California Culture During the Gold Rush

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Main Text
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The spirit and character of California were changed forever when gold was discovered in the hills and began making some people very wealthy men. Who got wealthy and who was destroyed often depended on the color of a person’s skin. Although the population of California was widely diverse prior to the discovery of gold, the sudden influx of men in search of fortune threw these races together in often violent ways. While the changes that happened in California helped to change the way Americans defined themselves, understanding who succeeded and why can provide a great deal of insight as to current conditions within the state today.

Main Text

Characterizing the spirit of the mid-1800s California immediately following the discovery of gold, Holliday suggests that the difference between success and failure was often as simple as the role of the dice. The town was full of people from all walks of life all hoping to discover their fortune. “In April 1850, the overwhelmed harbor master at San Francisco estimated the number who had landed during the previous twelve months at more than sixty-two thousand, from ports around the globe” (Holliday, 1998). Within this climate of overcrowding, hasty building and lawless society, it becomes clear that those who succeeded were also those who were intelligent enough to branch out into other elements of service such as building, store ownership, gambling house management or pool hall proprietorship. This quest for new means of creating wealth, constantly adjusting to the needs of the moment, gave the country much of its entrepreneurial spirit. “In their reckless, roll-the-dice crusade for profit and wealth, the forty-niners pushed America beyond its entwined traditions of European pedigree and New England morality toward a new ethos, unconstrained by privilege or principle and measured only by the democracy of the dollar” (Holliday, 1998). This spirit was born more out of necessity rather than design as the gold flowed freely through the streets or those men still living in California struggled to survive the bust times when gold was not so plentiful.

One race that took these concepts and ran with them was the black men who followed the lure of gold. Whether they were already free when they reached California or were still considered slaves upon their arrival, black men went to work in the gold mines and used the money they earned to purchase their own freedom or the freedom of their relatives. When they had no one left to purchase, they invested their money in new businesses, those that would be sustainable well into the future. “African Americans hit plenty of pay dirt – by 1863, they were collectively worth about $5 million … But their real gains came outside the goldfields – some of Gold Rush California’s most influential, educated, daring pioneers were African Americans” (Magagnini, 1998a). They built schools, newspapers, businesses, stores, restaurants and more. They gave up menial positions and became judges, managers and influential members of society sending encouragement and support back toward the east. California became a haven of sorts for black people seeking a means of finding a happier, more fulfilling life. “In 1851, shortly after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, the New Bedford, Mass., Mercury urged its black readers to seek refuge in California” (Magagnini, 1998a) and many followed the call. Left to fend for themselves and with the freedom to make of themselves what they will, black settlers proved beyond a doubt that they knew how to care for each other and they were more than capable of bringing about positive change for their community whether it was black, white or some other race.

As hard-working as the blacks in California, the Chinese were equally motivated to make things work for them. Unfortunately for them, the large numbers that arrived in California still needing to pay off the cost of their passage coupled with cultural attitudes that seemed weak in the eyes of the Anglo settlers. “From the time they landed, they patiently worked long hours for low pay, quickly earning the resentment of their white competitors” (Magagnini, 1998b). While they were unable to achieve the respect of their new countrymen, they were able to make an impact upon the California culture. For example, Yee Fung Cheung introduced the idea of herbal medicine into the Western culture when he failed at gold mining and opened up herbal stores in Fiddletown and Virginia City. He also started a long line of Yee doctors that persists in the area still today before he returned to China as a rich man. The Chinese did face a great deal of persecution, such as not being able to testify in court, but they made themselves useful in a number of ways throughout the community. “Despite the virulent racism they faced, many Chinese stuck it out as cooks, cigar makers, restauranteurs, vegetable farmers and merchants. The first Chinese laundry opened in San Francisco … in 1851; a thousand more followed” (Magagnini, 1998b). Like the blacks, the Chinese didn’t waste time worrying about not being accepted by the whites. They simply got busy making their own lives – starting their own churches, newspapers, stores, entertainment venues and gambling houses. While they did enjoy some success in the mines, the Chinese were much more successful in other areas of business and were soon found working in other occupations, sometimes just as difficult such as working the railroads.

