Hannah

Mr.D

English 7

March 5,2024

The California Gold Rush

The gold rush changed history and left cultures meeting together. With population increased the states grew larger. The gold rush changed the whole world. James Marshall was working on a windmill for John Sutter when spotting flakes of gold by the riverside,trying to keep it a secret, but word quickly spread throughout the world and left many businesses in the dust.

While working on a windmill in 1849, John Sutter and James Marshall noticed flakes of shining metal by the riverside.After doing examination on it he and John Sutter had discovered gold.Marshall later said,”It made my heart thump,for I was certain it was gold ”.They told the workers to keep it a secret,but not surprisingly word reached the newspaper , and they began reporting that large quantities of gold are showing up at Sutter’s Mill.

As news got out about the discovery at Sutter’s Mill, this left people in a frenzy to get their hands on the gold. Many people left (mostly men) to find their conquest for gold. The men left all their wives,children,and most of their possessions behind. Since many people left many California businesses to find gold.Migrants came from Mexico,Chile,Peru,and Oregon to find gold and California's population grew every month.With all the new cultures meeting and becoming friends the cultures blended together for generations to come together. Many of the newspapers around California were focusing on the gold rush.

However mining came with consequences: many people were living together in camps and with all the greed trouble was around the corner.People were often gambling since if they lost all their money they would just go get more the next day. It was not just gambling there was drinking,sickness and disease spreading throughout the camps. People would get gold while getting disease and go to the grave, other people would fight over the gold left behind by the owner.People would beg their way home only to never find their way back to go home and see their families once more.People did find their way home and some had fortune with them to treat their families and loved ones. Others were held ransom like Mr.Shufelt. Eyewitness.com says “Sheldon was captured by Spanish bandits while crossing the Panama isthmus. He was confined and held for ransom”.

The California Gold Rush was one of the biggest changing things in history.Leading new cultures to blend together and many migrants to come to the United States.California's population grew as well as the rest of the United States with people moving from California to other states.

Works cited

https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/gold-rush-of-1849

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/californiagoldrush.htm

https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/california-gold-rush-1849

"California Gold Rush." History Channel, A&E Television Networks, 10 Aug. 2022, www.history.com/topics/19th-century/gold-rush-of-1849. Accessed 14 Feb. 2024.

grant, kathryn. "All that glitters:The california gold rush." family search, Intellectual reserve, 7 Mar. 2022, www.familysearch.org/en/blog/california-gold-rush-1849. Accessed 13 Feb. 2024.

"The california gold rush." eyewitness to history.com, Ibis communications.Inc, 2003, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/californiagoldrush.htm#:~:text=Gold%20seekers%20traveled%20overland%20across,Pacific%20coast%20to%20San%20Francisco.. Accessed 13 Feb. 2024.

Klondike gold rush begins. 2015, newspapers.com. Accessed 22 Mar. 2024.