Gold in California
By: Sammy
Thursday,11/30/2017
The California gold rush was not only an unforgettable event in history, but it was also life changing for some people.It made many impacts on california and it had many pros and cons.
What is a gold rush?
A gold rush is where a lot of people from all over come to a specific spot and time because gold was found in that aria. Most People looking for gold hope to find gold for themselves and become rich. Gold rushes usually last a long time. They usually last about 10 to 30 years.
How Did the gold rush in California start?
It was a cold january morning in 1848 near the american river in Columbia, California by the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains at Sutter's Mill. A man named John Sutter had owned a lot of buildings. He had already owned a fort,cattle ranch, farm, and a home nearby. Apparently, he didn’t already have enough things so he asks a man named James Marshall who was born in New Jersey and worked as a carpenter to build him a sawmill. The Sawmill would cut trees and turn them into lumber and the lumber would be sold and they would both get an equal share of the money. One morning, when James Marshall and his men were at work he noticed something shiny out of the corner of his eye and picked it up. Before he could examine this thing he spotted another. It looked like a shiny piece of metal with a yellow tint to it. This metal looking thing looked exactly like gold. Fool's gold,also known as pyrite, is a rock that looks exactly like gold but it is worthless. To prove that it wasn’t fool's gold marshall mashes the metal with a hammer. If it was fool's gold or any other type of regular metal it would've broke into pieces but the rock didn’t even crack. But this wasn’t enough. So Marshall ran the rock he was pretty sure was gold to Jhan Sutter and they poured a chemical on it that would normally melt normal rocks called nitric acid. The gold didn’t do anything. This was definitely gold. They both agreed to keep the gold that they found a secret or else everyone should be at Sutter's mill taking the gold all for themselves.
How did people get to california and what happens after people found out about the gold?
Shure enough word spread. No one knows who spread the word but it did, and fast. Soon everyone knew about the gold that was found at sutter's mill. people from all over the world were soon at sutter's mill panning for gold. people left their families and jobs to go get the gold in california. 1849 was the most popular part of the gold rush. So people that went at that time were called 49rs. A lot of people went to california to get gold while others went to sell to the people who were panning for gold. About 1,400 vessels went to california at that time.
Was There a Bad Side of Panning for Gold?
Panning and digging for gold is hard work. Most people only lasted a few weeks.people got sick and died because the would work all day. The gold rush then ended in about 1860.
Who really got rich?
Since everyone was at sutter's mill panning for gold, they needed panning supplies. The people selling the supplies would sell a lot of supplies because it was high on demand so they priced the tools higher and most people were willing to buy them no matter how much it costs. The people selling the supplies turned out to be the only ones who really got rich. People panning for gold didn’t get rich at all. Most of them went heme disappointed. Some of the gold seekers didn’t even have enough money to go home at all. When James Marshall and John sutter first found the gold they thought that they were the only ones that were going to be rich, but they thought wrong. In fact, they were just like everyone else, they only got a few nuggets of gold.
How the gold rush impacted California?
A Lot of people went to California to get gold. Before the gold was found at Sutter's mill, the population at California was about 14,000 people. By 1849 the population rose to about 100,000. By the end of the gold rush, about 1860, the population rose again to about 360,000, giving California an opportunity to become a state in the united states. So because of the California gold rush, California was able to become a state And It was part of the cause for people to move west.
Conclusion
In conclusion, The Goldrush not only impacted California, but it caused people to move west and it made California to become a state. The California gold rush was an important event in history and no one will ever forget it.
Biblipgraphy
Advertisement for gold- https://mtviewmirror.com/california-gold-rush-1848-1855/
Books-
Holub, Joan, and Tim Tomkinson. What Was the Gold Rush? Scholastic, 2013.
Hirsch, E. D. Pearson Learning Core Knowledge. Pearson Learning Group, 2002.
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