Preview

California Gold Rush Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
654 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
California Gold Rush Essay
Gold was first discovered on January 24, 1848, by James Marshall at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California. Once gold was discovered and the economy of California began to really take off, it did not take long for the government officials to recognize the advantage of allowing California to join the union. As a result, in 1850 California was accepted as a free state. Young men with a pick and wash pan in hand left their wives and children to move to California. Men used dams and flumes to expose stream and river beds for mining. People from around the world came to California to get rich and return home to live on their wealth. During the Gold Rush, San Francisco grew from a small settlement to a town booming with people. California was soon …show more content…
Water in desert areas also caused huge climate problems in the area. Animals fled from their homes because of the loss of water and change in habitat. The entire river and stream courses were destroyed. Water from the rivers was used in giant jet streams that blasted the side of the Sierra Mountains in desert areas. California might have been better off if gold had never been discovered; given its other natural advantages, it might have become popular and prosperous, but such prosperity would have been more gradual, orderly, and civilized. This resulted in the destruction of Native Americans. as these animals were a major food source. The need to transport settled region led to the creation of basic physical and organizational structures and facilities, particularly transportation routes, which was previously unknown in California. The Gold Rush also brought immigrants from China.
Like any major event in history, the California Gold Rush had both positive and negative effects. One moment the California creek beds glimmered with gold. The next moment, the same creeks ran red with the blood of men and women defending their bags of gold from bandits. California saw many changes very fast. Most of the changes play a part in shaping it into what it is today. From Hollywood to San Francisco, today’s lifestyle in California have roots in the Gold

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    James Marshall played a key role in the Gold Rush because he was the first person to discover gold. He was able to improve economic prospects that changed the history of California. According to the article “Racing's California Oasis'” Elias Baldwin purchased land and territory to mine for gold for himself. Elias Baldwin was a businessman that invested a lot of money into the Gold Rush in order to become more wealthy. This simply shows how people wanted to explore more land in order to make more profits. In addition, people also purchased land to develop and sell to increase their revenue. According to Dan Rottenburg, young men were hoping to strike rich in the gold fields or escape the drudgery of farm life to a wild place that was far removed…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The California Gold Rush was sparked when gold was found at Sutter’s mill in 1848. Many people from all over soon poured into the area for chance to become a wealthy miner. However, many people found that it was easier to make a living by servicing the miners. Just as much money was in this business. As miners poured into California businesses and towns would need to be made to help the miners and local economy of the area. The Gold Rush united a nation that was separated into east and west. Not only did the Gold Rush unite a nation it created jobs for many ethnic groups and offered people the chance to become…

    • 116 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gold Currency Analysis

    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages

    This increased demand for gold was during 1848 when James W. Marshall discovered gold in California. The gold in California began to be discovered in much greater quantities than in North Carolina. During the next year in 1849 over 300,000 people rushed to California with the hopes of finding gold and becoming rich. This is how the “Gold Rush” name was formed and still used to this current day. Since the gold rush began in 1849, the term “49ers” also originated and the name still remains used to this day in california by sports teams and many other traditions in San Francisco and throughout California.…

    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    California was once a silent and an unheard-of place. Since Mr. John Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848, the gold rush era started and California became popular. It has become a place where people expected to be successful and wealthy. For this reason, the gold finders from all over the world came to Sutter's Mill to pursue their dreams. However, many of them found that their dreams did not come true. In fact, they had to do lots of hard work that barely led to financial success. Was California a fantastic place? Could everyone have an opportunity to be successful and rich? Whether or not the “California Dream" truly existed or was just a legend, there was no doubt that there were many successful gold miners in California, but…

    • 1182 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    (1848-1859). The Gold Rush was one of the most significant events in California history. It brought people from all over the United States and the world in search for gold.…

