The California Gold Rush: the History and Legacy of the Forty-Niners and America's Golden Dream

The California Gold Rush: the History and Legacy of the Forty-Niners and America's Golden Dream PDF Author: Charles River Editors
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781492760375
Category : California
Languages : en
Pages : 50

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Book Description
*Includes pictures. *Includes primary accounts of the gold rush. *Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading. "As the spring and summer of 1848 advanced, the reports came faster and faster from the gold-mines at Sutter's saw-mill. Stories reached us of fabulous discoveries, and spread throughout the land. Everybody was talking of "Gold! gold!!" until it assumed the character of a fever. Some of our soldiers began to desert; citizens were fitting out trains of wagons and pack-mules to go to the mines. We heard of men earning fifty, five hundred, and thousands of dollars per day..." - William Tecumseh Sherman One of the most important and memorable events of the United States' westward push across the frontier came with the discovery of gold in the lands that became California in January 1848. Located thousands of miles away from the country's power centers on the east coast at the time, the announcement came a month before the Mexican-American War had ended, and among the very few Americans that were near the region at the time, many of them were Army soldiers who were participating in the war and garrisoned there. San Francisco was still best known for being a Spanish military and missionary outpost during the colonial era, and only a few hundred called it home. Mexico's independence, and its possession of those lands, had come only a generation earlier. Everything changed almost literally overnight. While the Mexican-American War technically concluded with a treaty in February 1948, the announcement brought an influx of an estimated 90,000 "Forty-Niners" to the region in 1849, hailing from other parts of America and even as far away as Asia. All told, an estimated 300,000 people would come to California over the next few years, as men dangerously trekked thousands of miles in hopes of making a fortune, and in a span of months, San Francisco's population exploded, making it one of the first mining boomtowns to truly spring up in the West. This was a pattern that would repeat itself across the West anytime a mineral discovery was made, from the Southwest and Tombstone to the Dakotas and Deadwood. Of course, that was made possible by the collective memory of the original California gold rush. Despite the mythology and the romantic portrayals that helped make the California Gold Rush, most of the individuals who came to make a fortune struck out instead. The gold rush was a boon to business interests, which ensured important infrastructure developments like the railroad and the construction of westward paths, but ultimately, it also meant that big business reaped most of the profits associated with mining the gold. While the Forty-Niners are often remembered for panning gold out of mountain streams, it required advanced mining technology for most to make a fortune. Nevertheless, the California Gold Rush became an emblem of the American Dream, and the notion that Americans could obtain untold fortunes regardless of their previous social status. As historian H.W. Brands said of the impact the gold rush had on Americans at the time, "The old American Dream ... was the dream of the Puritans, of Benjamin Franklin's 'Poor Richard'... of men and women content to accumulate their modest fortunes a little at a time, year by year by year. The new dream was the dream of instant wealth, won in a twinkling by audacity and good luck... [it] became a prominent part of the American psyche only after Sutter's Mill." While the gold rush may not have every Forty-Niner rich, the events still continue to influence the country's collective mentality. This book comprehensively covers the history and legacy of the gold rush that took place from 1848-1855, analyzing how it affected the participants and the nation at large. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about the California Gold Rush like you never have before, in no time at all.

The California Gold Rush: the History and Legacy of the Forty-Niners and America's Golden Dream

The California Gold Rush: the History and Legacy of the Forty-Niners and America's Golden Dream PDF Author: Charles River Editors
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781492760375
Category : California
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Get Book

