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History of The Gold Rush in California

• Categories: American History Californian Gold Rush Mexico

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Words: 1504 |

Published: Nov 5, 2020

Words: 1504 | Pages: 3 | 8 min read

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History of california, heading west, life in gold rush california, works cited.

• Brands, H. W. (2011). The age of gold: The California Gold Rush and the new American dream. Knopf.
• Burns, R. W. (2004). Gold in the shadow of slavery: Ethiopia and California in the 1850s. The American Historical Review, 109(3), 692-719.
• Deverell, W. F., & Igler, D. (2014). A companion to California history. Wiley Blackwell.
• Gudde, E. G. (1998). California gold camp names: Origins of geographic names of interest to gold-seekers. University of California Press.
• Hittell, T. H. (2011). A history of the city of San Francisco and incidentally of the state of California. Applewood Books.
• Lingenfelter, R. E. (1978). The rush to California: A bibliography of the literature on the gold rush in California and the overland journey to the gold fields, 1848-1852. University of California Press.
• Rawls, J. J. (1999). California: An interpretive history. McGraw-Hill Education.
• Rohrbough, M. J. (1998). Days of gold: The California Gold Rush and the American nation. University of California Press.
• Sides, H. (2006). Blood and thunder: An epic of the American West. Anchor Books.
• Starr, K. (2005). California: A history. Modern Library.

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Essay On The Age Of Gold: Impacts Of California Gold Rush.

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Gold , California , Economics , State , Economic , United States , America , Brought

Words: 1000

Published: 03/08/2023

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The obsession with gold in California started in January 1848 when James Marshall found gold at approximately 40 miles from the Sutter’s Fort. All that followed after James’ find was extreme obsession to find the precious commodity not only in California but the rest of America. From the period henceforth, the prospect for gold became dramatic as everyone else was seeking to lay hands on the commodity (Brands 56). It is hard to imagine what could have happened if a whole population stopped their usual economic activities only to look for gold. James’ find not only transformed people’ s psychosis but brought a total revolution to the American nation. As a matter of fact, finding gold in California brought what one would call gold fever not only in American nation but globally. For the first time after the crusades, mass movement was evident during the period as people moved in large masses from American States and beyond to prospect for gold in California (Brands 58). Nonetheless, people moved from their areas of residence including China and Australia to live at the mining State. This phenomenon not only affected the social setup of the American community but also their political and economic landscape. To be precise, America was never the same again from the political and economic point of view. In short, American history was clearly distinguished in terms of “before” and “after” the gold find (Holliday 48). To start with, the mass movement from other States to the Golden State; a name that California earned after the discovery of deposits, brought a population outburst into the State. Before gold was found in California, the State had a population of just 15,000, however, after the discovery, the population rose to over 400,000 people. Population growth had direct impact on both the political and economic set up of the State. The discovery of gold brought fortune to the State of California. There was a significant economic growth from the sale of gold to the rest of America and the international market. From an economical point of view, the huge labor that was got from the immigrants led to the growth of California. Yet still, there was dire need to provide basic needs for the large population that had grown to 400,000 by the end of 1852 (Kevin 57). There exist some points of similarities on the impact of the gold rush between the political and economic set up of the State. Immigration is a political issue, nonetheless, the immigrant brought in an economical implication as they led to the growth of the State. From thereafter, San Francisco grew into an exciting city, a fact that it still maintains to date. The huge sums of money got from gold were used to develop the State either directly or indirectly. The yields gathered from gold ware slightly above $80m by the end of 1852 and approximately $600m by 1860. The amounts were quite high and could not be got from any source then (Brands 60). On the other side, the political scene of the State drastically changed. There were a high number of immigrants into California. The huge masses can be attributed to the development of San Francisco and California as a whole. The political impact of the immigrants was more or less the economic impacts. The immigrants not only came to mine gold but also to engage in other subsidiary trades apart from trading in the mined gold. However, a bigger number of the population came to prospect for gold. All these impacts, whether political or economic brought in a considerable change in the economic scene of the State (Kevin 39). However, not all the impacts brought in by the discovery of gold in California were beneficial to the inhabitants and the American nation as a whole. The politics of the State was brought to a revolution; the immigrants were not only Americans from other States but the rest of the world as well. The discovery paved way for criminal activities in California; a specific example is the rise of gangs in the State. Several immigrants came to California disguised as gold miners only to form criminal gangs (James 74). Moreover, the big population became difficult to control; basic needs became a problem too. Finally, the political landscape also changed as for the first time, the government of California had to make necessary arrangements to control the big population. On the economic scene, the discovery brought in totally different economic beliefs. The need for gold cash destroyed the agrarian ethos and the famous protestant work ethics. All these traditional beliefs were replaced by the get-rich-quick theory; a theory that was developed after the gold discovery (Heizer 74). Moreover, the find brought in the worship of the dollar; people’s minds were changed to believe that money was not everything, it was the only thing. Furthermore, the huge population outburst brought in several economic problems. Most of the immigrants were looking for money to remit back home regardless of the laws of the land. It’s therefore right to conclude that the gold rush era revolutionized the State of California and the rest of America both economically and politically. This is an aspect that can be directly deduced from the very nature of the gold prospect. As a matter of fact, life was never the same again in California and America as a whole (James 75).

