The California Gold Rush

The Gold Rush was a period of time that totally transformed the United States. The Gold Rush expanded America and added new and improved culture into the country. People came from far and wide to search for gold and hunt for newfound money. So much gold was found it gave a lot of people that did not have money hope. It gave considerable positives like temporary economic stability and the ultimate expansion of America. Even though the Gold Rush encouraged some economic stability, it was ultimately harmful because it caused economic recession, it kept the country in economic chaos for too long a period, and expanded xenophobia due to the influx of “outsiders” coming for gold.

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

The daily life of a miner was far from perfect. The way the papers and other means of propaganda had portrayed getting rich quick, but it was far from easy. All the equipment that was needed to start out as a miner was for the most part outrageous. The earning wages from gold was” sixteen dollars an ounce” pg.8. Even so, the work was backbreaking. There was swarms of minors trying to get rich quick. To many miners that traveled to get a piece of the precious metal they where resorted to taking land from previous land owner just to get ahead in the Gold Rush. Not to mention that the living conditions where also outrageous. The “rentals of hotels and other business structures, whether of boards or of canvas, reached even dizzier heights than did commodity prices” pg.8. This spaces where set prices at 3,000 dollars a month or 40,000 dollars for a year, there was also other prices around the area of San Francisco. And in some cases miners where resorted to living in a room filled to the brim with other miners. This lead to very poor conditions for any one to live in. But nothing was better then being rich in a few months or

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

The California Gold Rush was a period of time when thousands of people from all over the world came to California for gold, some were lucky, most were not. California was owned by Mexico 1600-1846. Mexico soon allowed the U.S. to have California as it’s own state, and that is when they found the gold. The California Gold Rush was a difficult time with the challenges people faced traveling to California, the way the Forty-Niners lived, and the way they used the gold.

If you had the opportunity to get rich from 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 today known as the Colorado Gold Rush. There are several significant events in Colorado history that have had a huge 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 helped to boost the economy of the towns here in Colorado. The gold rush had a massive impact on several aspects of Colorado during the time and these aspects continue to be apart of Colorado still today.

mines. Documents 1, 3 & 5 show the hoarding of money and the economic effects of silver

     What effects did the Gold Rush have on people? Some became forever rich, and some lost everything. In 1849, California was a rather uncivilized place, especially San Francisco. Miner’s came from every where to try to find their fortune, but most fortunes weren’t made mining gold, they were made because of mining. Sam Brannan was one such man who made his fortune this way. Brannan bought every shovel, pan, and every other mining related tool he could in the region. A twenty-cent metal pan now became a fifteen-dollar pan, and the only place to buy them was from Sam Bannan. Levi Strauss, a tailor who happened to have very popular canvas pants made his fortune from the Gold Rush. Phillip Armour, of Armour Meat packing company, and John Studebaker just to name a couple more. Unfortunately, not everybody could get rich, for every one person that struck it big; there were thousands that didn’t. It is not uncommon to hear stories of men leaving their wife, kids and

The gold rush played a major part in the westward expansion. The gold rush is where millions of people came from all over the world. The gold rush started in 1848 and ended in 1852.

The gold rush in all brought in over two billion dollars worth of the desired metal. Had the United States not done what it took to get the land the discovery of gold could have been postponed decades. Therefore, meaning America may not have ever gotten that money. Not only was the gold rush favorable to the economy, but the land was also great for agriculture and industry. Numerous citizens that moved west did not do so for gold, several moved west to start a business or a farm. The businesses started over in the west would prove to be for the best for most families and helped the United States’ economy. The idea of moving west and finding gold or start a business to help the “49ers” to get rich quick thrilled many American citizens which aided the growth of the west. The land was not the only benefit; the Mexican American war was the first war in American history to be fought primarily on foreign soil. So because the war was fought on Mexico’s land the United States did not have to pay for damages done during the conflict. As a result, the American economy did not take another devastating hit to pay for the wreckage. Overall the decision to go to war with Mexico for the land was an economic success, although it caused controversy socially and politically.

The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands, and Latin America, and they were the first to start flocking to the state in late 1848. All in all, the news of gold brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. Of the 300,000, approximately half arrived by sea and half came overland on the California Trail and the Gila River trail.

The Goldrushes had many knock-on effects on Australia which shaped the country to how it is today. The most important effect of the Gold Rush was wealth. The Gold Rush allowed Melbourne to become an extremely wealthy colony. The wealth in the country at this time allowed Australia to improve. Source 4 demonstrates that everyone had a chance of striking it rich at the goldfields.

To begin, the rough journey to migrate west certainly negatively affected the United States of America. While the american citizens were traveling to the west for gold, an extreme cholera outbreak developed due to the “unsanitary conditions” that the migrants had to deal with (Gillon 65). These people were not at their home where they have supplies and cleaning equipment; they were living in tents where they had no access to anything like a broom to sweep the floor. If someone got dirty or sick, they couldn’t do anything about other than wash up in the river, which would worsen the cholera outbreak. A Native American described the scene as a “solid mass of wagons and men digging graves on each side of the river; men dying in their wagons, hallooing and crying and cramping from cholera, women screaming and hallooing and praying” (Gillon 65). Because of the filthy conditions, many people were screaming and dying from cholera. These people are putting up with so much pain just to get some gold, which they may not live to see. Hence, because of the long, harsh journey with foul conditions, the Gold Rush undoubtedly negatively impacted the

Gold found in California starting the Gold Rush, happened to not be the first discovery of gold in there. “But gold had been found in 1843 near the Mission San Fernando in Southern California”. Although this discovery did not spark much attention, reason being. At that the time the country was under Mexican rule. “ The great California gold rush began on January 24,1848, when James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget in the American River while constructing a sawmill for John Sutter, a Sacramento agriculturalist”. Discovery of this gold generated the Gold Rush, which is one of the most significant events that