Book Description
*Includes pictures. *Includes primary accounts of the gold rush. *Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading. "As the spring and summer of 1848 advanced, the reports came faster and faster from the gold-mines at Sutter's saw-mill. Stories reached us of fabulous discoveries, and spread throughout the land. Everybody was talking of "Gold! gold!!" until it assumed the character of a fever. Some of our soldiers began to desert; citizens were fitting out trains of wagons and pack-mules to go to the mines. We heard of men earning fifty, five hundred, and thousands of dollars per day..." - William Tecumseh Sherman One of the most important and memorable events of the United States' westward push across the frontier came with the discovery of gold in the lands that became California in January 1848. Located thousands of miles away from the country's power centers on the east coast at the time, the announcement came a month before the Mexican-American War had ended, and among the very few Americans that were near the region at the time, many of them were Army soldiers who were participating in the war and garrisoned there. San Francisco was still best known for being a Spanish military and missionary outpost during the colonial era, and only a few hundred called it home. Mexico's independence, and its possession of those lands, had come only a generation earlier. Everything changed almost literally overnight. While the Mexican-American War technically concluded with a treaty in February 1948, the announcement brought an influx of an estimated 90,000 "Forty-Niners" to the region in 1849, hailing from other parts of America and even as far away as Asia. All told, an estimated 300,000 people would come to California over the next few years, as men dangerously trekked thousands of miles in hopes of making a fortune, and in a span of months, San Francisco's population exploded, making it one of the first mining boomtowns to truly spring up in the West. This was a pattern that would repeat itself across the West anytime a mineral discovery was made, from the Southwest and Tombstone to the Dakotas and Deadwood. Of course, that was made possible by the collective memory of the original California gold rush. Despite the mythology and the romantic portrayals that helped make the California Gold Rush, most of the individuals who came to make a fortune struck out instead. The gold rush was a boon to business interests, which ensured important infrastructure developments like the railroad and the construction of westward paths, but ultimately, it also meant that big business reaped most of the profits associated with mining the gold. While the Forty-Niners are often remembered for panning gold out of mountain streams, it required advanced mining technology for most to make a fortune. Nevertheless, the California Gold Rush became an emblem of the American Dream, and the notion that Americans could obtain untold fortunes regardless of their previous social status. As historian H.W. Brands said of the impact the gold rush had on Americans at the time, "The old American Dream ... was the dream of the Puritans, of Benjamin Franklin's 'Poor Richard'... of men and women content to accumulate their modest fortunes a little at a time, year by year by year. The new dream was the dream of instant wealth, won in a twinkling by audacity and good luck... [it] became a prominent part of the American psyche only after Sutter's Mill." While the gold rush may not have every Forty-Niner rich, the events still continue to influence the country's collective mentality. This book comprehensively covers the history and legacy of the gold rush that took place from 1848-1855, analyzing how it affected the participants and the nation at large. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about the California Gold Rush like you never have before, in no time at all.

The California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush PDF Author: Charles River Editors
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781543031294
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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Book Description
*Includes pictures. *Includes primary accounts of the gold rush. *Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading. "As the spring and summer of 1848 advanced, the reports came faster and faster from the gold-mines at Sutter's saw-mill. Stories reached us of fabulous discoveries, and spread throughout the land. Everybody was talking of "Gold! gold!!" until it assumed the character of a fever. Some of our soldiers began to desert; citizens were fitting out trains of wagons and pack-mules to go to the mines. We heard of men earning fifty, five hundred, and thousands of dollars per day..." - William Tecumseh Sherman One of the most important and memorable events of the United States' westward push across the frontier came with the discovery of gold in the lands that became California in January 1848. Located thousands of miles away from the country's power centers on the east coast at the time, the announcement came a month before the Mexican-American War had ended, and among the very few Americans that were near the region at the time, many of them were Army soldiers who were participating in the war and garrisoned there. San Francisco was still best known for being a Spanish military and missionary outpost during the colonial era, and only a few hundred called it home. Mexico's independence, and its possession of those lands, had come only a generation earlier. Everything changed almost literally overnight. While the Mexican-American War technically concluded with a treaty in February 1948, the announcement brought an influx of an estimated 90,000 "Forty-Niners" to the region in 1849, hailing from other parts of America and even as far away as Asia. All told, an estimated 300,000 people would come to California over the next few years, as men dangerously trekked thousands of miles in hopes of making a fortune, and in a span of months, San Francisco's population exploded, making it one of the first mining boomtowns to truly spring up in the West. This was a pattern that would repeat itself across the West anytime a mineral discovery was made, from the Southwest and Tombstone to the Dakotas and Deadwood. Of course, that was made possible by the collective memory of the original California gold rush. Despite the mythology and the romantic portrayals that helped make the California Gold Rush, most of the individuals who came to make a fortune struck out instead. The gold rush was a boon to business interests, which ensured important infrastructure developments like the railroad and the construction of westward paths, but ultimately, it also meant that big business reaped most of the profits associated with mining the gold. While the Forty-Niners are often remembered for panning gold out of mountain streams, it required advanced mining technology for most to make a fortune. Nevertheless, the California Gold Rush became an emblem of the American Dream, and the notion that Americans could obtain untold fortunes regardless of their previous social status. As historian H.W. Brands said of the impact the gold rush had on Americans at the time, "The old American Dream ... was the dream of the Puritans, of Benjamin Franklin's 'Poor Richard'... of men and women content to accumulate their modest fortunes a little at a time, year by year by year. The new dream was the dream of instant wealth, won in a twinkling by audacity and good luck... [it] became a prominent part of the American psyche only after Sutter's Mill." While the gold rush may not have every Forty-Niner rich, the events still continue to influence the country's collective mentality. This book comprehensively covers the history and legacy of the gold rush that took place from 1848-1855, analyzing how it affected the participants and the nation at large. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about the California Gold Rush like you never have before, in no time at all.

