Gold was first discovered by James Marshall on January of 1848 in California’s Sacramento Valley (Seidman 3). When news of gold got out, people poured into California from everywhere (Seidman 3). From all around the world, people traveled by ship, ox, wagon, foot, etc (Brands 24). There are two ways to get to the goldfields: You could sail around South America by way of Cape Horn to San Francisco. You could either do that or sail to Panama, leave the boat, then go by foot and cross the isthmus. After you reached the Pacific, you got another boat to San Francisco (Seidman 31). The voyage took a long time and not everyone survived it (Brands 25). This discovery of the gold turned out to have a major impact on California. So, how did the Gold Rush impact the politics and power, culture and society, and work, exchange, and technology of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold? Impact, as in meaning, what effects the Gold Rush had on it. The Gold Rush impacted the politics and power of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold, because California becomes its own state and it improves economically, culture and society, specifically that a large amount of Native Americans died, the community evolves, there is population growth, agriculture increases, and the work, exchange, and technology, specifically that there are transportation advancements and new machinery is invented.
The Gold Rush impacted the politics and power of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold because California becomes its own state. According to the book The Fools of ‘49: The California Gold Rush by Laurence I. Seidman, a historian and professor at C.W. Post College, when people began migrating to California for gold, it was still a territory (Seidman 169). California was ruled by the military government that had been established there during the Mexican War (Seidman 169). “Then, in 1850, this territory was admitted to the Union as a state” (Seidman 169). Because people kept migrating to California for the gold and civilization grew, California was declared a state. The migration of so many people moving to California in search of gold led to it becoming a state. The Gold Rush caused California to become its own state. Therefore, the Gold Rush impacted the politics and power of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold because California became its own state.
The Gold Rush impacted the politics and power of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold because California improves economically. According to the article “Historical Impact of the California Gold Rush” by Norwich University, the Gold Rush “was ensuing economic development that sprang up around the industry…”. “The increased investment in the emerging California economy would have a lasting impact on California…” (“Historical Impact of California Gold Rush”). Because the state found gold, it increasingly grew and improved California’s economy. Americans got richer, and the state as a whole did too. There were also more businesses and industries, increasing California’s overall investment. That led to the growth and advancement in California’s economy. The state got plenty more money than it had before gold was first discovered. Therefore, the Gold Rush did impact the politics and power of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold because California improves economically.
The Gold Rush impacted the culture and society of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold, specifically that a large amount of Native Americans died. According to the book The Fools of ‘49: The California Gold Rush by Laurence I. Seidman, “the forty-niners had little understanding or respect for the Indian culture and way of life” (Seidman 186). “In the mining towns and the digging, the Indians were held in the lowest esteem and treated with contempt” (Seidman 187). “Outnumbering the Indians, with superior weapons… the whites were more mobile and aggressive” (Seidman 192). They would kill Indians even if they had not committed a crime and would burn down whole villages (Seidman 190, 192). Because of people moving in to California to find gold, Native Americans died. People were more careless about Native Americans’ lives, and they did not respect them. Native Americans would be killed for absolutely no reason. Since people from around the world moved to California, Indians’ lives were a lot less safer than before the Gold Rush. Therefore, the Gold Rush did impact the culture and society of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold because a lot of Native Americans died.
The Gold Rush impacted the culture and society of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold, specifically that the community evolves. According to the book Americans and the California Dream by Kevin Starr, a graduate of the University of San Francisco and also has Ph.D. from Harvard, churches, schools, hospitals, and other buildings were made (Starr 71). There were also hotels (Borthwick 45). San Francisco went from having small houses to being packed with newly built houses, restaurants, and gambling saloons (Borthwick 45). According to an article from the website pbs.org, gold seekers formed “multicultural communities that still exist today” (“Effect of the Gold Rush”). Because of so many people seeking for gold, the community evolved. There were more people and new towns, churches, schools, and other type of buildings. The community expanded because of the people in search of gold. That is why the Gold Rush impacted the culture and society of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold because of the community evolving.
