Although the American West existed as a land of hope and opportunity, the migration there proved long and arduous and would take the lives of many along the trail. The movement West was made with the intentions of traveling to a place that was less populated and attempting to start all over. However, if the relocation was successful, the new land proved fruitful and allowed the settlers to reestablish their families. The year 1848 would bring a new perception of the West and introduced the gold rush, which would harm the existing settlers living in California.…
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…
During the 1840s men and women of the United States heard of money making opportunities in California known as the California Gold Rush. Learning of the fortune to be had middle class families packed up their things in wooden wagons and trekked across the Overland Trail. This decision not only changed the gender roles of men and women but also caused them to share the different chores of day-to-day life.…
Mark Kanazawa stated that the “Chinese miners contributed significantly to state and local tax revenues” (Kanazawa, Immigration, Exclusion, and Taxation Anti-Chinese Legislation in Gold Rush California, 781). At this point, California was overflowing with immigrants and gold rushers alike, and the Chinese became the scapegoats for taxation and, ultimately, exclusion. This exclusion had the potential to directly impact the American economy, specifically by harming the trading relationship America had with China at that time. Furthermore, “many viewed Chinese miners as an important source of tax revenues vital to the financial stability of both the state and the counties in which they resided” (Kanazawa, Immigration, Exclusion, and Taxation Anti-Chinese Legislation in Gold Rush California, 788). When the state exploited Chinese immigrants as a way to bolster state funds, by way of taxation, the Chinese became the slaves of the West without the opportunity to live freely, just like African Americans in the…
Many Chinese workers made their way to the United States around 1848 during the California Gold Rush. By 1880, there was approximately seventy-five thousand newcomers in the Golden State which was nine percent of the state’s total population. These numbers increased because of mining and the hiring of large labor forces to conduct work on the Transcontinental Railroad across the West. Employers viewed the Chinese as “cheap labor”, and for this reason, Americans welcomed them (Kennedy and Cohen 500). These Chinese workers, composed of mostly men, came from a background of poverty and turmoil in their homeland.…
The California Gold Rush started during 1848 where James W. Marshall found gold. As a result; people around the world came to California for it. The Gold Rush lasted from 1848 to 1857. Somethings connect to each other even if they’re years apart; such as the California Gold Rush and the American Civil War. The gold rush of California was a cause of the American Civil War. It would make sense that the California Gold Rush helped start the American Civil War because it was before it. America was bigger and better after the Civil War, and it was also better after the gold rush. People used slaves to get the gold; strengthening tensions because slavery was the South's thing, but California was a Northern state.…
There were three main clusters of towns in Karok territory, all located along the Klamath River at the mouths of Camp Creek, Salmon River, and Clear Creek. A steep peak on the east bank of…
Merchants started making the prices on supplies the ‘49ers needed more expensive. It was unfair for the people that needed to buy something even though they weren’t one of the ‘49ers. “Merchants changed higher prices for supplies as people began to stream into California.”(Mcgill, 12) As more people came to California, the higher the prices got and the less money the ‘49ers had to purchase their needs. Also, merchants redrew the California map so they would get more money from the ‘49ers. The ‘49ers would have been paying people they shouldn’t have because they redrew the map. Overall, ‘49ers had it rough during the California Gold Rush.…
The Gold Rush began in May of 1848 when the words, "Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!" were shouted by Sam Brennan in San Francisco. The discovery ignited the flames of desire across the country and everyone was infected with gold fever. The topic of the California Gold Rush is a home run in terms of this years theme. We chose this event because of its significance in the foundation of our country and the impact it had on so many lives. People from all over the world traveled to the west to get their hands on the golden trophy, exploring all of California and Nevada. However, once these men encountered the true hardships of the rush they learned that not all that glitters is gold.…
Wanna get rich?! Go to California now, gold’s been discovered! If you want to be wealthy GO NOW to Sacramento Valley and find some gold. Quick before it all runs out! The California Gold Rush of 1849 was a chance to get rich, but it was hard and some only got rich. In this article you will learn about the first gold discovery, the supplies used, immigrating to California, and the outcomes of the Gold Rush.…
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…
The Golden Rush was the digging struggled with success and failure. The gold of California was the attraction to the eyes of the world; the perfect land with all the possibilities to get richness in a short time. Argonauts undertook a dangerous journey to arrive after several days in California, some of them did not make it to their destiny for hunger or diseases. Others took advantage of the situation and made business such selling jerked beef, blankets, medicines, axes, and many items necessaries for mining. The work was hard but remunerative; some of the immigrants work all year round while others leave on winter for the low temperatures. One of the benefits in California was that there was not slavery; hence, California was full of…
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…
Kanazawa, Mark. (2005) Immigration, Exclusion, and Taxation: Anti-Chinese Legislation in Gold Rush California. The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 65, No. 3, pp. 779-805…
Gold is a pure chemical substance that consists of one type of atom, in other words it is a pure substance. You can find gold on the periodic table with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79 (this is also known as the proton number). Gold is a metal which is soft, shiny, malleable, ductile and dense. It is also a very special metal as it is very rare and resists attacks by most acids. Pure gold has a bright yellow colour which does not oxidize in air or water and therefore does not rust. Out of all the metals gold is the most malleable and ductile of all metals. A single gram of gold can be beaten into a sheet of 1square meter; a gold leaf can be beaten thin enough to become transparent to the human eye. Gold creates alloys with other metals easily. These alloys can be made in order to modify the hardness, and to control melting and boiling points. Gold is a good conductor of electricity and heat as it is a metal. Gold is unaffected by air, moisture and is therefore is a good material for the use of coins, jewellery and as a protective on other more reactive metals.…