The new Frontier

On January 24, 1848 James W. Marshall found a shiny piece of metal near the American River, which changed California and eventually the whole West forever. This event kick started the Gold Rush, which would eventually become one of the most important events in our country’s expansion Westward. The Gold Rush transformed business and expanded everything in its path. The railroad came as a result from the Gold Rush in order to bring mass amounts of people, who gave up everything to have a chance at making a fortune, out west to make their dreams come true. San Francisco was transformed from a small town by the sea, to one of the largest cities in the U.S.

The California Gold Rush of 1849 is one of the most fascinating and thrilling events in the history of the United States. From the amazing stories of people making it big, to the tragic tales of people losing everything are reasons why the Gold Rush is so exciting. There are many phases of the California Gold Rush such as the effects on California, individual stories of struggle, and effects on the United States as a young country looking for stability. But most importantly, California saw many rapid changes that played a huge part in shaping the state into what it is today. From Hollywood to San Francisco, today’s lifestyles in California have been influenced by the Gold Rush.

This encouraged people from all over the world to come to California in hopes of striking it rich, just as people continued to do up until the 90's. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 immensely accelerated certain changes that had been in the making for decades. For instance, California was already filled with different races and cultures, but when the Gold Rush struck, California became an international frontier where people from every continent were joining together. “California also set an important precedent for civil societies with diverse populations” (page 121). By 1850, California was flooded with over 300,000 people seeking gold.

The frontier line ran through Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas on the western side of the river. All parts of the valley except Wisconsin and Minnesota were well populated. Thus a whole new section had been colonized with lasting effects on the American institutions, ideals and ways of living. The far west was the land of high mountains, deserts, strange rock formations, brilliant colors and immense distance. Fur trade with Europe had now become a lucrative business and the fur traders became the pathfinders for the settlers.

In the mid-19th century, the West drew increasing numbers of American settlers despite the hardships of the journey and the difficult living conditions that waited them at their journey’s end. Thus Americans were immediately sized on the phrase “ Manifest Destiny”- believing that United State’s destiny is manifest, inevitable, to expand to the Pacific Ocean and into Mexican territory. Various factors in the United States in early 1800’s caused the nation to become grabbed with the Western Expansion. First, there were geographical and psychological issues. After Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase in 1803, which had doubled the United States’ size, Americans explored this huge territory in limited numbers.

His plea was to the American people, who he said who is united in their love for country (Woodrow Wilson). These divisions were still apparent decades after imperialistic expansion started. The imperialism experiment was successful in that America became powerful and successful, which was what many people wanted. It was also successful in proving the point of others who saw it as bullying and morally wrong. Both positions were valid and both positions would eventually be proven accurate.

After the Civil War had ended the United States had many challenges to face. There are a variety of factors that aided the country through the tough years that followed the war. The rapid growth of the United States helped to accommodate a large flow of immigration, and build an extremely powerful industrial infrastructure, as well as temper the hostility still present throughout the country. Trains, and eventually automobiles, opened the West to the rest of the country. People now had an escape from there lives in the East, and eagerly began to populate the farthest corners of the country.

A railroad was built which connected California to other states farther east in the United States because flocks of people continued migrating with the hopes of wealth. The gold rush drew much needed attention to California making it a crucial event to decisions about California in the future. The gold rush of 1849 resulted in the rapid growth of California ultimately leading to statehood and westward expansion.

Throughout history, civilizations have declared wars for many reasons such as valuables, land, resources and mainly desires. The desire for war is generally caused by human nature and so mankind have great propensities to do according to his desires and has other people agree to his desires and preferences. I will discuss why some people agree or disagree with the statement above as well as stating my own opinion. Some people would agree with the statement because everyone will always have different beliefs and personal desires. One person will always believe he or she is right in what they think, there will always be that one person who does not want to just believe that they could be wrong so it is in our nature to fight over things such as: race, religion, land, resources and wealth.

When we were under Britain’s tyranny we saw it was to have people who regiment lives, tell you what to do, what to think, to feel who leach off your very essence you till they drain everything out of you. We fought against an enemy that actually had a professional standing army with our honorable Minute Men that were comprised of shop workers and average every day Joes. America has seen first-hand what dictators can do to the people that live under their rule we fought against it and won so we understand better than most. Our history has given us a heart that lusts to help those in need. Especially due to that fact that we too had others help us in our time of need.