    • 4780 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Early Paleolithic people had migrated to California because they needed to follow their food. The Early Paleolithic people ate mammoths, and the mammoths migrated to California to meet their conditions and to reproduce, so Paleolithic people had to follow their food. The early humans also migrated to California to get better food, get fresh water and clean water, so they can get better resources, and because California has better weather. The benefit of the Paleolithic people moving to California is that there are grasslands, rich soil, forests, clean water, and also amazing climate. These conditions were great for their food because they needed good weather and clean water, they also needed plants to eat the soil which was good and rich…

    • 152 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Sprawling Gridlock

    • 1102 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In his essay “Sprawling Gridlock,” author David Carle analyses how the essence of the California Dream has faded away and slowly becoming another highly populated and urbanized location in the world similar to other big cities such as Paris and Hong Kong. The author reveals the difference between the dream chased by many and the actual reality of the once called “California Dream”. The California Dream is fading away and deteriorating. It has lost of its initial value because of the “Sprawling Gridlock” as the essay’s title defines. The congestion in the area, the uncontrollable growth, the degradation of the ecosystem and the famous landscapes are destroying the image everybody has in mind, adding California to the list of highly populated and immense international hubs. Terrible congestion and uncontrollable growth are slowly turning the Californian Dream into a myth.…

    • 1102 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Golden Rush Essay

    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This one wanted at first kept this discovery for him by fear but the new was fast known of all. At the end of 1848, the president James Knox Polk confirmed the golden presence in this region. It is from there that waves of thousand immigrants began to arrive in California, it is the beginning of the arrival of forty-niners.…

    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The gold rush of California benefited San Francisco because it got on the map and the end of the transcontinental railroad was made in that city. More people came to California and more settlements and towns were made and grew because of the gold rush.…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gold Rush Challenges

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages

    One challenge individuals faced during the California Gold Rush was being able to get to California. “A miner’s log for November 29, 1849, reports: ‘The ground is so soft that it mires teams so deep it is impossible to get them out, and they had to be left to die or to be shot.’”(J.S., 15) This was difficult for individuals because they had to leave animals behind or kill them so they would be able to pass through that city. In other cities, it was muddy and it was almost impassable for the individuals. Many of the individuals had to leave supplies they needed in California behind so it would be easier for them to get through the mud.…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    How Did The Gold Rush

    • 244 Words
    • 1 Page

    The first state that had a gold rush was North Carolina. This happened fifty years before gold was found at Sutter’s Mill. During this first rush, they found a 17-pound gold nugget in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. For 30 years all gold coins issued by the U.S. Mint were produced using North Carolina gold.…

    • 244 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    California’s Gold Rush began in 1848. James W. Marshall, an American carpenter, was credited as the first one to discover gold in Coloma, California. Soon after the first findings, the boom began. James Miller, the author of The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream…

    • 1303 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    California Gold Rush Essay

    • 2236 Words
    • 9 Pages

    In the days before Alexander G Bells invention news and other topics of interest traveled across America quite slowly, usually becoming distorted as a result of the number of times it changed hands before the invention reached its final destination. An example of this that best exemplifies the proceeding statement is the California Gold Rush. When this news finally reached the central and eastern Americas California was made out to be a promise land with gold for the taking. As result towns popped up literally over night peppering the western United States. Although the California Gold Rush is an extreme example people of the pre phone era were also quite creative with their means of communication; the opening of the Erie Canal best shows…

    • 2236 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Causes of Civil War

    • 1845 Words
    • 8 Pages

    sovereignity, where the people have the right to decide if they want to be free…

    • 1845 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The California Gold Rush, which lasted from 1848 to 1855, started when gold was discovered by James W. Marshall in Sutter’s mill. As the news of discovery spread, thousands of prospective gold miners gave up their professions and flocked to California by land and by sea, hoping to make a fortune from digging gold. Reverend Mr. Walter Colton, then the alcalde (chief magistrate) in Monterey, witnessed the rush to California by gold miners and wrote, “The blacksmith dropped his hammer, the carpenter his plane, the mason his trowel, the farmer his sickle, the baker his loaf, and the taster his bottle. All were set off for the mines, some on horses, some on carts, and some on crutches, and one went in a litter.” Although these miners were in the…

    • 226 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays