New settlers in California_2003

							NEW SETTLERS IN CALIFORNIA
GOLD IS DISCOVERED

   James Marshall and James Sutter were
    building a sawmill in California
     Marshall  saw something shiny in a ditch one day
     Turned out to be gold

     Tried to keep the discovery a secret, but people
      soon found out
     Gold Rush began!

    *
FORTY-NINERS
   Over 100,000 people came to California in
    1848 and 1849 looking for gold
     Many  who came in 1849 were known as the forty-
      niners
     In 1848 alone, $6 million of gold was discovered
     ~50% were Americans looking for gold
        Many  had given up their jobs as lawyers and farmers
        The rest were people from South America, Europe,
         Mexico, China, and Australia
        Often came by boat, through Oregon Trail, or through the
         Santa Fe Trail
       *
LAND RIGHTS
 Many Mexicans living in California became
  citizens after war
 Land Law of 1851 said these people needed to
  prove what land they owned
 Sometimes people tried to take their land
     Oftenwent to court
     Some had papers to prove they owned their land
     Those with no papers often lost land
    *
LIFE IN CALIFORNIA

   Boomtowns were created by people looking for
    gold
     Towns seemed    to grow overnight
     Often flourished and featured hotels, stores, and
      casinos to attract good seekers
     San Francisco grew from a few hundred people to
      57,000 by 1860
    *
FINDING GOLD
   Many people had no experience mining
     Spent hours digging, washing, or panning water in
      rivers to look for gold
     California Gold Rush doubled world’s supply of gold
     Most forty-niners did not become wealthy
          Some found  little gold
          Others spent it on gambling

       Store keepers made a lot of $
          Charged a lot of money for food and tools
          Example: 12 eggs were $10
         *
GOLD RUSH SOCIETY

 Few women lived in mining camps
 Men had hard work days and often lonely
     Spent free hours drinking, gambling, and fighting
     No police or prisons to control crime and violence

   Some people became vigilantes
     Took law into their hands, acting as police, judge,
     jury, or executioner
    *
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL PROGRESS
   Gold Rush lasted only a few years
     Agriculture, shipping, and trade became huge
      industries to meet needs of miners and people who
      stayed
     Those who couldn’t find gold, sometimes created farms
      or shops
   May 1850, California applied to become a state
     California was a slave free state
     The South didn’t want to allow California to join
     Took 6 months of compromising before Congress
      agreed
    *
ASSIGNMENT

 Content and Academic Vocabulary
 Visit
  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush/sfea
  ture/game_swf.html
            game and describe your journey and
     Play the
     outcome in ½ page singled spaced