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California Gold Rush

California Gold Rush. “ See what gold can do (it) brings men from all nations here to this distance shore to make their fortune (and) many go home worse than when they came (but) others have wealth countless wealth..” . Key Terms. Californios James Marshall John Sutter Eureka Boomtowns

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California Gold Rush

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  1. California Gold Rush “See what gold can do (it) brings men from all nations here to this distance shore to make their fortune (and) many go home worse than when they came (but) others have wealth countless wealth..”

  2. Key Terms • Californios • James Marshall • John Sutter • Eureka • Boomtowns • Foreign Miner’s Tax • San Francisco • 49ers • Levi Strauss

  3. California Before the Gold Rush • About 150,000 Native Americans • 6,000 Californios: Settlers of Spanish or Mexican descent, lived on huge cattle ranches

  4. Eureka “The gold excitement spread like wildfire.” -Luzena Wilson 1849 • Thousands of 49ers to the area: wanted to make a fortune and return home • 2/3 Americans • Native-Americans, free blacks, enslaved African-Americans & foreigners (Europe, South America, Australia, and China) • Mining Camps: Boomtowns created overnight & disappeared with discoveries elsewhere

  5. "The accounts of the abundance of gold in that territory are of such extraordinary character as would scarcely command belief were they not corroborated by authentic reports of officers in the public service." - President James Polk 1848

  6. Native Americans • Died from diseases • Thousands killed by settlers • Destruction of the environment, destroy hunting grounds, polluted waters/fishing sites

  7. Chinese • Flood to CA to search for GOLD!!! • Many came as indentured servants & came to work gold fields for Chinese labor lords • Many faced prejudice…language, food, clothes, customs • Forced many foreigners out • Foreign Miners Tax $20 per month • Tax collectors arrive, foreigners left • Chinese not accepted: open shops, restaurants, laundries • Sacramento area known as “Chinatown” • By 1851 1 of 10 in California of foreigners Chinese

  8. Outcomes of the Gold Rush • Between 1849-52: 250,000 arrive in California • Few people actually strike it rich, many made the most money by selling items miners needed • Destruction of CA Native Americans, 60% DIE from disease, hunted & killed • Believed Native-Americans stood in the way of progress • By 1870, 150,000 to 30,000 • Statehood for California- bans slavery, A-As can’t vote • Population swells

  9. Economic Effects of Statehood • San Francisco becomes center of manufacturing, banking, shipping & trade • Population explodes, Sacramento becomes rich farming region • Increased demand for water • ***Problems over CA statehood: South worried free states would abolish slavery, enters as a free state.

  10. Levi Strauss - A Bavarian immigrant who went into business as a dry goods merchant on San Francisco's Market Street. In 1853, he began making pants for miners from heavy brown cloth. He later switched materials and made the first denim blue jeans in 1873, which he sold to men who needed tough clothes for mining gold. • John Sutter - An early California settler who acquired a Mexican land grant for a large ranch near modern-day Sacramento in 1841. The Gold Rush began in 1848 with the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill made by John Sutter and James Marshall.

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