The Gold Rush impacted the culture and society of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold because there was population growth. According to an article from Harvard University’s Open Collection Program, the gold seekers caused California’s population to increase dramatically (“California Gold Rush…”). “In San Francisco, the population grew from 1,000 in 1848 to over 20,000 by 1850” (“California Gold Rush (1848-1858)”). Before the Gold Rush, San Francisco was a small village with few huts (Seidman 150). With the opening of gold fields, it became one of the fastest-growing cities in the world (Seidman 150). Because of so many people moving in to California for the gold, California’s population grew. People from all around the world went to California in search of gold. Small towns grew and expanded. Everything grew with people, and new building were created. There was an increase in society, overall. That is why the Gold Rush impacted the culture and society of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold, because of population growth.
The Gold Rush impacted the culture and society of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold, specifically that there was agriculture increase. According to an article by Ken Hamilton, a successful entrepreneur who has a Bachelor of Science in business, agriculture became the leading industry in California (Hamilton). Agriculture increased because of the availability to more sophisticated tools (“Historical Impact of California Gold Rush”). Some of the people who did not succeed in mining turned to farming (“Historical Impact of California Gold Rush”). Because of the Gold Rush, agriculture developed. The Gold Rush led to having advanced tools, which made farming easier. Agriculture became more common because of people who came to California for the Gold Rush. More and more people started to farm. Therefore, the Gold Rush impacted the culture and society of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold because of having agriculture increase.
The Gold Rush impacted the work, exchange, and technology of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold, specifically that there was transportation advancements. According to an article from Norwich University, “new roads, bridges, ferries, wagons, and steamships were created to help prospectors reach California” (“Historical Impact of California…”). By 1850, the Panama Railway was invented, the world’s first transcontinental railroad (“California Gold Rush…”). The Panama Railway was built across the isthmus of Panama (“California Gold Rush…”). The railroad helped speed up the trip to California and make it in less time (“California Gold Rush…”). Because of people travelling to California for the Gold Rush, new ways of transportation were invented. Since the trip to California was hard and time consuming, people created new ways of transportation to get to the gold faster. People wanted to find gold and wanted to be in California as soon as they could. There were advancements in transportation because of the Gold Rush. Therefore, the Gold Rush did impact the work, exchange, and technology of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold because transportation advancements.
The Gold Rush impacted the work, exchange, and technology of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold, specifically that new machinery was invented. According to the book The Fools of ‘49: The California Gold Rush by Laurence I. Seidman, “new inventions and methods of mining affected life in the gold fields” (Seidman 207). “A revolutionary discovery was made in March 1853 when Edward H. Mattison… and two of his fellow miners invented hydraulic mining” (Seidman 207). The Gold Rush led to more efficient ways to find gold. People searching for gold thought of new ways to find gold and created machinery to find it faster. Because people wanted to find gold, new machines and equipment was invented. The machinery and technology improved the mining for gold. The Gold Rush impacted the work, exchange, and technology of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold because it led to new machinery.
The Gold Rush impacted the politics and power of California in the decade following the discovery of the gold, because California became its own state and it improved economically, culture and society, specifically that a large amount of Native Americans died, the community evolved, there was population growth, agriculture increased, and the work, exchange, and technology, specifically that there was transportation advancements and new machinery was invented. The Gold Rush impacted a lot of things of California. California became a state and improved economically because a lot of people migrated to California and found gold. Native Americans died because people were careless with their lives and only cared about gold. Since so many people traveled to California for gold, California’s population and community grew. There are a bunch more people and civilizations. The Gold Rush impacted agriculture because new ways were found to make farming more efficient. The Gold Rush led to new inventions. Since people wanted to get to California faster, there were inventions that sped up the trip to California. People also made machinery to find gold faster. The Gold Rush impacted California in many ways. The discovery of the gold led to many new inventions and creations. There are a diversity people with different nationalities in California because of the Gold Rush.
Works Cited
Borthwick, John David. Three years in California -54. Edinburgh, London, W. Blackwood and sons, 1857. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/rc01002730/. Accessed 5 Mar. 2018
Brands, H.W. The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream. Doubleday, 2002. Accessed 5 Feb. 2018
“California Gold Rush (1848-1858)”. Harvard University Library Open Collections Program, ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/goldrush.html#pubs. Accessed 4 Apr. 2018
“Effect of the Gold Rush”. PBS, http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/effect-of-the-gold-rush/. Accessed 4 Apr. 2018
Hamilton, Ken.“What Effects Did the Gold Rush Have on California’s Economy?”. Classroom, 18 Jan. 2018, classroom.synonym.com/info