Klondike Gold Rush Research Paper

The discovery of gold introduced immigrants, gold rushers, miners, loggers, railroads and infrastructure community to Washington State. The immigrants or settlers came to Washington to look for gold and the discovery of gold helped increasing the population in Washington. In order for gold to be found, there were prospectors, miners and loggers that were there to find a way to complete their mission by finding gold. After gold has been discovered, it introduced an infrastructure community in small towns across the west. Gold introduced a lot of elements in Washington State and it created civilization in Washington.

The Westward Expansion all started when America made the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. There were many benefits from the purchase for the US that the French didn’t realize before they sold it. The purchase gave the US access to the Mississippi river which allowed for expansion of river trade to the North and South from the center of the US. The port city of New Orleans was bought by the US and its prosperity benefited the US greatly. The US sent Lewis and Clark west to investigate the land they purchased. After their exploration, many people started to take interest in moving West. There were many different reasons why people moved, including a search for a fresh start at life, a chance at starting an economic success through agriculture and

Numerous aspects influences Europeans to immigrate to the United States including unemployment, the seeking of refuge from religious prosecution, food shortages, and increasing threats of war. Hope that America would provide a new home with a new start encouraged 6.3 million people to enter the United States between 1877 and 1890. Prior to the 1880’s, most immigrants originated from Germany, Ireland, and England; however, the sources began to shift away from northern and western Europe in the 1880’s. An increase of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe quickly replaced those prior to the 1880’s. “New immigrants” from Italy, Greece, Austria-Hungary, Poland, and Russia practiced Catholicism and Judaism instead of Protestantism. Between

The Gold Rush was saw as opportunity to everyone around the world, some came for the gold, some came to sell common needs of the average gold miner. About 300,000 people came to California for the new fortune. Also about 2 billion money worth of gold was extracted during these times. Sam Brannan created the hype for gold, so he can sell his mining supplies to the miners, he made more than for panning for gold. The gold rush also created the levi’s pants. Also the growth of many cities in the california region grew including San Francisco.

The California Gold Rush was amongst one of the many attractions that America offered. However, the Chinese immigrants had many difficulties on their way to following the American Dream. An obstacle they had to overcome was the laws of their imperial monarchy of the time, the Qing dynasty of China. Their rule, which lasted from 1875 to 1908, had opposing views on the working class of China migrating to America and is what postponed immigration for many Chinese people. Those who were able to immigrate were second and third class and often came without much wealth, enduring the poor living conditions on their transportation, with small cabins and terrible food. When the Chinese arrived, they would wait for days, even months in the barracks of the immigration station for their interrogation that would allow them to gain entry into the United States. Their journey to America was rough, and there was almost no support for the immigrants. While living in America, the mass majority of Chinese immigrants were poor and experienced terrible living and working conditions. Many died from the toxic chemicals in the gold mines, and from the diseases transmitted from one worker to another. Often, supervisors of the mines would take advantage of the Chinese workers’ inexperience and would pay them low wages for dangerous

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.

However, these factors not only contributed greatly towards the outcome of the Klondike gold rush, but also resolved to have a long-lasting effect on a larger scale. For example, the economical trade mentioned in this Gold Rush changed the economy in Alaska and the United States. Also, the harsh environments documented by prospectors allowed future generations to realize the difficulty and fraud of the Gold rush, consequently causing the Klondike Gold Rush to be known as “The Last Great Gold Rush.” Therefore, these factors must not be avoided or under looked as they contribute significantly towards the event as a

Before the Gold Rush, California was hugely underpopulated. The only people that lived there were Native Americans, Mexicans, and a few American immigrants. The towns were small and nearly abandoned. When the Gold Rush started that completely change. The small cities grew and the Bay Area became closer to what it is today and an economic boom occurred.

The California Gold Rush was a rush of people in search of gold in California. The gold

For some, it was destiny to move west. Although there were many conflicts and disagreements between ourselves and others, it was destiny to move west because of overpopulation, new inventions of transportation methods, and new opportunities.

Crossing over rivers, rolling hills, endless plains, and mountain passes to finally reach a salvation with huge plots of land with boundless capabilities is what many Americans did while passing through the Oregon Trail. The trail allowed many Americans to have an opportunity to prosper, but there were many dangers and perils that they would have to face. The motivation to travel the Oregon Trail was so strong because it allowed endless possibilities for Americans to escape debt, start businesses, farm large sums of land, and for Manifest Destiny.

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.

To start, Americans were able to sell this gold in exchange for loads of money. One man who only had a piece of land that was four feet square “got thirty pounds of gold in less than a month.”. Additionally, a group of five miners “collected $75,000 in gold,” (Gillon 63). This proves that from the Gold Rush Americans were able to grow in wealth and, in some cases, simply by using their own territory to gain more money. The Gold Rush left a positive impact on American History because Americans gained money.

The Mexican-American War changed the Unites States of America in a monumental way. This war changed The U.S.A.’s relationship with foreign powers and the economic standpoint of the nation. The Mexican- American war, and its strong ties to manifest destiny, shaped the nation in a country bordered by two seas with a chance for common folk and foreigners to have a sustainable life due to the gold rush. The war can also be accounted for the downfall leading to the Civil War over the conflict of slavery due to the land purchased in the wars treaty.

William Robert Morrison is a Canadian historian who wrote the article “Eldorado”, in which he gives a detailed account of the Klondike gold rush of 1897-99 and how difficult of a time that was for the people who travelled in hopes to strike riches. Morrison believes that the Klondike gold rush is what made the westerly region of the North a part of the modern world.