Environmental Effect from the Gold Rush
Environmental Effect from the Gold Rush
Every tribe, city and nation has its own story that gives it a defining trait and our state of California is no different. Most people know that California is also known as the “Golden State”, but among all the reasons that gave it this name, aside from the unlimited sunshine throughout the year, the Gold Rush back in the mid 19th century is probably the most significant one of all. Most would agree that the Gold Rush was a positive, iconic event in California’s history but many are unaware of the environmental damages caused by mining operations done during this golden era. This essay aims to identify the origin of the Gold Rush and identify the techniques used while also noting the harmful effects caused by each one. The start of the Gold Rush all began on January 24, 1848, when a carpenter named James Wilson Marshall picked up a nugget of gold from the river at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Coloma, California. Although Marshall and the man he was working for, John Sutter, tried to keep the news of this big discovery from the public, word got out anyway and soon people were swarming toward the western frontier. This was when “one of the largest human migration in history began” (The California Gold Rush). At first people were not buying the story, but as news spread of the fortunes being made in California’s Gold Rush, the first migrants started showing up. It was not long before the population of the California exploded, “from just only 14,000 at the start of year 1849, to more than 100,000 people by the end of that year. By the year 1852, the population crowded to 220,000” (Cornell 342). This underground well of fortune (which amounted to over $2,000,000,000,000 worth of gold) was so vast, it demanded significant amounts of people to harvest it all. Smart individuals looking to make a profit convinced others to dig gold for them and used that money to start business such as hotels, restaurants,
Every tribe, city and nation has its own story that gives it a defining trait and our state of California is no different. Most people know that California is also known as the “Golden State”, but among all the reasons that gave it this name, aside from the unlimited sunshine throughout the year, the Gold Rush back in the mid 19th century is probably the most significant one of all. Most would agree that the Gold Rush was a positive, iconic event in California’s history but many are unaware of the environmental damages caused by mining operations done during this golden era. This essay aims to identify the origin of the Gold Rush and identify the techniques used while also noting the harmful effects caused by each one. The start of the Gold Rush all began on January 24, 1848, when a carpenter named James Wilson Marshall picked up a nugget of gold from the river at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Coloma, California. Although Marshall and the man he was working for, John Sutter, tried to keep the news of this big discovery from the public, word got out anyway and soon people were swarming toward the western frontier. This was when “one of the largest human migration in history began” (The California Gold Rush). At first people were not buying the story, but as news spread of the fortunes being made in California’s Gold Rush, the first migrants started showing up. It was not long before the population of the California exploded, “from just only 14,000 at the start of year 1849, to more than 100,000 people by the end of that year. By the year 1852, the population crowded to 220,000” (Cornell 342). This underground well of fortune (which amounted to over $2,000,000,000,000 worth of gold) was so vast, it demanded significant amounts of people to harvest it all. Smart individuals looking to make a profit convinced others to dig gold for them and used that money to start business such as hotels, restaurants,