California Gold Rush: The Birth Of A State

On January 24, 1848 the history of California changed when gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill. The forty-niners, as they were known, flocked to the land of promised wealth to seek their fortune in gold. They came anyway they could, on ships, in covered wagons and even on horseback. This singular-minded drive for wealth will forever be known as the California Gold Rush.

San Francisco And Statehood

A mere town at the beginning of the great California gold rush, San Francisco became a boomtown as a result. It didn’t take long for the tiny town to grow a maze of streets filled with every mining town nuance imaginable. From a mining town, San Francisco grew larger and larger offering shops, churches and schools that attracted families and even those not interested in the California gold rush.

Another city that developed as a result of the California gold rush was Sacramento. And, as hamlets grew into towns and the towns boomed, a government had to be formed. With that step came laws, and before long California was admitted into the United States as a full state. All of this directly related to the thirst for wealth that first drove the forty-niners to what was considered the land of plenty.

Agriculture And Native Americans

As the California gold rush sparked growth in this newly formed state, the goals of the new immigrants began to shift. No longer were they called the forty-niners and no longer were they on the singular mission of finding gold. Instead, California’s gold rush had shifted to an agricultural push, which meant that more and more land was needed.

In addition to the land needed for agriculture, the California gold rush and the newly budding agricultural push meant a push for faster ways to move people and goods across the state. Eventually, California began building a railroad to accommodate the need to move people and things. With the need for land to mine on, land to grow things on, and land for railroads, Native Americans were shoved out of ancestral lands and onto reservations.

Years later, it was discovered that the boomtown building California gold rush had one other negative effect. Not only did the Native Americans suffer, but the land was also ravaged from the effects of mining. This was, and remains one of the most important pieces of American history. Now, students from anywhere can learn about the California gold rush and the lives of the miners by visiting the online museum, http://www.museumca.org/goldrush/fever.html. It is dedicated to preserving this historic event for generations to come.