The Gold Rush and How It Changed America

Christopher Columbus once said “Gold is a treasure, and he who possesses it does all he wishes to in this world, and succeeds in helping souls into paradise.” The gold rush was the finding of gold in California and the expansion west. A man by the name of James W. Marshall was the first to find gold in California. He was building a sawmill and found a gold nugget. Word quickly spread to the east and people from all over “rushed” to California. People came from China and Asia. The American gold rush changed many things including jobs, expansion and economy.

The gold rush helped the American expansion to the west. When people heard of gold in California they quickly gathered their items and left to hopefully find riches. This fast move to the west helped usher in the need for a transcontinental railroad like the world had never seen. This made it much easier to travel west and shaved days off the long trip. Gold was now easier to transport back to the east also. The country had just recently gained California from a past war and were eager to explore it. The gold rush made this dream a reality as thousands of people flooded into the harbor and the railroad and trekked on for gold.

The gold rush had many effects on jobs in America also. There was a huge job crash in the east because people just up and left their jobs. This created big holes in jobs and companies. Employers widened their range of acceptable applicants and also raised the wages. This gave way to women being able to get more jobs that men would have. This was because men would leave their families behind to go find gold. On the contrary, in the west, there were little jobs to be had. Living in California was also very dangerous, as robbers would steal gold, food and money. Because of this there had to be some sort of law enforcement had to be formed. Along with the law enforcement there came jails. These jails popped up anywhere a major mining town was.

The American gold