The California Gold Rush Gold was Found in California, and thousands rushed to that territory. California Quickly became a state

Key Terms and Key Figures Forty-Niner Californio California Gold Rush Key People Mariano Vallejo John Sutter James Marshall

Gold in Them Thar Hills Prior to the Gold Rush, California was home to 150,000 Native Americans and about 12,000 Californios Some Californios owned large plots of land, like Mariano Vallejo, and old military commander for Mexico who owned 250,000 acres While few immigrants could buy land, John Sutter of Switzerland would buy 50,000 acres and began to set up his dream empire When John Sutter commissioned James Marshall to build a saw mill gold would be discovered on his land leading to the California Gold Rush

Golden Opportunities Marshall’s discovery led to the California Gold Rush as thousands of settlers, known as 49’ers, raced to California to find gold Gold would be found in many rivers around the area estimated to be able to pay for the entire Mexican War 10 times over

A long way to go…and a short time to get there Three routes led to California including: By sea, around South America suffering from storms, sickness, and spoiled food Sail to Panama, cross over land, and reach California but risk tropical disease Travel across the United States risking all the hardships of the west Because of the difficulty of getting to California, mostly young men made the trip to find fortune

No Quick Riches Soon after the Rush, Gold Mining Towns popped up with saloons, stores, and many Dangers While stories of getting rich over night spread through the west, sickness disease and death were more common In reality, riches were rare, and most miners would lose money buying land, supplies, and being swindled by Con Artists and gamblers

Mine Your own Business Miners were mostly white New Englanders, Native Americans, Free Blacks and Slaves also worked as Miners As foreign Immigration swept through California, Chinese immigrants made up 10 percent of all immigrants Chinese Miners would buy “played out” mines and work them for profit Many California Miners would soon grow to resent the Chinese miners due to their riches and culture

The Real Chinatown Miners soon became cheats working scams to mine the land As gold became scarce, miners forced Chinese immigrants and Native Americans off the land Once California became a state they would pass the foreign Miner’s Tax at $20 which would force the immigrants out of the state The displaced Chinese immigrants would soon open up businesses around the cities around the mines

The Power of Greed As 250,000 people moved to California, San Francisco grew into a banking and port town, and Sacramento turned into a farming town Many Californios Lost their large Amounts of land to the American Settlers Native Americans suffered worse fates dying of disease, or being hunted and murdered for their land

Rags to Riches California would be admitted as a State in 1849 as a free state in the union For some slaves California became an opportunity to start a new life and gain wealth, like Nancy Gooch who bough the Sutter Sawmill California also became a threat to slavery, upsetting the Balance of free and slave states adding turmoil to the battle against slavery

This has been another World Famous Mr. Green PowerPoint Presentation Test Time!!