In the Spring of 1849, gold was discovered in John Sutter’s saw mill. Samuel Brannan ran through the streets of San Francisco, yelling to all about the news. “Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!” The news spread quickly around California, and in just three days, the population of San Francisco went from 250 to 600. By the Spring of 1849, the news of gold had spread to every part of the United States by boat, wagon, and mule. When the people's wildest dreams were confirmed by President Polk in his annual message to Congress, they flocked to California by the thousands. In 1847, there was a mere 15,000 living in California, but by 1853 there were over 300,000 people living in the state, a population growth unheard of in the history of
…show more content…
California was desperately in need of shops and businesses because of the sudden population boom and all the other people that had owned stores had run off to find gold
Prices soared because of the lack of shops, and people could strike it rich by selling anything that the people needed at high prices. People were in need of food, clothing, tools, and they all wanted wine, so if you had a way to get it in bulk, you could sell it for up to 10x the original price and make a fortune.
Lyman Bradley said “‘If you could get a job done quick enough to suit, you could have almost any price your conscience allowed you to ask.’ Gold from gold”. If you knew how to do something useful, and stuck at it for a long time, you could charge people for it in CA for high prices.
Women could strike it rich in California to, even without being in the gold mines
Women did the same things that they would back home, and made fortunes. If they could sew, cook, clean, anything that men usually had their wives do for them. They could make miners pay these services at high prices, and make even more than their husbands off at the mines …show more content…
Some free blacks went to California to collect enough gold to buy their families out of slavery
Conclusion
The gold rush offered riches to anyone who dared take the journey, and the effect was monumental. Thousands answered to Samuel Brannan’s call of “Gold!”, people from every corner of the country packed up and took the long journey West. Most went to find gold, and for every different reason imaginable―to rise up from the lowest of society, to buy their family from a plantation owner, to take a break from the same factory schedule every day─whatever the reason, gold seemed to be the answer to everybody’s wishes.
The California gold rush caused the greatest deal of Westward expansion in the 18th century.
The discovery of gold brought people a new thrill that they couldn’t experience back home, a new encounter that could appeal to all, whether you were poor and in need of money, or an average working man looking for pleasure for a
California was desperately in need of shops and businesses because of the sudden population boom and all the other people that had owned stores had run off to find gold
Prices soared because of the lack of shops, and people could strike it rich by selling anything that the people needed at high prices. People were in need of food, clothing, tools, and they all wanted wine, so if you had a way to get it in bulk, you could sell it for up to 10x the original price and make a fortune.
Lyman Bradley said “‘If you could get a job done quick enough to suit, you could have almost any price your conscience allowed you to ask.’ Gold from gold”. If you knew how to do something useful, and stuck at it for a long time, you could charge people for it in CA for high prices.
Women could strike it rich in California to, even without being in the gold mines
Women did the same things that they would back home, and made fortunes. If they could sew, cook, clean, anything that men usually had their wives do for them. They could make miners pay these services at high prices, and make even more than their husbands off at the mines …show more content…
Some free blacks went to California to collect enough gold to buy their families out of slavery
Conclusion
The gold rush offered riches to anyone who dared take the journey, and the effect was monumental. Thousands answered to Samuel Brannan’s call of “Gold!”, people from every corner of the country packed up and took the long journey West. Most went to find gold, and for every different reason imaginable―to rise up from the lowest of society, to buy their family from a plantation owner, to take a break from the same factory schedule every day─whatever the reason, gold seemed to be the answer to everybody’s wishes.
The California gold rush caused the greatest deal of Westward expansion in the 18th century.
The discovery of gold brought people a new thrill that they couldn’t experience back home, a new encounter that could appeal to all, whether you were poor and in need of money, or an average working man looking for pleasure for a