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1848 California gold rush
Essay on gold rush
Introduction to the california gold rush
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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 during the 1840’s was a significant event that brought a massive immigration movement to the west, shaped and built San Francisco’s economic growth, and opened up the western migration that united our nation from coast to coast in 1838. In 1838, John A Sutter decided that Mexican-controlled California offered him the greatest chance of success and fortune. He traveled west on the long and grueling Oregon Trail. Sutter followed it until he came to Fort Vancouver, and from there he headed south to California. He finally arrived in California in 1839. He set up a meeting with the provincial governor of California in Monterey. Sutter proposed an idea about building a colony in Monterey and the governor gave him nearly 50,000 acres of land. On this piece of land, Sutter created Sutter’s Fort between 1840 and 1842. In 1848 when one of John A Sutter’s employees, James Wilson Marshall, found gold in the South Fork of the American River, life was never the same for John Sutter. The discovery electrified the world and soon brought thousands of eager gold seekers by ... ... middle of paper ... ...The railroad connected the east and west coast, which united America and allowed both coasts to trade and work as one. The California Gold Rush during the 1840’s was a significant event that brought a massive immigration movement to the west, shaped and built San Francisco’s economic growth, and opened up the western migration that united our nation from coast to coast in 1838. The Gold Rush forever changed the United States and led to the expansion of not only the west, but also the entire Country. The massive influx of immigrants that entered the west along with gold seekers from other parts of the country created a cultural melting pot of different people, languages, and ideas that make up what America is today. The California Gold Rush of 1848 was crucial event in the development and growth of the United States and without it; the country would not be the same.
John Steinbeck was born in 1902. He lived and grew up during the Great Depression near Salinas Valley and wrote many novels based on his experiences and backgrounds. Due to conditions such as nice weather and good agricultural industry, many people settled there. There was a gold rush around the 1850s which attracted many people to this region. The Salinas Valley was a very significant and essential place in the 1930s.
Sutter approached the governor, Juan Alvarado, and was able to impress him enough to obtain a land grant. Sutter was given the opportunity to find a suitable location where he could begin a settlement. And if the settlement was successful, Sutter could eventually apply for Mexican citizenship. (Bidwell, John. "Discovery of Gold, by John A. Sutter - 1848." Discovery of Gold, John Sutter. John Bidwell, 2014. Web. 14 Nov.
After the Civil War, Americans abandoned the sectional emphasis caused by slavery and developed a national focus. During the period from 1865-1890, Americans completed the settlement of the West. For the farmers and ranchers, the American West was a land of opportunity because land was cheap and the Homestead Act provided land to farmers, including immigrants and blacks, in order to grow crops, raise cattle and make a profit. The American West was also seen as a land of opportunity for miners due to the gold and silver rush in the far west which they believed would make them rich. However, both groups faced many challenges and few achieved great wealth.
...gration in population, help the California economy by building many businesses and caused violent conflicts between diverse groups of people. The Gold Rush in 1851 changed California.
The Pikes Peak Gold Rush took place between July of 1858 and February of 1861. The Pikes Peak Gold Rush was later to be named the Colorado Gold Rush due to its location. It was only the start of the mining industry. Thousands of people took place in mining, those of which were called the “fifty-niners.” William G. Russell was the leader of the expedition to the Rockies. He was married to a Cherokee Indian, which is how he heard of the gold findings in 1849. Based on the rumors of the gold that was being found in Pikes Peak, Russell organized a group including his two brothers and six companions to seek the gold. After doing so, the discovery of gold findings by the prospectors in 1858 sprung up a boom. Once the news of the gold discoveries
As most folks do, when I think of the term “Gold Rush”, it conjures up images of the West! Images of cowboys and crusty old miners ruthlessly and savagely staking their claims. Immigrants coming by boat, folks on foot, horseback, and covered wagon form all over the US to rape and pillage the land that was newly acquired from Mexico through the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo… California. But let me tell you about a gold rush of another kind, in another place, even more significant. It was the actual first documented discovery of gold in the United States! Fifty years earlier…in North Carolina!
James Marshall discovered gold in the American River in northern California which caused a great migration to California. Due to this discovery, the United States commodity prices increased and raise in commodity prices urged workers to go on strike in order to protect their standard of living. The U.S. provided 45 percent of the world's gold production between 1851 and 1855. Many people benefited from finding gold because the amount of gold that was found will determine how well they succeeded in becoming rich. The Gold Rush led to the exploration of different territories in California, the encountering of gold, and the exchange of different cultural ideas. The exploration of gold in California during the 1800's affected immigration, the exchange of cultural ideas and shaped the social structure during this period also known as the "Gold Rush."
The transcontinental railroad would eventually become a symbol of much-needed unity, repairing the sectionalism that had once divided the nation during the Civil War. The construction of the transcontinental railroad was also an extension of the transportation revolution. Once commodities such as gold were found in the western half of America, many individuals decided to move themselves and their families out west in search of opportunity. Not only did the railroad help to transport people, but it also it allowed for goods to be delivered from companies in the east. In the end, the American transcontinental railroad created a national market, enabling mass production, and stimulated industry, while greatly impacting American society through stimulated immigration and urbanization.
This mass rush of people all started in the summer of 1897; George Carmack was back from the Klondike with the gold he discovered in the summer of 1896 (SV; SV) (“The Klondike Gold Rush”). There was another ship, named Excelsior, which docked in San Francisco it also brought another miner and their riches from the Klondike (Stefoff). After the ships docked in Seattle and San Francisco, the word was out. “Even in those pre-Twitter days, word spreads fast.” (Martel). Thanks to the telegraph and many newspapers the gold rush drew many people looking for instant wealth (Stefoff). Once the people heard these telegraphs or saw the newspapers the prospectors were off to the Klondike (Glasner). The newspapers wrote an article on the boats coming to town saying “ A Ton of Gold from the Fabulous Klondike” Actually it was closer to two tons (Wharton).
Rohrbough, M. (1997). Chapter 17: The California gold rush and the American nation, days of Gold, University of California Press: Berkeley
The Gold Rush was a time when many people in United States rushed west in hopes of discovering gold. This attracted thousands of people from all around America. Women played a key role in the Gold Rush. They had lots of jobs when it came to migrating west.
The Gold Rush was one of the most influential times in California History. During the four years from 1848-1852, 400,000 new people flooded into the state. People from many countries and social classes moved to California, and many of them settled in San Francisco. All this diversity in one place created a very interesting dynamic. California during the Gold Rush, was a place of colliding ideals. The 49ers came from a very structured kind of life to a place where one was free to make up her own rules.
"California Gold Rush (1848–1858)." Harvard University Library Open Collections Program: Immigration to the United States, 1879-1930. N.p., n.d. 17 May 2014. .
...he Gold Rush A Primary Source History of the search for gold in California. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 2001. Print.
Around 1848 gold was discovered in the American River, which ran right through California. By 1849 tens of thousands of people from around the world mad...