How Did The California Gold Rush Ban Chinese Immigration

The California Gold Rush, one of the most influential time periods in American history, led to the development of the country as it is known today. “Gold!” were the words heard around the world when James W. Marshall discovered the gold at Sutter’s Mill, California, on January 24, 1848. As these words swept the nation nearly a year later in 1849, California reached its peak as over one hundred thousand miners made the dangerous journey in the hopes of striking it rich. Miners and citizens of California will mostly remember the gold rush as a time period of hard work and disappointment. Some will remember how their good luck resulted in riches beyond their imagination. However, some miners' experience was worse than just disappointment, the risk of death or illness, the exposure to racism

They were met with violence and discrimination. Chinese miners suffered the most during the gold rush. The white miners expressed their frustration towards the Chinese miners. Prejudice towards the Chinese miners resulted in the passing of the Chinese exclusion act in 1882. This act strictly banned Chinese immigration for at least a 10 year period, this occurred because of the violence that was occurring to all the Chinese miners during this time period in California. The fact that a law resists a certain group from immigrating into the country is reason enough to say that the California Gold Rush was a negative event in American history. Before the miners could make it out to the California hills in search of gold, they had to make the journey west. However, the risk of death and illness while traveling to California and exposure to the Californian desert is another reason why the California Gold Rush seems to be a negative event in history. Many travelers did not even make it to California. Document 5, the “grave markers (drawing)” is an example of these unfortunate