California Gold Rush Essay

California in today’s world is a large, rich state where all the famous movie stars live. But back in 1848, only a few thousand people were living across the expanse of land. So how did John Sutter kick-start the biggest migration in United States history? The California gold rush accelerated the creation of California as a state because of the rapid influx of people following the discovery of gold, and the discovery of gold triggered a boost in the United States economy.

At the time right before the gold rush, the United States was at war with Mexico. California was owned by Mexico during this time. The United States and Mexico declared war on each other in 1846, and this war lasted until 1848. After

“Mexican-American War…war between the United States and Mexico (April 1846–February 1848 stemming from the United States’ annexation of Texas in 1845 and from a dispute over whether Texas ended at the Nueces River (Mexican claim) or the Rio Grande (U.S. claim),” (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 1) This event was important to the California Gold Rush, because the United States desperately wanted California in the Union, so they quickened the annexation of California. After the United States heard about the discovery of gold in the state, it sent them into a crazed frenzy. Before the gold rush, there was gold everywhere. You could find gold just by scooping a pile of dirt out of the ground and sifting through for a few minutes. but after most of the surface-level gold was taken up by the 49ers, they had to start digging. Mines were put into place so that more gold could be

Some obvious perspectives to analyze are those of the pioneers involved. One in question is the journal of Stephen Chapin Davis, a merchant from New England who sailed from New York through Panama to San Francisco. He talks about the rough trip it took to get to San Francisco, and he includes stories from every town he stopped in. Every story he includes paints a vivid picture of life in San Francisco in 1850. “In the morning Hilliard and I went over to Sonora and made some inquiries in regard to business, but don['t] see anything lucrative [t]here. So we have partly concluded to go into business at Coulterville.” (Davis, 1) Some other perspectives to analyze are those of the natives of that area. One of the main reasons there aren’t many if any at all diaries and journals of natives during this period is because of a small event most people don’t know about. Not so much an event as genocide. “In just 20 years, 80 percent of California’s Native Americans were wiped out.” (Blakemore, 1) As gold-rushers started flooding the land, there soon wasn’t enough to go around. To solve this, the United States started rewarding people who killed and stole from the natives. “Whites are becoming impressed with the belief that it will be absolutely necessary to exterminate the savages before they can labor much longer in the mines with