San Francisco and The Gold rush
The town of San Francisco before the encountering and experience of the massive Gold Rush was in a very different state of existence than the town was during and after the Gold Rush.
Before the Gold Rush, San Francisco was a small and ordinary town with very little development and liveliness. At this time the majority of the people that lived in San Francisco and California made their living off of trading furs and pelts that came from the massive population of beavers that were in California. Almost all of the trade in the town was barter. Most of San Francisco’s population was made up of missionaries and Native Americans. The total population of people in San Francisco before the Gold Rush was about 800 people and only about 2,000 people in the entire state of California, which is an incredibly small amount.
This might make one wonder, “Why did the population explode in San Francisco?”One of the reasons that the population increased so much was because of the large amount of incoming miners in search of gold. The reason that all of these people ended up going directly to San Francisco was because of all of the new shops and businesses that arose to provide these people with mining supplies, clothing, and food that all of them needed. This made San Francisco the place to go to get all of the mining supplies and all other necessities. Another reason that the population of San Francisco increased so much was because of the amount of people that were coming to California overseas. These people arrived in California by large ships full of people. These ships usually landed in San Francisco because of the large harbor on the town’s coast.
The Gold Rush had a major impact and difference on the small town of San Francisco. The Gold Rush brought a large amount of economic growth, prosperity, and change to the state of California and the city of San Francisco. The Gold Rush also made San Francisco’s population skyrocket from 800 people to countless thousands of people. All of the businesses that were made and developed during the Gold Rush still continued to thrive and do well after the Gold Rush. Some examples of these stores and businesses are farms, ranches, stores, restaurants, and many others. The Gold Rush transformed San Francisco from a small town with very little business and economic development, to one of the largest and most thriving, prosperous, and animated towns in the entire United States.
There were also a few geographic considerations and advantages that San Francisco had over many other towns and parts of California that made the town a good starting point for the incoming miners.
One of these advantages was that San Francisco is a peninsula and is surrounded by bodies of water such as the San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate strait, and the Pacific Ocean. This is an advantage because gold can usually be found easily by water and coastlines because of how the water washes the gold up out of the mud and towards the surface. Another geographic advantage that the town of San Francisco had was the amount of hills around and under the town which also were known to contain gold deposits. These hills elevated San Francisco to a height of 155 feet above sea level.
Before the Gold Rush, San Francisco was a small and ordinary town with very little development and liveliness. At this time the majority of the people that lived in San Francisco and California made their living off of trading furs and pelts that came from the massive population of beavers that were in California. Almost all of the trade in the town was barter. Most of San Francisco’s population was made up of missionaries and Native Americans. The total population of people in San Francisco before the Gold Rush was about 800 people and only about 2,000 people in the entire state of California, which is an incredibly small amount.
This might make one wonder, “Why did the population explode in San Francisco?”One of the reasons that the population increased so much was because of the large amount of incoming miners in search of gold. The reason that all of these people ended up going directly to San Francisco was because of all of the new shops and businesses that arose to provide these people with mining supplies, clothing, and food that all of them needed. This made San Francisco the place to go to get all of the mining supplies and all other necessities. Another reason that the population of San Francisco increased so much was because of the amount of people that were coming to California overseas. These people arrived in California by large ships full of people. These ships usually landed in San Francisco because of the large harbor on the town’s coast.
The Gold Rush had a major impact and difference on the small town of San Francisco. The Gold Rush brought a large amount of economic growth, prosperity, and change to the state of California and the city of San Francisco. The Gold Rush also made San Francisco’s population skyrocket from 800 people to countless thousands of people. All of the businesses that were made and developed during the Gold Rush still continued to thrive and do well after the Gold Rush. Some examples of these stores and businesses are farms, ranches, stores, restaurants, and many others. The Gold Rush transformed San Francisco from a small town with very little business and economic development, to one of the largest and most thriving, prosperous, and animated towns in the entire United States.
There were also a few geographic considerations and advantages that San Francisco had over many other towns and parts of California that made the town a good starting point for the incoming miners.
One of these advantages was that San Francisco is a peninsula and is surrounded by bodies of water such as the San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate strait, and the Pacific Ocean. This is an advantage because gold can usually be found easily by water and coastlines because of how the water washes the gold up out of the mud and towards the surface. Another geographic advantage that the town of San Francisco had was the amount of hills around and under the town which also were known to contain gold deposits. These hills elevated San Francisco to a height of 155 feet above sea level.
This is a picture of San Francisco before the gold rush . As you can see the town was very small before the Gold Rush. This picture shows some of the geography of San Francisco, such as the hills and the uneven land.
This is an image of the harbor in San Francisco. This is the harbor that some of the miners arrived on from their long overseas journeys. This harbor was also used for a place for trading ships to dock at.
This is a map of the Great Migration. The Great Migration was the movement of over 6 million African Americans from southern United States to more urban northeast states that lasted until the 1960’s. There was also a Second Great Migration from 1940 to 1970. This migration included the movement of people from the South, to western states and cities such as, California and many others. The role of the Gold Rush in the Great Migration was to encourage and influence many people to move out West to California in search for gold. The idea of the Gold Rush was used to also get people to quickly arrive to California and spend lots of money on mining supplies and many other things. This basically means that the Gold Rush was an entire marketing scam for California to make a lot of money. This had a major impact on the development of California. This brought thousands of people to the state of California which brought a lot of business and economic opportunity for California. Many new businesses arose and the state prospered. The population of California exploded and the state was now one of the most active and developed states in the United States.
Christopher G.
Sources:
ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/goldrush.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/california_gold_rush
www.city-data.com
Christopher G.
Sources:
ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/goldrush.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/california_gold_rush
www.city-data.com