When gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in California in 1848, the news of this discovery led to a massive movement of people to California to try to find gold. The California gold rush had a huge impact on California.
As more and more people moved to California to find gold, California’s population increased dramatically. This impacted the people who were already living there. Many of them had no immunity to the diseases that the miners brought to the area. Many of the original settlers died from these diseases. Another impact of the surge in population was that California was able to apply for statehood very quickly. So many people moved there, California was able to write a state constitution and ask to be admitted as a state by 1849. This led to a fierce debate about slavery because California’s constitution banned slavery. California was able to become a state in 1850 as a result of the Compromise of 1850.
As many miners moved to California, a mining culture developed there. This led to a fairly wild lifestyle. There was a lot of vigilante justice as people took the law into their own hands to try to maintain law and order. So many people came to California, vigilante justice was the only way to keep order.
The discovery of gold greatly impacted California. It also had a huge impact on our nation.
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