*The gold rush Flashcards
The Oregon Trail from 1810
The Oregon Trail was a 2,000 mile route cutting right across the Great Plain. It went from the East Coast of America to the West Coast of America.
The origins of the Oregon Trail
In the 1810s, merchants and traders had begun to lay a trail right across America. The main company using the trail was the ‘Pacific Fur Company’. By 1836, the trail had been improved and it could carry wagons, pulled by horses.
This trail was a vital piece of infrastructure that enabled white settlers to trade more and move around the USA.
The Oregon Trail had a similar impact to the railroads in the late 1800s, opening up trade and movement across the USA.
The Gold Rush
The Gold Rush encouraged the migration westwards.
The Gold Rush began in the state of California (on the West coast of America) in 1848. But Gold was then discovered in the Rocky Mountains (to the East of the Great Plains) and in the Black Hills, which were sacred to the Sioux Indian tribe.
The Gold Rush encouraged Americans to move to California, the Rocky Mountains, and an Indian tribe’s sacred home.
Farming land
The Great Plains are grasslands. Grasslands are usually fertile for growing crops and are good for grazing cattle and livestock.
As unemployment rose in cities during the 7-year recession, moving to a farm in the Great Plains was an attractive alternative job if you were unemployed.
However, corn and wheat prices fell during the recession.
The Gold Rush
As well as farming, and the belief in ‘manifest destiny’, settlers moved west partly in a hunt for gold and wealth.
The gold rush
The Gold Rush encouraged migration westwards as people wanted to earn their fortunes by finding and selling Gold.
The Gold Rush began in the state of California (on the West coast of America) in 1848. But Gold was then discovered in the Rocky Mountains (to the East of the Great Plains) and in the Black Hills, which were sacred to the Sioux Indian tribe.
Professional gold mining
The rapid rise in the population of San Francisco and the surrounding area meant that in 1849, California applied to join the United States of America as its 31st state.
By 1859, the Californian population had risen to 380,000 people.
Most normal people ‘panned for gold’. This involved picking up stones from the river, sieving out rocks and looking for gold.
By the early 1850s, professional miners were digging for gold in the ground using mining equipment.
Many of the gold rushers killed lots of the Plains Indians living in California in disputes over land and other things.
