1 / 16

The California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush. The California gold rush began when gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill As the news of discovery spread, some 300,000 people came to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. January 24, 1848 .

field
Télécharger la présentation

The California Gold Rush

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. The California Gold Rush

  2. The California gold rush began when gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill As the news of discovery spread, some 300,000 people came to California from the rest of the United States and abroad January 24, 1848

  3. These early gold seekers called “49ers” traveled to California by sailing ships and covered wagons across the continent.

  4. Most “overlanders” began their journey on the Mormon or Oregon trails. The major trailheads for these routes were in Council Bluffs, Iowa, St. Joseph, Mo., or Independence, Mo. The overland trip typically took five to six months. Ten to 15 miles of travel in one day would be a good day. Journey By Land

  5. Journey By Land

  6. Journey By Land Supplies might include: Cooking stove made of sheet metal, cows, bacon, ham, rice, dried fruit, molasses, packed butter, bread, coffee and tea, tools for mining, farming and repairing wagons, vegetable and flower seeds, medicines, quilts, musical instruments, guns, ammunition, awls, needles strengthened for mending clothes and tents, bedding, including buffalo robes, waterproof india rubber blankets to keep things dry, lock chains to hold wagons back on steep hills.

  7. Journey By Land

  8. Sail around South America and up the Pacific coast or sail to Panama and cross the Isthmus by mule train and wait for a ship on the Pacific side. If the many diaries kept are to be believed, as many as nine out of 10 captains were incompetent and the promised travel time of 30 days was rarely met. In spite of this, and the unavoidable crowding of travel by sea, 15,000 people took this route in 1849 and investors for the journey were easy to find. Total per-person documented costs ranged from under $600 to over $1,200. Journey by Sea

  9. Journey by Sea • Supplies might include: • Salt pork, salt beef, ham, hard bread, salt, 40 pounds of butter and cheese, tea, sugar and spices. • Problems with supplies: • Salt meat often went bad. • Wine turned to vinegar. • Bottles of fruit juice blew up. • Candles melted near the equator. • Rats ate cheese. • Butter and lard went rancid. • Weevils got into flour, rice and hard bread.

  10. Diseases common to the Panama route Yellow fever Malaria Dysentery Cholera - an epidemic in Panama City killed many as they waited. Diseases common tothe Cape Horn route Scurvy - due to lack of fresh fruit and vegetables. Cholera Journey by Sea

  11. At first, a technique called panning was used to retrieve gold from streams and riverbeds. “Long Toms” were developed to speed up the extraction of gold from the land. Techniques for Retrieving Gold

  12. Techniques for Retrieving Gold • Hydraulic mining was later invented in California. This technique was created for larger scale gold mining

  13. Samuel Brannan was the first millionaire because of the California gold rush Brannan established the first newspaper in San Francisco called the California Star and also established the first school in San Francisco Brannan was elected to the California State Senate in 1853. He was also credited with developing banks, railroads, and telegraph companies. Samuel Brannan

  14. Native Americans became the victims of disease, starvation, and genocidal attacks. The Native American population in 1845 was 150,000 The Native American population in 1870 was less than 30,000. Chinese and Mexican workers faced discrimination. Environmental impact Many people that journeyed to California from around the world never made it. The Donner party- A total of 87 people from various families set out for California and became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Only 48 of the original 87 pioneers survived. The Negative Effects of the Gold Rush

  15. As the population grew, towns and cities expanded. Roads, schools, and churches were built. Improved transportation developed between California and the east coast All of these developments led to the statehood of California on September 9th, 1850. California was admitted as the 31st state. The Positive Effects of the Gold Rush

More Related