Works Cited

Brands, H.W. The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New America Dream. San Fransisco and New York: Random Hous Publishers, 2002. Heizer, Robert. The Destruction of Carlifornia Indians. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1974. Holliday. Rush For Riches; Gold Fever and the Making of California. Oakland, California, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1999. James, Rawls. A Golden State: Mining and Economic Development in Gold Rush California (California History Sesquicentennial Series, 2). Berkely and Loss Angeles: University of California Press, 1999. Kevin, Starr. California: A history of California. New York: NY: The Modern Library Press, 2005.

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The Gold Rush: Process and Results Essay

Introduction, the first stage, risks and sorrow, sedimentation, works cited.

The term gold rush not only refers to gold minerals but also to any economic activity in which participants expect lucrative benefits within a short period. A gold rush is characterized by the general feeling of lots of instant wealth within a short period. A period of gold rush involves a feverish movement of people into the area of commercial gold discovery. Major gold rushes are known to have taken place in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States. This is perhaps because gold, a soft yellow precious metal is highly valued and is even used as money in some instances. Gold rushes spur settlements and can even redefine the culture of the region in question. How does a gold rush happen?

An individual first tracks a placer gold. At this stage, the placer miners use gold pans or rockers/sluice boxes to extract the bigger gold sediments. Little or no cash investment is needed for this purpose. Placer mining advances to a large scale after the sluice box stage. Here, more sophisticated means are required to continue with the process, and larger organizations willing to spend more money are the major role players. Techniques like hydraulic mining and dredging are used to access placer deposits that are hard to reach. When the free gold supply gets depleted, veins of the original gold are then sought after. The first job for the miners often involves washing and crushing. Later, gold mining will require smelting where gold is separated from other minerals such as sulfide. A placer gold rush involving the above process often takes a few years (Magagnini par.1).

In many cases, people end up selling property and migrating to the ‘gold region’ to acquire a fortune. The majority of people sell their homes or land and exhaust their savings during the process. As it turns out to be, such risks are usually not worth taking, especially where the placer is meager against many hands (fool’s gold). The result is financial impoverishment in cases of failure (Magagnini par.2).

A gold rush may be profitable to some people and yet become detrimental to others. The majority of gold rush stories end up in sorrow. Some people’s lives may be positively transformed while the immigrants who do not make it may not be in a position to even go home. For instance, in the case of the California gold rush, Americans came to resent the fact that only foreigners benefited from the gold rush at the expense of the residents. Violent attacks on foreigners then ensued, after which native Indians were humiliated. ‘Diggers,’ as they were called, were arrested for vagrancy in their land while others were sold as slaves. Women working within the mine areas even managed to earn much more than the miners by baking pies, sewing, washing, and running hotels. Similarly, prostitution was rampant and was even a sort of goldmine for others (Magagnini par. 3).

Goldrush leaves derelict land which leads to sedimentation on shores. Sedimentation forms an abrasive surface that prevents burrowing animals from penetrating the subsurface. In 1862, the new state capitol in Sacramento was drowned by the rivers which were already filled with sediments from the gold rush as they could hardly absorb the heavy rainstorms.

In conclusion, when a gold rush is involved, it is advisable to put one’s priorities right before participating. This is because; only the strong seem to survive a gold rush. The negative consequences attributed to a gold rush are sometimes much more than its gains.

Magagnini, Stephen. “Indians misfortune was stamped in gold”. 1998.

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IvyPanda. (2021, December 11). The Gold Rush: Process and Results. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-gold-rush-process-and-results/

"The Gold Rush: Process and Results." IvyPanda , 11 Dec. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/the-gold-rush-process-and-results/.

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1. IvyPanda . "The Gold Rush: Process and Results." December 11, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-gold-rush-process-and-results/.

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