The Positive And Negative Effects Of The Gold Rush On California

Improved Essays
The famous gold rush occurred in California when a man by the name of James wilson marshall discovered the precious metal on his property better known as Sutter’s Mill. Mr. Marshall tried to keep his discovery as low as possible. However, eventually news spread about the gold and it spread fast. Newspaper after newspaper covered the story of the immense amount of gold buried in the rivers of California.What was a small discovery eventually evolved into one of the most controversial events of our history. To this day historian still argue whether the gold rush negatively or positively affected California. In my essay, i will be discussing the positive and negative effects of the gold rush on California. Environmental ruining is one of the main reason why the gold rush was negative on california. It is believed that gold mining is the most destructive form of mining. In correlation to the mining, tons of toxic materials were left in the mining environment. According to an abc news 7 article the state speaks about the millions of …show more content…
When news spread of Marshals discovery, gold miners were migrating to California at a very rapid rate. Gold miners from all over the world traveled to the california rivers for their shot at getting rich. An example of this was in San Francisco, before the gold rush in 1848 the population was only approximately 1000 people, after the gold rush in 1850 the population was about 3,500. And after 6 years it grew almost 36,000 residents. San Francisco was not ready for the sudden growth and the streets slowly became more crowded and significantly dirty then before.Besides the obvious sanitation problem there were other problems too, as the population rapidly rose so did the crime. Lots of men and women struck by greed would often loot others houses in search for gold or materials to sell for their own profit. Not only did the robbery rate go up so did the murder

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    With thoughts of gold rivers in sight, weaker minority groups were subject to anything when excavating gold in the same working conditions, and earning the same amount as the entitled race at the time: the White race. In this era, slavery was still a highly regarded market for labor, there was an ongoing struggle between the North and the South over the survival of the inhumane entity, and many people went westward in search of new life. Though two or three decades had passed before subject to oppression, California was a new frontier for the newly settled…

    • 1929 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    At the time California was still a territory but so many people came that they decided it would be a state. So on September 9th,1850 California became the 31st state. In the middle of the Gold Rush California gained around 85,000 people. The people that mined were called Forty Miners. As a result around 50 languages were spoken at that time.…

    • 224 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The California gold rush was an important part of the Antebellum period of American history because it dramatically increased the financial quality of the United states. The gold rush was when a big gold deposit was found in a stream in california that caused people from around the country to come. The gold rush changed our country in a short period of time. When James W Marshall was working for a man named John stutter, he saw what looked like something glowing in the water. He picked it up and brought it to a friend to test if it was gold or if it was fools gold.…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When people heard about this idea they laughed. They thought thought that it would never be possible. Soon, the idea was ignored. But, during the gold rush in 1849, thousands of people traveled to California to settle the region and hunt for gold. The journey to the west was far to difficult and long.…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chinese Immigration Dbq

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages

    While numerous amount of Europeans arriving on the East Coast, Chinese immigrants arrived on the shores of the West Coast in smaller groups. Between 1851 and 1883, about 300,000 Chinese arrived to seek their fortunes after the discovery of gold in the California gold rush in 1848. Chinese immigrants helped build nation’s railroads, including the first transcontinental line. After the completion of the railroads, they turned to farming, mining, and domestic service. During the 1870s, many Chinese agreed to work for a low wage, but many American workers feared they would lose their job.…

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    California Gold Rush California Gold Rush was the mass migration that brought in people from all over the world. Even people from the east migrated to the west in search of the gold. This was the largest mass migration in American history. James W. Marshall had found pieces of gold on Sutter’s Mill in columbia on January 24,1848. The news of this gold spread all over.…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The gold rush is a significant part of American history because it was the largest mass migration that occurred in America during that time. John Augustus Sutter, lived in Sacramento, California after a long trip from Switzerland. John played a key role in the Gold Rush and lived from 1803 to 1880. He owned a saw mill, called Sutter's Mill, that was located in Coloma, California. Gold was found in his mill and he tried to keep it secret until the word was let out and caused…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The California gold rush is a historic period of time from (1848-1857) that caused a massive migration of people all around the world. Consequently the immense amount of gold found In California made many people rich, but also made many people live in poverty. With one lucky day you could be a millionaire overnight. Not many as many people struck it rich while searching for gold, and many of the millionaires didn't even have to search for gold to become wealthy, many of them had businesses that grew with the large amount of diversity migrating from all around. Over 300,000 people migrated which practically formed the vast state of California.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    He found flakes of gold in the American river at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Coloma, California. The Gold Rush had impacted California. For example, the gold rush was the largest mass migration in the American history, since it brought almost about 300,000 people to California. The amount of gold that was made during the California Gold Rush had been 750,000 pounds. Many large nuggets of gold were found in California.…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gold Rush: The California Gold Rush was the biggest mass relocation in American history since it realized 300,000 individuals to California. It began on January 24, 1848, when James W. Marshall discovered gold on his real estate parcel at Sutter's Mill in Coloma. The news of gold rapidly spread around. Individuals from Oregon, Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii) and Latin America were the first to hear the breaking news, so they were the first to touch base so as to test their fortunes in California before the finish of 1848. Before long the others from whatever is left of US, Europe, Australia and China took after and since they essentially touched base amid 1849 they were known as the "forty-niners".…

    • 1840 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The California Gold Rush research essay The California Gold Rush was a huge event. The Gold lured hundreds of thousands to California for the start of a new land and for the search for gold. But it wasn't easy for everyone to find gold. The miners there had hard times finding gold. Not all of them even survived either, many of them took long hours and days to mine gold.…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the Gilded Age in America, a new movement of techology and wealth spread throughout the country. Industrialization rapidly swept through the nation and urbanized many western areas including the Great Plains and California. White colonist took this as an opportunity to expand westward though this brought destruction to the native americans, while poverty and overpopulation in Japan encouraged migration to America to find their own riches. During the time period of the Gilded Age, the Gold rush was also a prominent movement. White settlers from the east heard of untod rishes in the west and started to make their claim on land in and around california.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Almost everyone has heard about the California Gold Rush at some point, it brings up images of hermits panning for gold in a river. In actuality the California Gold Rush is much more than that. Many things throughout American would not be the same without the California Gold Rush. The California Gold Rush caused a huge boom in civilization in the western part of the United States of America, because of it there was a boom a population growth in a short period of time. It caused many of the major cities that the United States still has, also it played a huge part in the building of railroads.…

    • 1452 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Introduction How do you feel about being in a rush if you do not like it get use to it. That is because in the 1848 everyone was in a rush in the gold rush. Also you might want to read this it says everything you need to know about the gold rush. It tells you about how the gold rush started, the dangers that were faced, what was needed and tips to make you feel better.…

    • 77 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Chapter 4 of Mexicanos by Manuel G. Gonzales it talked about the American southwest of 1848-1900 in four different states: California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. In California, after the Mexican American War, the Spanish –speaking society worsen. On January 24, 1848 gold was discovered by James Wilson Marshall and an employed carpenter named John Augustus Sutter in Coloma. In 1848, miners forced their way into the Sierra foothills, after a year the small stream became a huge spreading into territories. Out of the miners, the most successful were the Latin Americans from South America and Northern Mexico.…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays