California Gold Rush Research Paper

The first few bits of gold were found around January of 1848 near the region of Coloma. As a result the west had a sudden surge of migrants moving to California in the hopes of excavating gold and getting rich off of the gold. This event in American history became known as the California gold rush and it would have a great impact not only on the nation but on the world, however this job came with many great risks and challenges.

The 2,200 mile trek to the Gold Rush in 1849 took a long time for them to get to California. They could not replenish their resources and supplies on the journey. It started of with the Gold Rush in North Carolina in 1799 and then the Georgia Gold Rush happen in 1828. Gold at the time was the most valuable gem in the world, once people found gold they will make a great quality of money. Some challenges people faced when traveling to the California Gold Rush were the long journey, the lack of resources, and the spread of diseases.

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.

It is well known that the industrialization in America start in the east. However, the gold rush was the reason why it industrialized much faster than the east. With the technological improvements that the gold rush demand it helped California industrialize much faster. Gold was first discovered in January 24 1848 by James Marshall on the south fork of the American river. A not so mentioned part of California history is that James Marshall wasn’t the first person to discover gold in California. Francisco Lopez was the first documented gold rush in California. No one talk or mentions it because right after Lopez had discovered gold the war between Mexico and US had begun. Moreover, like everyone knows Mexico lost and lost California and other territory to the US. After JamesMarshall had found gold and after everyone had started to hear the news, few people started rushing to the minefields. The gold rush fever had not started yet because many people were hesitant. It wasn’t after President Polk at that time, confirmed that there really was gold found in California after the announcement by Polk was heard. Massive amount of people from all over the world rushed to California. States were not the first to hear about the news. Actually, people in Hawaii were the first to find out. As trading ships where leaving the San Francisco port on their trips across the pacific. Was when the Hawaii found out about the news? When the states

The California Gold Rush almost did not happen. In his 1848 report to the adjutant-general at Washington, DC, Col. Richard Barnes Mason wrote a worker was checking the strong flow of water in a stream near a saw mill he was building. James Marshall noticed a few glittering particles in the mud that had accumulated. He collected and examined a few of them and, satisfied with their value, brought them to Captain John Sutter, owner of the land where the saw mill was to be built. They agreed to keep their discovery secret for a while but word soon spread and quickly hundreds and then thousands of miners flooded to the mines seeking instant wealth. Only three months after the discovery, it was estimated about four thousand workers were employed mining gold in the region (personal communication, August 17, 1848).

Because of the Colorado Gold Rush, people swarmed into the state with the optimism of becoming rich. Even though many of these people were “go backers,” the people that did stay assisted in the development of mining towns all throughout the state. A Pike’s Peak journalist described the flocking of people claiming “thousands from the farther East swarmed into the Missouri valley towns, and enough hardy souls crossed the Plains in the fall of 1858 to give the newly-founded towns of Auraria and Denver at the mouth of Cherry creek on the South Platte about 125 cabins, huts, and tents by Christmas.” The gold rush

The Gold Rush is considered as one of the most significant events in the American history. It began after James Marshall discovered gold form the Sutter’s mill in Coloma, California on January 24, 1948. Though James and Sutter tired to keep this news as secret, there was one newspaper reported it. As the news spread so fast across the country and around the world that attracted hundreds of thousands of gold seekers from different areas came to California.

The California Gold Rush was an event that lasted from January 24th, 1848 to 1855. The event was driven mainly by the large quantities of gold reserves that were discovered in the soon to be US state of California. This event caused many Americans to move from the eastern states and middle states to California with the hopes of finding gold. In this paper, I will analyze the economy at the time the gold rush started and attempt to answer the question of why individuals found it necessary or advantageous to move out to California in pursuit of gold. I will also consider personal accounts and editorials written to gain a more personal narrative of the conditions people were experiencing as well as their mindsets in deciding whether to move to California for the gold or not.

The Gold Rush was one of the most influential times in California History. During the four years from 1848-1852, 400,000 new people flooded into the state. People from many countries and social classes moved to California, and many of them settled in San Francisco. All this diversity in one place created a very interesting dynamic. California during the Gold Rush, was a place of colliding ideals. The 49ers came from a very structured kind of life to a place where one was free to make up her own rules.

     The California Gold Rush of 1849 is one of the most interesting and exiting events of the United States. From the wild stories of men striking it big, to the heart wrenching tales of people losing everything, these are what make it so alluring. There are many aspects of the California Gold Rush; effects on California; individual stories of struggle; and effects on the United States as a young country looking for stability.

For many, gold had a impact on california 1848, but not like the same in california in 2018. The gold rush had many type of impact on california that made it lose population, the towns that had crimes everyday and the disappointment that the minner came all the way to the middle of the U.S. First, the bad side of the gold rush. The loss population in cities after hearing the gold in california. “ A visitor in June found the city nearly abandoned because of "gold fever" (Johnson) By September eastern newspapers offered their readers breathless reports of the incredible riches ready for the taking” (Johnson).The gold rush told people only of the riches and told story of people living the high life.

The Gold Rush pioneered the way for many people to seek and find their own glory. From around the time of 1848 to early 1850’s, thousands of people across the world were flooding in to the vast mountains of the Sierra Nevada in California. Discovered early on in 1848, it took no time for the eastern side of the United Sates to hear of the strike and wanted a piece of striking it rich. This magnified history and became one of the most significant events to shape America in the first half of the 19th century. Many people did fail in their search for glory but those few who succeeded in The Gold Rush, would soon find that their lives would change forever.

The 1848 California Gold Rush had brought 300,000 people to California in seek for gold. This was good and bad for California. Good because there was new towns put on the maps and it brought great business. It was also bad because it harmed the rivers which hurt the agriculture side if California. It also made California look like my backyard with the hundreds of mole like holes all over from mining the hill side for gold. The Gold Rush had taken a great toll on California for many reasons. One reason was because the gold seekers would used a hydraulic mining system to wash away hill sides to find gold. Which later affected the agriculture part of california because the silt from the mining damaged the water in the rivers. Another way the gold

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.