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The California Gold Rush: An Essential Event In American History

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Recommended: Essay on the california gold rush

Brianna Campbell Campbell 1

5/10/23

The California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush was an essential event in American History that not only

impacted California, but the nation as a whole. It began in January of 1848 with the discovery of

gold at Sutter?s Mill by James Marshall. This discovery attracted tens of thousands of new

settlers from across the country to move west in hopes of finding fortune. It turned California

into a town almost overnight. This essay will delve into the development and the historical

background of the gold rush as well as the downfall.

Prior to the gold rush, America was experiencing major changes in its economy and its

territorial expansion. California was under control by the Mexican government prior …show more content…

The creation of mines for gold, also meant there was an increase in the demand for

lumber to fuel the boilers and build the developing towns and cities popping up across the

state.?This demand led to large scale logging and contributed to deforestation. Mining requires

water, so dams were built that changed the course of rivers. Hydraulic mining washed sediment

into riverbeds and lakes, threatening agriculture development,? (California State Library).

Mercury was also used in the mining process, which led to contamination in water and fish that

California still deals with today. These things need to be learned because people need to realize

the mistakes of the past, so hopefully they aren?t made again.

In conclusion, the California Gold Rush was a transformative event for the state and the

nation as a whole. The rush of prospectors and immigrants in 1848-1855 helped rapidly develop

cities and towns, forming a whole new society with its own government and a booming economy

of its own. The positive economic boom as well as the damaging effects to Native Americans

Brianna Campbell Campbell 6

5/10/23

and the detrimental environmental impact of the gold rush should be studied so we can gain …show more content…

Accessed 10 May 2023.

Hsu, Hsuan L. ?The Legend of Joaqu?n Murieta: A History of Racialized Violence.? The Paris

Review, 23 February 2022,

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/joaquin_murieta_head

_poster.jpg. Accessed 10 May 2023.

PBS. ?The California Gold Rush | American Experience.? PBS,

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldrush-california/. Accessed

10 May 2023.

PBS. ?Who Made America? | Innovators | Levi Strauss.? PBS,

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/strauss_hi.html. Accessed 10

May 2023.

Shaler, Andrew. ?Indigenous peoples and the California gold rush: labour, violence and

contention in the formation of a settler colonial state.? vol. 23, no. 1, 2020, pp. 79-98.

https://web-p-ebscohost-com.libproxy.gc.maricopa.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=8e

Brianna Campbell Campbell 8

5/10/23

d3d5c2-06f8-4b90-8663-2eed85f1eac7%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZ

zY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=142399579&db=aph. Accessed 10 May 2023.

?U.S. Census Bureau History: The California Gold Rush.? Census Bureau,

https://www.census.gov/history/www/homepage_archive/2018/january_2018.html.

Accessed 10 May

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