California Gold Rush & the American Civil War
California Gold Rush and its Impact (1848)
Traits of the era: An inventive turn of mind, restless, nervous energy; and that dominant individualism, working for good and evil.
1848: Routes to California:
- Voyage around the tip of South America
- Overland routes
- Panama shortcut
Methods of Mining:
- Cradle
- Pan
- River mining
Lynch Law: Punishment of supposed criminals without trial.
Act for the Government and Protection of Indians: Removal of Indians, turning them into indentured servants.
Immigrants from: Oregon, China, Mexico, Chile.
Vicente Perez (1848): Informed by a sailor, he sought to recover a fortune. He was invited to kill Amerindians, reflecting anti-Chilean sentiment.
Antonio Franco (1834): Fought in the war, gathered tons of gold, was elected mayor, and escaped to Los Angeles.
Lucina Wilson: Sought opportunities, sold a cookie for $10, opened hotels, experienced hotel fires, and lived in hotels until her death.
Treaties and Civil War (1810-1924)
Key Events:
- 1810: Declaration of Independence – All men are created equal.
- 1830: Missouri Compromise – Slavery permitted in Missouri and Arkansas.
- Import duties: Convenient for Northerners, but not for Southerners.
- 1850: Congressional Compromise – California admitted as a free state; Utah and New Mexico to decide on slavery.
- Fugitive Slave Act: Required the recapture of escaped slaves.
- Republican Party formed; Abraham Lincoln elected in 1860.
- 1863: Emancipation Proclamation – All slaves were to be made free in Southern states.
- 13th Amendment: The United States is one nation.
- Black Codes: Gave disadvantages to Black individuals.
- 14th Amendment: Black individuals’ right to vote.
- 1898: Grandfather clauses (used to disenfranchise Black voters).
- Homestead Act: Gave land in the Great Plains to those who would live on the land, build a home, make improvements, and farm the land for 5 years.
- 1924: Indian Citizenship Act – Gave Native Americans the right to vote.
Anti-Immigrant Sentiment and Key Figures
1882: Anti-foreign sentiment rises. Americans express anti-Chinese sentiment: “No more Chinese!”
Reed-Johnson Immigration Act: Obligated countries to give quotas based on the number of immigrants.
Important Figures
- John C. Calhoun: Proposed the states’ rights doctrine.
- Eli Whitney: Inventor of the cotton gin.
- William Lloyd Garrison: Publisher of *The Liberator*, strongly opposed to slavery.
- John Brown: Led a rebellion against slavery.
- Harriet Tubman: A conductor on the Underground Railroad, supported the Union, and is considered a hero.
- Abraham Lincoln: Delivered the Gettysburg Address.
- Jefferson Davis: Elected president of the Confederate States.
- David Farragut: Captured New Orleans, dividing the Confederacy in two.
- General Robert E. Lee: Confederate general who wanted to fight in Northern territory but was defeated.
- General Ulysses S. Grant: Led the Union to victory.
- Andrew Johnson: Lincoln’s successor.
- John Wilkes Booth: Assassinated Abraham Lincoln.
- George Duffield: A cowboy poet.
- Joseph Glidden: Inventor of barbed wire.
- John Muir: Demanded the government save natural lands.
- Theodore Roosevelt (1901): Created more national parks.
- Sitting Bull: Fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn, protecting his land.
- Merritt Brothers: Found the Mesabi iron deposit.
- Thomas Edison: Created more than a thousand original inventions, including improving the light bulb.
- The Carnegies: Multimillionaires who bought out their rivals.
Interesting Facts
- Underground Railroad: A network for escaping slaves. Sponsors were called stockholders, guides were called conductors, and places were called depots.
- April 12, 1861: Union vs. Confederacy.
- Carpetbaggers and Scalawags.
Westward Expansion and Industrialization
- 1869: Railroads built by Union Pacific and Central Pacific met in Utah.
- 1884: Railroads aimed to help cattle ranchers feed their cattle in the Great Plains, hiring drovers or cowboys and building Abilene and Dodge City.
- 1862: 160 acres of land given free to people who built houses made of sod.
- Homesteaders vs. Cattlemen.
1876: Centennial Exposition, featuring Machinery Hall.