Golden Dreams

Golden Dreams PDF Author: Frank Baumgarder
Publisher: Archway Publishing
ISBN: 1480886777
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
When gold was found in Northern California, news of it spread like a wildfire during the spring and summer of 1848. At first, most people thought the reports were too good to be true, but as weeks and months flew by, they heard about more people striking it rich – and imaginations started to run wild. Tens of thousands of people started to dream about gold, and some of them left everything they knew to make the journey to California. It didn’t matter if you were black, white or brown – anyone could go. Even people in Central and South America, Australia, China, and Western Europe heard about the gold and made the journey. By 1855, hundreds of thousands of people had converged on California. In this study, the author shares diary entries from gold seekers, painting a detailed portrait of the frenzy that overtook the world, the lives of the miners, and how the move West changed the fabric of a nation. Without the dreams, hard work, and dedication of the miners who moved West, the United States of America would not be what it is today.

Icons of the American West [2 volumes]

Icons of the American West [2 volumes] PDF Author: Gordon Morris Bakken
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1567206948
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 636

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Book Description
The American West is rich in lore, cultural roots, and iconic images. The subject of countless movies, books, and songs, in many ways it embodies the American spirit. This lively two-volume set presents the stories of some of the most influential and representative Western icons—those that have captured the nation's imagination since the early days of westward exploration and that continue to do so within the environmental and technological frontier that is the modern West. This accessible treatment of the untamed enterprise of the 'Old West'—including cowboys, wild west shows, and gun battles—and the continued entrepreneurial imagination of the paradisical 'New West'—including environmentalists and the incorporation of national parks—elevates the reader's understanding of oft-romanticized subjcts and the conflicts and cultural changes that made them icons. Narrative entries include: ; Chief Joseph ; George Armstrong Custer ; Gold Rush ; Winchester Model 1873 ; Frederic Remington ; John Muir ; Las Vegas ; Bill Gates ; Disneyland ; Yellowstone National Park ; Sierra Club With vibrant photos and descriptive sidebars, this comprehensive set is a must-have for students of American history and culture.

The California Gold Rush and the Klondike Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush and the Klondike Gold Rush PDF Author: Charles River Charles River Editors
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781985030084
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
*Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the gold rushes written by participants *Includes bibliographies for further reading *Includes a table of contents One of the most important and memorable events of the United States' westward push across the frontier came with the discovery of gold in the lands that became California in January 1848. Located thousands of miles away from the country's power centers on the east coast at the time, the announcement came a month before the Mexican-American War had ended, and among the very few Americans that were near the region at the time, many of them were Army soldiers who were participating in the war and garrisoned there. San Francisco was still best known for being a Spanish military and missionary outpost during the colonial era, and only a few hundred called it home. Mexico's independence, and its possession of those lands, had come only a generation earlier. Everything changed almost literally overnight. While the Mexican-American War technically concluded with a treaty in February 1848, the announcement brought an influx of an estimated 90,000 "Forty-Niners" to the region in 1849, hailing from other parts of America and even as far away as Asia. All told, an estimated 300,000 people would come to California over the next few years, as men dangerously trekked thousands of miles in hopes of making a fortune, and in a span of months, San Francisco's population exploded, making it one of the first mining boomtowns to truly spring up in the West. This was a pattern that would repeat itself across the West anytime a mineral discovery was made, from the Southwest and Tombstone to the Dakotas and Deadwood. Of course, that was made possible by the collective memory of the original California gold rush. Despite the mythology and the romantic portrayals that helped make the California Gold Rush, most of the individuals who came to make a fortune struck out instead. The gold rush was a boon to business interests, which ensured important infrastructure developments like the railroad and the construction of westward paths, but ultimately, it also meant that big business reaped most of the profits associated with mining the gold. While the Forty-Niners are often remembered for panning gold out of mountain streams, it required advanced mining technology for most to make a fortune. As historian H.W. Brands said of the impact the gold rush had on Americans at the time, "The old American Dream ... was the dream of the Puritans, of Benjamin Franklin's 'Poor Richard'... of men and women content to accumulate their modest fortunes a little at a time, year by year by year. The new dream was the dream of instant wealth, won in a twinkling by audacity and good luck... [it] became a prominent part of the American psyche only after Sutter's Mill." While the gold rush may not have made every Forty-Niner rich, the events still continue to influence the country's collective mentality. When gold was discovered in the Yukon and Alaska almost 50 years after the rush in California, it drew tens of thousands of prospectors despite the unforgiving climate. Mineral resources had gone a long way in the United States acquiring Alaska a generation earlier, but the lack of transportation kept all but the most dedicated from venturing into the Yukon and Alaska until the announcement of the gold rush. For a few years, the attention turned to the Northwest, and thanks to vivid descriptions by writers like Jack London, the nation became intrigued with the idea of miners toughing out the winter conditions to find hidden gold. Of course, despite the mythology and the romantic portrayals that helped make the Klondike Gold Rush, most of the individuals who came to make a fortune struck out instead.

