The Diverse Communities

Did you know that the California Gold Rush communities were incredibly diverse?

• In 1848, about half of gold miners were American Indians

• In 1849, close to 10% of gold miners were from Mexico

• By the 1850's, people of Chinese descent made up a fifth of all gold-miners

• By the 1850's, close to 10% of the gold-mining population were women

• African-Americans also made up a considerable amount of the population

Learn more about the diverse communities in the readings below.

All of the statistics above are from Encyclopedia Britannica

Chinese Communities in the California Gold Rush

By 1851, 25,000 people had immigrated to California from China in search of gold.

• Read more about their experience here.

• Many of those immigrants went on to work in the railroads. Read more about that here.

• Watch this video to learn more about the Chinese communities during the gold rush.

African American Communities in the California Gold Rush

Slavery was still legal in California when the California Gold Rush began, and the experience of African Americans during the California Gold Rush was complex.

• Read about the African American population in California during the Gold Rush at the California African American Museum

• Read more detail about being an African American person during the California Gold Rush in PBS' American Experience.

American Indians in the California Gold Rush

• The Gold Rush had a negative effect on the American Indian population. Read more from the National Library of Medicine.

• Go to TCI in Clever and find Chapter 7: The Gold Rush Changes California. Read Section 4- Law and American Indians to find out how unfair laws affected the American Indian population

• Read more about the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians at the ACLU of Northern California.