How The Gold Rush Reshaped California Before the gold rush, California was only a territory. ln 1850 gold was found in California. In effect, California’s population exploded. By 1851 California had applied for statehood and became the thirty first state. News traveled fast and far, prospectors came from around the world to try their hand in panning gold. Gold mining had reached its peak by 1852. More than $80 million in gold had been pulled from mines (Encyclopedia.com, 2015). Even though the gold rush was not profitable for all who came to California, the gold rush reshaped the demographics of California because people from Asia and other parts of the world traveled to California and the population rose. In 1848, James Marshall discovered gold while constructing a mill for John Sutter (Encyclopedia.com, 2015). At the time, John Sutter had 3 mills and more than two hundred and sixty people working for him (Kosher, 2015). As news traveled about the discovery of gold, Sutter’s workers quit working for him and began gold panning. However, Sutter’s men were not the only group of people who sought for riches in California. By 1849, people from all over the world made the long trip to California’s mountains in search for gold. These “gold seekers,” would later on be known as the “Forty-niners” (Wikipedia.com, 2015). Most of California’s …show more content…
For instance, “in 1852 a special foreign miner’s tax aimed at the Chinese was passed by the California legislature” (Explore.museumca.org, 1996). Essentially, the Chinese were charged a certain amount of money to search for gold. Also, the native Mexicans in California were deemed foreign as well, therefore they too were taxed (Pbs.org, 2006). In addition, many Native Americans had to flee from the gold mines because their women were being raped and their men were targeted (Kosher, 2015). Nevertheless, people still continued to flock to
How did the discovery of gold change California? Think about population, economics, and
At the time no one believed there was gold in California. On the 28th later that week Marshall rode into to town and had the metal tested at it turned out to be gold. Starting from that moment the word that gold had been discovered in this new frontier known as California started a world-wide craze. People traveled from the farthest of places to seeking fame and fortune in the new world. From 1848 to 1856 around $456 million dollars in gold had been discovered in California.
On January 24, 1848 James Wilson Marshall found flakes of gold in the American River at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Marshall was a carpenter from New Jersey working on a water-powered sawmill owned by John Sutter, a German-born Swiss man who founded the colony of New Switzerland, later to be known as Sacramento. Marshall and Sutter tried to keep the news of the discovery out of the public ear, but word got out, and around March, at least one newspaper was out reporting of gold being discovered at Sutter’s Mill. At first, when the news hit San Francisco, there was disbelief about the discovery until a storekeeper, Sam Brannan, shocked the public with a vial of gold from Sutter’s Mill.
This was one of the largest migrations America has ever experienced. The word of gold in California didn’t just spread across America, it spread all over the world. People from Mexico, Germany, France, and China alco came over and became a part of history. The whole demographic of California changed off this single discovery. It became the most diverse state in America where the population was 52% white, 30% Latino, 10% Asian / Pacific Islander, and 7 % African American.
The California gold rush to many is a mesmerizing time in the history pertaining to westward migration in the United States. The gold rush played an important part in immigrant population because it the time phase most immigrants from all around entered into the united states. Immigrant groups, such like the Chinese, started to come to the United States after hearing the news of the discovery of gold in California, over the months more and more immigrants started to come by the thousands consequently laws had to be set in place to limit immigrants entering the united states and limit the egalitarianism of the new comers in order to make it fair for the miners who were true americans. John Sutter, “who had declared the land to be his land, which later gold would be discovered upon. Sutter did not want the news to spread he wanted to keep it private but the results were not in his favour, unfortunately some of his former worker had already spread in the news in excitement.
In December 1848, President James Polk announced during a speech that there was more gold in California than people had previously thought. Miners came by the thousands across land, and sea to find the gold and the journeys that
People like foreigners and women were presented with challenges on their journey. In fact, in 1882 the campaign to restrict immigration created the federal Chinese Exclusion Act, which stopped the Chinese from migrating for 10 years. This prevented the Chinese from achieving the American Dream for that time period. Also, the government placed a tax on immigrant mining, charging them $500 a month, in this time (Maranzani). Women also had a difficult time during the Gold Rush.
Gold Rush The California Gold Rush which occurred between 1848 to 1855 was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848. The event was defined by when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. The sudden influx of gold cause; the money supply to reinvigorated the American economy, increased population which allowed California to go rapidly to statehood, in the Compromise of 1850, and accelerated the decline of population of Native Americans. Gold was discovered in California as early as March 9, 1842, at Rancho San Francisco, in the mountains north of present-day Los Angeles.
The Gold Rush, beginning in 1848 and ending in 1855, was a period in American history which opened the doors of opportunity to a new group of immigrants, the Chinese. The discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill, California, in 1848 was the cause of mass Chinese immigration that would last for decades to come. When James Marshall discovered gold in 1848, there were fifty-four recorded Chinese in California, this number quickly rose to 116,000 by 1876. Title (Chinese Immigration During the Gold Rush: The American Encounter) The California Gold Rush allowed for immigrants, such as the Chinese, to encounter the various beliefs and suspicions of the American society.
The California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush was a period when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California. It was in the year of 1848. The Gold Rush was important because James W. Marshall found the gold, John Sutter kept the secret and lead on with the discovery, and Samuel Brannan was an important buyer and seller of the gold. James W. Marshall was trying to solve problem that prevented the water from flowing forcefully enough to keep the water wheel turning properly.
Americans were able to make thousands of dollars off of gold and immagrants and foreigners from all over the world came to California. Citizens became richer and all different cultures learned to
People in America during this time seeking for opportunities out west that they did not think they had in the east. During this time, gold was discovered in California that attracted many people not just from America, but all over the world. Plus, the government encouraged people to go mining for gold by giving miners cheaper land to live on out west. As stated in the Homestead Act of 1862, United States Congress, a law providing free land for citizens of the United States in western territories. This act encouraged people to mine for gold in California so they could have cheaper land than they would anywhere else.
I. The California Gold Rush is one of the most known gold rushes in the U.S. The phenomenon was started by James Marshall when he found gold in the American River and he said “My heart thumped for I knew it was gold.” Because of his findings the California Gold Rush was born in 1848, then died seven years later in 1855. During these seven years California accumulated over 300,000 people that left their homes to mine for gold.
The gold was found January 24, 1848 by James Wilson Marshal at the river base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Coloma California. Shortly after the discovery the population of California sky rocketed. The non-native population of California reached one hundred thousand. The amount of gold they got was
It was discovered on January 24th 1848 by James Marshall in California. A quarter million people migrated to California for the chance to get rich and other personal reasons. Foreigners from all around the world came to America to either search for gold or the new opportunities open. As time progressed corporations were formed that could buy new technology and workers to search for gold and several boom towns had formed in California. As more and more people moved west the United States faced another issue.