1.In American history California did not have the first Gold Rush.
North Carolina was actually the first. The first Gold Rush in American history got started after a 17-pound gold nugget was found in Cabarrus County,North Carolina.After a while,more than 30,000 people in the Tare Heel state were digging for gold and for over 30 years all gold coins issued by the U.S Mint were produced using North California gold.
2.The Gold Rush was the largest mass movement in U.S history.
There were roughly 157,000 people in the California territory;150,000 Native Americans,6,500 of Mexican or Spanish descent known as Californios and less than 800 were non-Americans.20 months later,trailing the massive arrival of the settlers the population of the non native had soared to more than 100,000.More and more kept coming.Halfway in the 1850's there was over 300,000 new arrivals.One out of 90 people in the United States was living in California.all theses things(the people and all of the money)that were happening helped fast track California to statehood.
3.The Gold attracted many immigrants form around the world.
By 1850,more than 25% of California's population was not born in the U.S. As the news was spreading it slowly reached South America and Asia. In 1852 more than 25,000 immigrants arrived from china alone. As the amount of gold began to drop, miners progressively fought one another for profits. The government got some of the action too. In 1850 California's legislature passed a Foreign Miner's tax. which levied a monthly fee of $20 on non-citizens, the equivalent of more than $500 in today’s money. That bill was eventually repealed, but was replaced with another in 1852 that expressly singled out Chinese miners, charging them $2 ($80 today) a month. Violence against foreign miners increased as well, and beatings, rapes and even murders became commonplace. However no native group suffered more than California’s Native Americans. Before the Gold Rush, its native population numbered roughly 300,000. Within 20 years, more than 100,000 would be dead. Most died from disease or mining-related accidents, but more than 4,000 were murdered by enraged miners.
4. The Gold Rush was a male-dominated event.
Hundreds of thousands of people went to California to make their fortunes in the Gold Rush, but almost none of them were women. In 1852, 92 percent of the people who dug for gold were men. few women who did travel to the west eked out a living in the growing boomtowns, working in the restaurants, saloons and hotels that clearly popped up every day. Some women’s journals back east, fearful of the trouble the men might get into without the civilizing influence of women, published stories and ran ads encouraging educated, fairly minded young women to travel west to tame these men. Few took them up on this offer. The percentage of women in gold mining communities did eventually went up somewhat, but even in 1860 they numbered fewer than 10,000 just 19 percent.
North Carolina was actually the first. The first Gold Rush in American history got started after a 17-pound gold nugget was found in Cabarrus County,North Carolina.After a while,more than 30,000 people in the Tare Heel state were digging for gold and for over 30 years all gold coins issued by the U.S Mint were produced using North California gold.
2.The Gold Rush was the largest mass movement in U.S history.
There were roughly 157,000 people in the California territory;150,000 Native Americans,6,500 of Mexican or Spanish descent known as Californios and less than 800 were non-Americans.20 months later,trailing the massive arrival of the settlers the population of the non native had soared to more than 100,000.More and more kept coming.Halfway in the 1850's there was over 300,000 new arrivals.One out of 90 people in the United States was living in California.all theses things(the people and all of the money)that were happening helped fast track California to statehood.
3.The Gold attracted many immigrants form around the world.
By 1850,more than 25% of California's population was not born in the U.S. As the news was spreading it slowly reached South America and Asia. In 1852 more than 25,000 immigrants arrived from china alone. As the amount of gold began to drop, miners progressively fought one another for profits. The government got some of the action too. In 1850 California's legislature passed a Foreign Miner's tax. which levied a monthly fee of $20 on non-citizens, the equivalent of more than $500 in today’s money. That bill was eventually repealed, but was replaced with another in 1852 that expressly singled out Chinese miners, charging them $2 ($80 today) a month. Violence against foreign miners increased as well, and beatings, rapes and even murders became commonplace. However no native group suffered more than California’s Native Americans. Before the Gold Rush, its native population numbered roughly 300,000. Within 20 years, more than 100,000 would be dead. Most died from disease or mining-related accidents, but more than 4,000 were murdered by enraged miners.
4. The Gold Rush was a male-dominated event.
Hundreds of thousands of people went to California to make their fortunes in the Gold Rush, but almost none of them were women. In 1852, 92 percent of the people who dug for gold were men. few women who did travel to the west eked out a living in the growing boomtowns, working in the restaurants, saloons and hotels that clearly popped up every day. Some women’s journals back east, fearful of the trouble the men might get into without the civilizing influence of women, published stories and ran ads encouraging educated, fairly minded young women to travel west to tame these men. Few took them up on this offer. The percentage of women in gold mining communities did eventually went up somewhat, but even in 1860 they numbered fewer than 10,000 just 19 percent.