1848+the+Gold+Rush

Sindre H

= California Gold Rush =

News of the discovery brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of the USA and abroad. They arrived by sea and walked overland. The Gold Rush attracted tens of thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia, and China. The gold-seekers was called "Forty-niners".
 * The California Gold Rush began on January 24,1848. ** when gold was found by James Wilson Marshall at Sutters Mill, in Coloma, California.

The effects of the Gold Rush were substantial. San Francisco grew from a small settlement to a big town, and roads, churches, schools and other towns were built throughout California. A state constitution was written and California became a state in 1850

California's annual gold production reach a then all-time high of $81 million.

Transportation
New methods of transportation developed as steamships came into regular service and railroads were built. Agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers.



**History**
Rumors soon started to spread and were confirmed in March 1848 by San Francisco newspaper publisher and merchant Samuel Brannan. At the time gold was discovered, California waspart of the Mexican territory of Alta California, which was ceded to the US after the end of the Mexican-American War with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848.
 * On January 24, 1848 James W. Marshall, a foreman working for Sacramento pioneer John Sutter, found shiny metal in the tailrace of a lumber mill Marshall was building for Sutter on the American river. **
 * Marshall brought what he found to John Sutter, and the two privately tested the metal. After the tests showed that it was gold, Sutter expressed dismay: he wanted to keep the news quiet because he feared what would happen to his plans for an agricultural empire if there were a mass search for gold. **

**The Forty-Niners**
The first people to rush to the gold fields, beginning in the spring of 1848, were the residents of California themselves.These first miners tended to be families in which everyone helped in the effort.

World-wide economic stimulation
media type="youtube" key="Oi9i4agGmkw?fs=1" height="306" width="384" align="right" The Gold Rush stimulated economies around the world as well. Farmers in Chile, Australia, and Hawaii found a huge new market for their food; British manufactured goods were in high demand; clothing and even prefabricated houses arrived from China. The return of large amounts of California gold to pay for these goods raised prices and stimulated investment and the creation of jobs around the world.


 * //Pictures from the California Gold Rush://**