Social Effects Of Manifest Destiny

Happi Signe 3.26.18 Social Studies Research Paper “ A total of $2 billion worth of precious metal was extracted from the area during the Gold Rush, which peaked in 1852”. The California gold rush started when James W. Marshall found a piece of gold in the American River when building a sawmill, for John Sutter at Sutter’s Fort. The gold rush attracted 300,000 people to California.

Joshua Gillingham Humanities Jorge Cerna May 8th, 2023 “How did the Gold Rush change the course of the development of California?” A minor but substantial find in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California in the winter of 1848 ignited a frenetic rush of fortune seekers, turning the formerly quiet frontier into a frenzied epicenter of gold fever. The promise of wealth and opportunity attracted a varied group of migrants from all over the world, forever altering the direction of California's growth and leaving an enduring legacy that still influences the state today. What happened next was a turning point in American history.

The discovery of gold in the Sacramento Valley in 1848 sparked the California Gold Rush, one of the most significant events to shape America.1 From 1848-1855, thousands of immigrants came to California to mine for gold. San Francisco grew from a population of 1,000 to 20,000 in two years due to this.2 Many men left their jobs to try their luck at getting rich from mining gold. A total of $2 billion worth of gold was extracted from California by the end of 1852.1 On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget in the American river at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains near Coloma, CA.1 Marshall found it while constructing a sawmill on a water powered sawmill owned by John Sutter. Sutter was a European immigrant that help found Nueva Helvetia (New Switzerland).

The influx of gold led to the expansion of manufacturing and the service industries, as many newcomers took advantage of the demand for mining materials, lumber, clothing, and transportation (Gold Rush Impacts). Advances in infrastructure were needed in order to help prospectors reach California, which was fairly isolated at the time (Gold Rush Impacts). These new formations were able to set a foundation for the U.S. that is still followed today. The same transportation routes are followed, and the same goods are still produced. Foreign producers and manufacturers also found new markets for their products in the United States, which led to the creation of new financial services, such as banks.

The California Gold Rush began in 1848 when gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California. The discovery of gold sparked a massive influx of settlers, mostly young men, to California, leading to a period of rapid population growth and economic development. The discovery of gold also led to the establishment of boomtowns, such as San Francisco, that were filled with prospectors and entrepreneurs looking to make their fortune. The Gold Rush brought a diverse group of people to the region, including miners, merchants, entrepreneurs, and even criminals. The gold rush saw a large influx of immigrants from Latin America, China, and other parts of the world, many of whom worked in the mines or provided services to miners.

Manifest destiny was the belief that colonist were destined to expand across North America and that it was their god given right. Although Native Americans were indigenous the the land, colonist felt that it was their destiny to redeem and colonize the rest of the land. They felt that Native Americans were not making right use of the land and letting it go to waste. In result, Native Americans were not seen as anything more as an obstacle in the pursuit of Manifest Destiny. During the Indian Removal Act of 1830, Indian groups who were still inhabiting the south east would be moved across the Mississippi to designated Indian territory, which is now known as Oklahoma.

After President Polk confirmed the rumors of gold in California in 1848 (Oakland Museum Staff), around 250,000 people came to California in seek of the soft metal that could lead to a fortune: gold (The forty-niners). The California Gold Rush not only presented fortune, it presented a new idea of the American Dream: “‘one where the emphasis was on the ability to take risks and the willingness to gamble

The California gold rush is the most important event in the westward expansion. The California Gold Rush, which began in 1848, had a significant impact on the history of the United States and the westward expansion of the country. The discovery of gold in California drew thousands of people from all over the world to the region, leading to a massive population increase and the rapid development of infrastructure and industry. One of the most important effects of the Gold Rush was the rapid settlement of the American West.

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.

“Once we became an independent people it was as much a law of nature that this [control of all of North America] should become our pretension as that the Mississippi should flow to the sea” –John Quincy Adams (Henretta, p. 384). In the 1840s, Americans had a belief that God destined for them to expand their territory all the way westward to the Pacific Ocean. This idea was called Manifest Destiny. In the nineteenth century, Americans were recognized for coming together and building up one another for one cause: westward expansion.

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 California Gold Rush was a rush of people in search of gold in California. The gold was discovered in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848 which sparked the gold rush. The rush was a huge influence in how America was shaped into what it is today. It shaped California into what it is today. Without this gold rush California would be like it is today but it would have taken way more years and it wouldn’t be such a diversely populated state.

Manifest Destiny was the term used by John O’Sullivan to describe America’s desire to expand West due to reasons including both the vast amount of unclaimed land and the opportunities Americans wanted to explore. During this time, Americans believed that it was their God-given right to expand West, and therefore they were entitled to push away any groups that were in their way. Due to the mindset that the Americans could do as they pleased with the groups of people who got in their way, Manifest Destiny affected many groups of people, including the American Indians and Slaves, and continued to build up the preexisting tension between the North and South. One of the groups of people affected greatly by Manifest Destiny were the Native Americans. Manifest Destiny affected the American Indians by spreading foreign diseases to them as they moved Westward, through the Native American territory.