From Sea to Shining Sea Part 5 The California Gold Rush.
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Transcript of From Sea to Shining Sea Part 5 The California Gold Rush.
From Sea to From Sea to Shining SeaShining Sea
Part 5Part 5
The California Gold The California Gold RushRush
Gold in California!Gold in California!
While the Mormons were going to Utah, immigrants were on the trail to Oregon, and settlers continued going
into New Mexico, people were also were heading to California in huge
numbers. Some exciting news from the Sacramento Valley had come out.
Gold had been discovered!!!
When Mexico had owned California, one of the few
foreigners they had let in was John Sutter from Switzerland. He was
granted 50,000 acres in the Sacramento Valley. He wanted to
build an agricultural empire.
In 1848, Sutter sent a carpenter named James Marshall to build a sawmill on the American River.
The American River
One day, Mr. Marshall inspected the canal that brought water to Sutter’s Mill. He later said:
“My eye was caught by a glimpse of something shining….I reached my hand down and picked it up; it made my heart thump for I felt certain it was gold.”
Site of the 1848 California Gold Strike.
The news was impossible to keep secret. People excitedly
abandoned their regular jobs in nearby San Francisco, and flocked
to the gold fields in the Sacramento Valley in hopes of
getting rich. Soon gold was also found in the rivers and streams flowing out of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains.
San Francisco prior to the Gold San Francisco prior to the Gold RushRush
San Francisco in 1851San Francisco in 1851
In 1849, 80,000 people from around the world came to the region. They became known as “forty-niners”.
A 49er who wished to reach California from the East had a choice of 3 routes, all of them which were very dangerous.
Almost as dangerous as the throwing combo of Joe Montana to
Jerry Rice!!! ☺
Advertisements Advertisements and Information and Information
for Travelersfor Travelers
Option #1Option #1
Sail 18,000 miles around South America and up the Pacific coast.
Dangers faced, included rough storms, seasickness, and spoiled or rotten food.
Option #2Option #2
Sail to the narrow Isthmus of Panama, cross overland where you had the chance of catching a deadly tropical disease, and then hoping for a boat to sail on to California.
Option #3Option #3
Travel the trails across North America. On the way, you had to brave flooded rivers, prairies, mountains, and the other hardships of the trail.
At first, gold was found near the
surface, and you could dig for it
with knives. Later, people
“panned for gold”.
Surface MiningSurface Mining
Thousands came to get rich, and often “Boom Towns” sprang up
quickly. If towns were abandoned, they became known as “Ghost Towns”. The vast majority of
people never “struck it rich”, but many miners stayed and California grew rapidly. Often, people made more money selling supplies to the
miners, than people ever made mining for gold.
If gold or other important minerals were found, a town might suddenly start
growing, whereas a few weeks prior, no one had lived there.
The denim jeans created by
German immigrant Levi Strauss were
wildly popular. He is a great example of
someone who made money off
of the Gold Rush.
California’s Unique CultureCalifornia’s Unique Culture
►Native Americans Native Americans faced a lot of faced a lot of problems. Many problems. Many were driven from were driven from their homes, and their homes, and sometimes died of sometimes died of starvation or they starvation or they were murdered.were murdered.
►By the 1870’s, only By the 1870’s, only 17,000 remained.17,000 remained.
►Many Mexican-Many Mexican-Americans lost Americans lost lands that had been lands that had been in their families for in their families for years. They years. They struggled to keep struggled to keep their customs alive.their customs alive.
►They did get the They did get the state constitution state constitution written in both written in both English and English and Spanish.Spanish.
►Thousands of Thousands of Chinese were Chinese were attracted by attracted by stories of stories of “mountains of “mountains of gold”.gold”.
►At first they At first they were welcomed were welcomed as workers, but as workers, but then were then were driven off as driven off as they tried to they tried to mine for gold.mine for gold.
►Free blacks did Free blacks did try to search for try to search for gold. In the gold. In the 1850’s, 1850’s, California had California had the richest black the richest black population in the population in the U.S.U.S.
►As with other As with other minorities, they minorities, they were denied were denied certain rights.certain rights.
San Francisco turned into a major, bustling city, that for decades was
the most important city on the West Coast. Its population went
from 500 people in 1847 to 150,000 in 1870. Today, it is still a major center of banking, trade, and tourism. Its population today is around 800,000 people, with the
surrounding metropolitan area numbering in the millions.
Throughout much of California, there was a lot of violence and
crime without much law enforcement in the years following
the Gold Rush. VIGILANTE JUSTICE (taking the law into your
own hands) was common. California grew so quickly, that it soon had enough people to apply
for statehood. As we soon will see, that caused problems back in
the United States.