The California Gold Rush
The discovery of gold
In early 1848 gold flakes were discovered in a river near the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
The discovery of gold
Discovery at Sutter's Mill
James Wilson Marshall found gold flakes a river near Sutter's Mill. He and Sutter begin keeping the gold a secret.
Discovery at Sutter's Mill
The major event after Marshall's discovery
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed
Just days after Marshall's discovery the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed ending the Mexican-American War.
The major event after Marshall's discovery
News of the gold begins to spread
Even though Marshall and Sutter tried to keep quiet about the gold word eventually got out. By mid-March at least one newspaper reported about large quantities of gold being turned up at Sutter's Mill.
News of the gold begins to spread
The Gold Rush Begins
Though the inital reaction in San Francisco was disbelief, store keeper Sam Brannan set off a frenzy when he paraded through town with a vial of gold. By mid-June, some three-quarters of the male population of San Francisco had left town for gold mines.
The Gold Rush Begins
The news of gold continues to spread
As news spread of fortunes being made in California, the first migrants to arrive were those from lands accessible by boat. Only later did the news reach the East Coast initally the press reports were skeptical. Gold fever kicked off after December 1848 when President Ja mes K. Polk announced the positive results of a report made by Colonel Richard Mason.
The news of gold continues to spread
The '49ers come to California
Throughout 1849, people around the United States (mostly men) borrowed money, morgaged their property or spent their life savings to make the arduous journey to Califronia. Thousands of would-be gold miners, known as the '49ers traveled overland across mountains or by sea to reach California.
The '49ers come to California
Boomtowns begin to appear
By the end of the year, the non-native population of Califronia was estimated at 100.000. To accommodate the needs of the '49ers, gold mining towns had sprung up all over the region, complete with shops, saloons, brothels and other businesses seeking to make their own Gold Rush fortune.
Boomtowns begin to appear
California applies to join the Union
In late 1849, California applied to enter the Union as the 31st state. They entered the Union with a constitution preventing slavery, provoking a crisis in Congress between proponets of slavery and abolitionists.
California applies to join the Union
The lasting impact of the Gold Rush
After 1850, the surface gold in Califronia largely disappeared, even as miners continued to arrive. The growing industrialization of mining drove more and more miners from independence into wage labor. The new technique of hydraulic mining, developed in 1853, brought enormous profits but destroyed much of the region's landscape.
The lasting impact of the Gold Rush
Fun Facts
The area where gold was found became known as the Gold Country and the Mother Lode Country. The Gold Rush was the largest mass-migration in US history.
Fun Facts
Websites used
www.historynet.com
www.britannica.com
www.history.com
Websites used
https://kidskonnect.com