Immigration During the Gold Rush
Gold Rush period is the point in time when the population in California realized the presence of Gold and how precious it was. In the early 1840s, California was a distant outpost of a small population of the Americans. John Sutter, one of the wealthiest people at that time, decided to build his empire. He amassed twelve thousand heads of camels, among other substances related to the agricultural domain. By the mid of 1840s, more Americans trickled in by wagons and ships. To the joy of Sutter, he welcomed them to his self-proclaimed kingdom that the increase in population would destroy his agricultural ambitions.
The Gold Rush was featured by non-tolerating disputes among the landowners, colonizers, miners, and indigenous Americans in a competition to have full control of the land and its available raw materials resources. The interested individuals came from the United States of America and the Middle East countries and continent Europe. Advancements in the technological knowledge of constructing steamship railways simplified the immigration process, which, interestingly enough, reformed California’s enumeration. In mid-1849, California rooted a national constitution and ceremoniously entered the amalgam in 1850. (Kurutz, Gary F. 1997, pg 98)
Although the migration to California had been driven by the visions of gold mining opportunities for easy and straightforward riches and higher living standards, life could as well prove to be barbarous. It was indeed a fortune to others who found the fulfillment of their desires and became wealthy. The truth of the matter was that gold washing barely resulted in a real appraisal, and the labor on a severe note was frustrating and tiring.
As the contention continued over gold mines’ ownership, the racism issue arose, thereby leading to more hatred. The immigrants were occasionally attacked by the white settlers and the self-proclaimed landowners who never developed the desire to understand the meaning of becoming a real American. As California’s state expanded to accommodate the excessively rising population, the nativist statement resulted in the introduction of taxes and rules that unfortunately targeted the immigrants, mostly Chinese.
Agriculture and cattle keeping were the main economic activities in California before the gold rush period. The native owners of the region then decided to expand the same to satisfy the tens of thousands of fresh colonists’ demands. The dispute hastened when one of the white settlers, Peter Hardeman Burnett, who had the title of pioneer governor of California, blatantly affirmed his hatred for the indigenous population and demanded its prompt eradication or destruction. (Kurutz, Gary F, pg 128)
Though the Gold Rush had a life-changing effect on California’s rapidly growing population, it had a short lifespan of about seven years. This was because the mining activity gradually grew to be a big enterprise that sadly could not accommodate the small scale spanners. The mining methods needed to extract Gold emerged very convoluted; hence gold extraction grew to be a big business. Unfortunately for the immigrants, survival was proving to be so severe, and some even prompted them to be slaves for the white settlers.
In summary, although the gold rush was a force to reckon in California, as it gave rise to standards of living, most immigrants ended up regretting because the latter process grew to be a more significant business that could not accommodate the poor or the beginners.
References
Kurutz, Gary F. The California Gold Rush: a Descriptive Bibliography of Books and Pamphlets Covering the Years, 1848-1853. San Francisco :Book Club of California, 1997.
Kurutz, Gary F. (1997). The California gold rush: a descriptive bibliography of books and pamphlets covering the years, 1848-1853. San Francisco: Book Club of California