The gold rush of 1849 was a controversial time in history because of the many positives and negatives it brought. Although the time period itself could be violent, it was overall beneficial to the unity and development of the country. The California gold rush had mostly positive effects on America, including the development of the west and hastened to address the issue of slavery to make the country better as a whole.
The Gold Rush supposedly inspired the largest mass movement of people in world history because of the incredibly large masses of gold being found in the West. People found thousands of dollars in gold and people of all different cultures and backgrounds moved Westwards in hopes of finding gold as well. The Gold Rush left a positive effect on American History because Americans became wealthier and more foreigners came to California which expanded diversity.
In the year of 1848, gold was found by a group of people digging in the northern part of California. This group of laborers was digging a millrace, which is the channel which carries the swift current of water that drives a mill wheel, for a man with the name of John Sutter. Although most people think about the Gold Rush as a time where gold was discovered in California, the Gold Rush made more of an impact to the future of the country than people think. There are many other reasons besides gold that make the Gold Rush an important event in American history.
The Gold Rush was a time that change many people’s lives in good and a bad way. In this essay I will explain how the Gold Rush affect the US in a good way, bad away, and interesting facts.
The California Gold Rush is one of the most known gold rushes in the U.S. The phenomenon was started by James Marshall when he found gold in the American River and he said “My heart thumped for I knew it was gold.” Because of his findings the California Gold Rush was born in 1848, then died seven years later in 1855. During these seven years California accumulated over 300,000 people that left their homes to mine for gold. If the gold rush never happened California would most likely belong to Mexico. The California Gold Rush, a phenomenon that drew thousands of people trying to strike it rich with gold had both positive and negative effects in California.
The huge influx of people into California, especially the city of San Francisco, opened up many more opportunities in the economic scheme of things. Manufacturing, trade, merchant businesses, agriculture, entertainment market, and the newly formed banks and financial institutions all flourished and prospered because of the gold rush. The economy in California blossomed. The national economy also was impacted by the gold rush and did well because many companies across the country invested, in some way, shape or form, in the gold rush.
Rapid industrialization during the Gilded Age affected the nation as a whole. The steady increase in population and industrialization lead to the creation of two different sects of the Common Man; the farmers and the industrialists. The farmers mainly gravitated out west due to events such as the California Gold Rush and the large amount of states joining the union. The industrialists worked on railroads and in factories created by corporations. Both the Common Man industrialist workers and farmers acted on industrialization by unionizing to fight against unfair treatment in workplace and by emphasizing the need for government regulation of the corporations.
In 1803, the United States negotiated a deal with France, called the Louisiana Purchase, that gave America a vast amount of land east of the Mississippi. This led to the American Frontier being expanded westward. As the people moved West, John L O’Sullivan dubbed the right for Americans to take this new land Manifest Destiny. The term Manifest Destiny is a term used to describe Anglo-Saxon superiority, and America’s right to expand to new territories to spread freedom. The American Frontier expanding towards the West and even the Caribbean led to the rise of manifest destiny; this yielded negative repercussions because it led to the mistreatment of Native Americans, the rise of greed, and the crippling of the U.S. as a whole by engaging in
At the time no one believed there was gold in California. On the 28th later that week Marshall rode into to town and had the metal tested at it turned out to be gold. Starting from that moment the word that gold had been discovered in this new frontier known as California started a world-wide craze. People traveled from the farthest of places to seeking fame and fortune in the new world. From 1848 to 1856 around $456 million dollars in gold had been discovered in California. The scenery described by the author made you wish that you were there so that you could get some for yourself. Also the accounts of the different races living together in peace was astonishing, something that you wouldn’t see until the end of the next century. This was truly something you could not duplicate or make up on your own. During the time of the gold rush as expected as people began to come, the population would increase and towns would be built. Many of the major cities in California that still exists today started of being gold mine towns were the labor would settle after a hard day out in the fields searching for their illustrious treasure. These were such cities as California capital Sacramento, San Francisco and Oakland. The gold rush would lead to California eventually becoming a state more immigrants came to America and settled in different places not just on
A lot of events have happened during 1848-1940 in California. Historical events such as the Gold Rush and the creation of the railroads, to the more controversial events such as the exploitation of workers, the many strikes that took place, and the monopolies of the railroads. But first, I will begin discussing about the Gold Rush, which began in the year 1848 and had a lasting impact in California. The Gold Rush (which lasted from 1848 to 1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad.
Expansion out West for the United States changed the dynamic of the United States forever. The intergration of whites and native americans caused a multitude issues for with the expansion out West. Striking gold was the dream of many moving out West with the idea of living an upper class life. Native Americans had a culture shock with the expansion out West by the United States government. Politcians played a huge role in the expansion out West such as Andrew Jackson. The idea of getting rich quick was the mindset of many in taking the risk to move out West. Accumpalating land,resources and money was the mission of the United States moving out West however they did not take into account for people merging together who were not equiped to
The California gold rush was something that got our country’s back then. In 1848, James Marshall had discovered gold in California right along the American River. Once people found out about it, they started moving to California in hopes of finding gold as well. I was one of those people who decided to venture there hoping against all doubt and be one of the lucky few to find any. It took me a few months to save up money to go on the trip to California but once I did, I began my journey.
The California Gold Rush was a rush of people in search of gold in California. The gold
Sutter’s mill had gold hidden in it when James marshall found it which started the gold rush. The mill was a place built by Sutter’s crew, it still is a place for people to visit today. The mill was playing a big role in the gold rush because gold was found in it. The american river was the river that Sutters mill was on, this river brought the gold to the mill which was then discovered by James marshall. The river also played a role in the gold rush because that is were people went to try to find gold.
On January 24, 1848 James Wilson Marshall found flakes of gold in the American River at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Marshall was a carpenter from New Jersey working on a water-powered sawmill owned by John Sutter, a German-born Swiss man who founded the colony of New Switzerland, later to be known as Sacramento.