The California Gold Rush was not as good as people thought. It was very rough on people's bodies. Being there in the mines hurt their health. Some people even died. Some challenges in the California Gold Rush individuals face were giving up many things at home, rough traveling, and issues while in California.
In 1849, an inundation of Chinese immigrants came to the United States to take part in the California gold rush. Relations between the Chinese and Americans started off neutral, but soon conflicts arose. White workers saw Chinese as a threat to their status and tried to solve this issue by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act; this severely limited the number of Chinese allowed to immigrate into the country at the time. Although this compromise satisfied the white protests, it only lead to more conflicts with how the Chinese were treated during immigration. These conflicts would not be resolved for another 61 years.
One of the most beneficial events in American history is the California Gold Rush. The Gold Rush started in 1848 when it was discovered that California Rivers harbored gold inside them. This attracted many Americans across the United States, thus causing a massive migration to California. People from across the nation put their lives on hold in hopes of striking gold in California. For many, the journey took months and the risk of death was steadily present. Dangers were everywhere- from Native American attacks to getting lost on the trail. It was a risk, however, that many deemed worthy. The Gold Rush is a positive turning point in our nation’s growth for many reasons. It helped our nation achieve Manifest Destiny, it allowed the population to grow in California, and it also put California on the map. Although the California Gold Rush has many positives aspects, it holds negative traits as well.
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.
During the 1800’s, lives changed for many people. The Klondike Gold Rush began. In the article Klondike Gold Rush written by the Public Domain, the passage from A Women Who Went to Alaska written by May Kellogg Sullivan, and the video City of Gold made by the National Film Board of Canada and narrated Pierre Berton, the points of view of each show the miners’ lives. Each piece has a point of view, which helps the reader understand the miners’ lives through the word choice, and the tone
Migration to the gold fields The gold rush was the turning point of Australia’s history thanks to Edward Hargraves he discovered gold in New South Wales in April 1851 and soon the gold rush kicked off. Clear evidence has been provided on how Edward Hargraves started the gold rush started,
The hardships of joining the California gold rush was done by many in attempt of richness. The California gold rush was a popular time in America’s history when gold was found in California. Creating chaos the population of California increased greatly as others came to search for gold. While, the
When the California Gold Rush took off almost everyone wanted to try their luck in California, and the first thing they had to do is get there. If you on the eastern side of the United State or from European you had two choices to get to California they were the sea or land route, but if you were on the Pacific Ocean coast you direct sea route to there. The land route took you across the great United State through some of its most extremes weather and terrain, and traveler had survived the untamed west on their own and what they bring. Also, they had to struggle against diseases outbreaks such as Cholera which the text said, “As many as 1500 travelers died from Cholera along the Overland Trail in 1849” (Gillon, 298). The most popular route
The gold rush helped California industrialize. It is well known that industrialization in America started in the east. However, the gold rush was the reason why California industrialized much faster than the east. With the technological improvements, that the gold rush demands it helped California industrialize much faster. James Marshall first discovered gold on January 24 1848 on the south fork of the American river. A not so well know part of California history is that James Marshall was not the first person to discover gold in California. Francisco Lopez was the first documented gold rush in California. It is less know 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 James Marshall 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 until president, 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 were leaving the San Francisco port on their trips across the pacific. Was when the Hawaii found out about the news? When the states
Luis Contreras Yarisbel Rodriguez HIST 3401 December 18 2017 The California Gold Rush 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.
Gold is a very precious metal that with in any community is pressed very highly. To a surprise to several, after the United States won California from Mexico. A land owner had found several pieces of gold along the river bed of the San Francisco. Circumstances lead to this land owner not wanting to reveal this information to the world. Nevertheless, the information was spread so began the Gold Rush in California. This magnificent event gave light to great change but was it the right move for progress and growth for the new founded country the United States. Growth in my eyes is defined as the increase of wealth among all the population that is living in a general area. Wealth should be defined as in a way where a family can live with good
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).
Not only did the Gold Rush create a prosperous mining climate, it also indirectly lead to an even more booming agrarian economy; that in 1869 surpassed mining in employment and then later in 1879 became the leading element to the California economy10. By the late 1870’s, there was nearly 600,000 thousand people living in the Golden State11. In order to feed so many mouths so quick, many people that could not make it as a miner or in the now blooming cities decided to settle on plots of land and become farmers. Most preferred the farming lifestyle opposed to a miner’s life because it was safer. In addition, due to California’s vast natural resources, fertile abundant land and great weather, growing food and raising livestock was easy compared to the eastern United States and other parts of the world. The Gold Rush also permitted the cattle industry to once again flourish in the west as a cattle boom from the north was guided to California for sale to the
If you had the opportunity to get rich off of gold, would you? Would you be willing to leave everything you have behind to move thousands of miles across the country just for gold? In 1859, the answer for many people was yes. Word of gold found throughout Colorado spread across the country and launched the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush or also known as the Colorado Gold Rush. There are several significant events in Colorado history that have had an influential impact on the state we know today. The Colorado Gold Rush, in 1859, was the most significant event in Colorado History for several reasons: the rush attracted thousands of people to our state, initiated the mining of other resources, succored farming and ranching throughout the state, and boosted the economy of the towns here in Colorado; these benefits of the rush continue to play a role in our state still today.
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.