GOLD RUSH AND IMMIGRATION

GOLD RUSH ATTRACTS IMMIGRANTS An average of 80,000 immigrants made the journey to California in the 1850’s Britain, Europe, China, Australia, North and South America California developed a diverse society Variety of religions, languages, and social customs Impacts of immigration on California 1. Native Population Plummets 2. Californios Loose Power, Land, and Privileges 3. White Americans vs. “Foreign Miners”

IMPACTS OF IMMIGRATION: NATIVE POPULATION PLUMMETS Native American population went from an estimated 150,000 in 1848 to 30, years later Native American territories were being invaded by foreigners; they mined, hunted and documented native groups’ remote hiding places As means for survival, natives began raiding mining camps This led to repeated organized war parties led by miners In some cases entire native groups were slaughtered The miners were supported by the state government State legislature passed the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians in 1850 Native Californians were denied the right to testify in court and allowed white American and Californios to keep natives as indentured servants

Impacts of Immigration: Californios Lose Power, Land, and Privilege The American government was an imposition to the elite Californios Californios were given full citizenship Promised their land would be “inviolably respected” Legal claims were difficult to uphold due to the informality of the Mexican land grants Californios who legally won titles to their lands, found themselves in bankruptcy from attorney fees or taxes

Impacts of immigration: White Americans vs. “foreign miners” Latin American miners Californios feared being lumped in with the thousands of Spanish-speaking immigrants A foreign miners’ license tax, 20 dollars per month, was adopted by California legislature The tax was aimed at Latin Americans or “greasers” The tax gave white miners the excuse to push Latin Americans out of rich mining areas

Impacts of immigration: White Americans vs. “foreign miners” Chinese Miners Chinese miners accounted for about a fifth of the entire mining population Earned a living by working abandoned mines, cooks, launderers, merchants, and herbalist hoping to return to China with a small fortune Low pay, the foreign mining tax, and discriminatory hiring practices made it very difficult for Chinese immigrates to be successful African American Miners California entered the U.S as a free state Lack of government allowed slavery to flourish in certain areas African Americans lived under constant threat of arrest due to the Fugitive Slave Law; illegal for enslaved African Americans to flee their masters states for “free borders”