The California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush PDF Author: Captivating History
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781637163191
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 54

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Book Description
Did you know that the California Gold Rush was the largest mass migration event in the history of the United States of America? More than 300,000 people settled in the previously sparsely populated California. And they all came in the period between 1849 and 1855. But sadly, the people living in California quickly fell into violence, racism, and misogyny. Mexicans, Native Americans, other non-white settlers, and indigenous peoples were persecuted, hunted, and expelled from the territory. The California Gold Rush may have been one of the great events that shaped the US into what we know today, but it was also one of the saddest events, with 370 massacres committed upon the indigenous tribes of California. Yet, the California Gold Rush was a period of rapid changes, of industrialization and the modernization of the whole US. The influx of immigrants from all over the world demanded that new industries be quickly set up, as well as railroads, farms, and communication lines. People needed supplies from the East and the rest of the world, as well as to keep in touch with their distant families. The quick development of California, as well as the many new beginnings and successful businesses people managed to start, gave California its nickname of the Golden State. It was a place where dreams came true, where people had hope and quick prosperity. A new philosophical idea aptly named the "California Dream" started, and many people rushed to gain a fast fortune in a new land. In this book, you can read about how gold was discovered and who started it all. You can also learn the following: Who were the forty-niners and the first gold miners in California? What was life in the mining camps like? How was early mining performed, and how did it develop? How did gold excavation influence the environment and the indigenous peoples? What happened to the Native Americans of California? What was the role of women in the Gold Rush? How did California gain its statehood? How did the Gold Rush influence the world's economy? Who were the real prospectors of the California Gold Rush? And much more! Scroll up and click the "add to cart" button to learn more about the California Gold Rush!

The California Gold Rush and the '49ers

The California Gold Rush and the '49ers PDF Author: Jean F. Blashfield
Publisher: Capstone
ISBN: 1515771393
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 33

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Book Description
Try your luck, and search for your fortune in California! Follow the joy and heartbreak of the '49ers during the California Gold Rush.

Gold Dust

Gold Dust PDF Author: Donald Dale Jackson
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000990109
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
Gold Dust (1980) looks at the adventures and ordeals, delusions and successes and catastrophes of the men and women – the forty-niners – caught up in the gold rush. The author tells the story of the gold rush through the experiences, feelings and thoughts of the people who participated in it.

The California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush PDF Author: John Walton Caughey
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520365089
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1948.

Riches for All

Riches for All PDF Author: Kenneth N. Owens
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803286177
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
An event of international significance, the California gold rush created a more diverse, metropolitan society than the world had ever known. In Riches for All, leading scholars reexamine the gold rush, evaluating its trajectory and legacy within a global context of religion and race, economics, technology, law, and culture. The opportunity for instant wealth directly influenced a dynamic range of peoples, including Mormon military veterans, California Indian workers, both slave and free African Americans, Chinese village farmers, skilled Mexican miners, and Chilean merchants. Riches for All gives attention to the varying motivations and experiences of these groups and to their struggles with both racial and religious bigotry. Emphasizing gold rush social history, some contributors examine the roles and influence of women, workers, law-breakers, and law-enforcers. Others consider the long-term impact of this episode on California and the American West and on subsequent gold rushes in Pacific Rim countries and the Klondike. With lively and incisive strokes, these historians sketch the most broadly contextualized and nuanced portrait of the California gold rush to date.