited economically in the process. To establish order in this new land, the Spaniards used harsh punishments for rooting out defiance within the Indian population. However, eventually the natives would begin to die off in such large quantities that it echoed what else was happening what was happening in the rest of the continent. Overall, the effect on the indigenous population was predominantly negative due to contributing towards loss of culture, experiencing callous treatment at the hands of the Spanish, and forced population decline.

After President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act of 1862, everyone was eager for the construction to begin. The railroad was needed to connect California to the eastern and midwestern large cities in order to ship valuables and natural resources. The problem for the Indians was that the tracks would be set right through their ancestral land. Unfortunately, The United States could care less about the native’s wants because the construction of the railroad was seen beneficial to them. One of the many reasons was because it provided Americans and immigrants with jobs. The decline in buffalo began when they would stampede across the tracks. White workers decided that they were getting “in the way” and would kill massive herds at a time. This leads in to the most important reason for the decline of the Plains culture and their ultimate defeat, the Buffalo.

The California Gold Rush was a very tough time for many cultures. The gold searching included many people like, Native Americans, gangs, and Foreigners. Native Americans were the first victims, Foreigners were treated to contempt, and many gangs stole until they were caught and forcibly stopped. There were many challenges individuals faced such as harsh punishments for claiming a miner’s gold, there wasn’t any police or guards to protect the gold, and many individuals who dug for gold struggled from Xenophobia.

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Originally California was not well known. One of the first mass migrations to California was the Gold Rush. During the Gold rush many people from all around the world and within the states itself rushed to California in hopes of finding gold and making a fortune. The gold rush also allowed California to become more ethnically diverse due to the migration to California. Today California is known to be one of the most ethnically diverse state in the US.

We have all heard the story of how America came to be, and how Native Americans were pushed out because of this. In regards to the west coast, the history is a bit different. There is evidence of natives living in California since from at least 17,000 BCE. Prior to contact with Europeans, the California region contained the highest native American population north of what is now Mexico. Because of the temperate climate and easy access to food sources, approximately one-third of all Native Americans in the United States were living in California.

California was unsettled until Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1824. After that, Mexico controlled California. Soon there started to be trading in California (Alchin). Lewis and Clark were in California before the Gold Rush happened, during their expedition. While in California, they discovered a new plant called the California Rhododendron (“Lewis and Clark”). American Indians were in California during this time as well. They were not treated well on any means during the 1800s. When the Gold Rush did happen, they participated in the mining. Then the whites started using them for labor in the mines after they saw how hard they could work (Alchin).

California Indian historians currently engage in proving that Genocide occurred on the California Frontier. When historians attempt to prove the existence of a larger, seemingly indefinable concept they often lose track of regional history in California, citing primary sources from different time periods, all around the State. In order to better understand white-native relations on the California Frontier, it is important to first understand these relationships in specific areas of California that can be properly researched. Rather than engaging in a semantic argument regarding Genocide’s many definitions or its existence in the State as a whole, this manuscript offers a focused study in white-native relations in Northern California’s Round Valley from 1848-1860. By studying a

This paper will discuss the impact Spanish colonization and Mexican control had on the indigenous Indian population in California between 1769 and 1848. As well as discussing the historical origins, social organizations, material conditions, and world-view of the California Indians prior to 1769, this paper will explain the impact of New Spain’s Mission System on the Alta California Indian population between 1769 to 1821 and the response of its system by the Indians.

The discovery of the California Gold Rush took place by chance. Mainly the amount of the world’s gold is deep underground and embedded in hard rock. Unlike anywhere else in the world at that time the gold in California was simple to dig up, free for the taking and required little tools to acquire any gold. Only things required: a pick or shovel and a pan to shift out the gold from the rock, sand and debris. The Gold Rush affected not only California, but the outcome of the nation. Creating the expansion of our nation into Western America and California. Hundreds of thousand Americans and foreigners moved toward the Sierra Nevada’s, with the hopes of sticking it rich. Which impacted the social life and the economy, while effected the rest of the country. Producing a number of diverse people seeking to make a fortune, influenced California and the American life.

In early 1848, cries of gold findings flooded the West. White settlers flooded the area like a hurricane in search of riches never seen before to the common man. It was the single greatest migration of people in a shortest amount of time. The gold rush was a very dark period in American history and it shouldn’t be celebrated; the Native American’s were slaughtered in American thirst for gold Explosions of violence from both natives and settlers were common in this environment of prejudice and greed. Between 1850 and 1890 eighty percent of the total number of Native Americans in California died due to murder and massacre, disease, starvation, and forced migration from their native lands. The destruction of the culture and lives of the people native to California and the Black Hills of South Dakota. Greed changed the morals and values of the miners and Americans alike in the Gold Rush. The gold rush brought riches and highlighted racism of white Americans, while systematically destroying Native Americans in that region.

There have been many discoveries that have shaped our nation as a whole. Discoveries have allowed our country to thrive and become one of the most powerful nations in the world. When we look back at our nation's rich history, it is clear to see that there was one discovery in particular that had a vast impact on the United States; the discovery was gold in California. It was in this vastly unoccupied territory that the American dream was forever changed and California emerged as a powerful state busting at the seams. The California Gold Rush shaped California into the state that it is today. California is defined by its promise of entrepreneurial success and its acceptance and encouragement of obtaining the American Dream.

In the book “Junipero Serra California’s Founding Father” Steven Hackel illuminates the importance Junipero Serra has on California’s history while at the same time pointing out his flaws. Hackel focuses on Serra’s life and experiences which were beneficial while making missionaries in California. Withal, these expeditions and actions were crucial in the history of California and the lifestyle that we live today.