The fate of those Californians of Mexican descent was decided by the masses of white men coming to the state in search of gold and wealth. This is illustrated in the story of Jose de Los Reyes who was shot and killed, along with his twin nephews, as they returned from a fishing trip to their own ranch. They were mistaken for Mexican soldiers by the U.S. Army officers who saw them approaching in their rowboat. Overwhelmed by the white settlers that rushed in to grab the land, “the Mexicans went from the owners of wealth, which was the land, to workers who only had their labor to sell” (Chavez, 1998). The discovery of gold in California occurred just after the U.S. won its battle with Mexico, both of which fostered Anglo sentiment against them and thus prevented Mexican success in the state for many years to come. In addition to the popular sentiment against them, anyone who appeared to be of Mexican descent was subject to laws established specifically against them such as the Foreign Miner’s Tax Law of 1850. “The statute required non-U.S. citizens to pay $20 a month – a costly sum at the time – for the privilege of panning or digging for gold” (Chavez, 1998). Even Mexican landowners who had lived in relative peace with the Anglo Californians prior to the discovery of gold found themselves subject to illegal and legal land grabs from which they had no reasonable means of restitution. This harsh treatment and nearly impossible means of achieving justice led to the development of roving gangs of Mexicans who still struggled to find some form of compensation for what they lost or for the simple right to operate the same as the white people. Unfortunately, these bands only led to worse persecution as Mexicans became increasingly more associated with the idea of menial workers or lawless vagabonds.

The fate of the Indians was similarly not of their own doing so much as it was a product of the white man’s greed and his ability to overwhelm any opposition with sheer numbers. Although James Marshall is generally credited with discovering gold in California, it is more accurate to say that he was led to it by the Maidu Indians who were likely already well aware of the material they considered worthless as compared to stronger and more useful substances (Magagnini, 1998). Unlike the Mexicans, though, the majority of Indians fell victim to the illnesses brought into their lands by the sudden influx of gold seekers. “Within a decade, as many as 100,000 of the 170,000 Indians living in California had died” (Magagnini, 1998). This was true in spite of the fact that the Indians had a great deal of early success in the search for gold. There were more Indians panning for gold earlier in the rush than whites, but even more Indians remained interested in living their traditional lifestyles. Unlike the Mexicans, though, the Indians were even less able to simply return home to get away from the persecution because the persecution was taking place in their homes. “By 1850 California, once a relative paradise, had become a purgatory for many Indians. About 100,000 gold-seekers swarmed over every mountain range, stream and hill from Keysville to the Trinity Alps” (Magagnini, 1998). The extreme influx of white men in the absence of any white women led to the predictable disaster of fighting over the Indian women who were both driven to become prostitutes in the mining towns as the only means to continue supporting themselves in the ruined environment California had become and were forced to endure the attentions of the white men even when they weren’t prostitutes. This was because, along with the Mexicans, they weren’t provided with any legal rights when it came to confronting the wants and desires of white settlers. To get them out of the way, the minors reportedly captured the Indians and sold them into slavery or rounded them up and sent them to reservations far out of the range of the gold-digger’s interest.

Conclusion

California underwent some big changes as a result of the gold rush of the 1850s. The entrepreneur, never say die attitude that grew out of this environment was largely the result of the vast fortunes that could be made in a relatively short period of time, but this wasn’t necessarily true all the time. Black people were able to find a new freedom in the west that wasn’t possible elsewhere in the country and used their newfound wealth to improve things for themselves and their people. The Chinese came over in great numbers dreaming of wealth, but their impact upon society would turn out to be primarily found in other fields as they introduced the West to some of the wisdom of the far East. Although California was largely settled by Mexicans and Indians prior to the gold rush, it was these two groups of people who fared worst as a result of the white man’s influx. As one looks at the culture of California today, many of these influences can still be traced in settlement patterns and general attitudes.

References

Chavez, Ken. (1998). “State’s Latinos lost in the rush.” Bee Capitol Bureau.

Holliday, J.S. (1998). “Gold Fever.” Humanities. Vol. 19, I. 1.

Magagnini, Stephen. (1998a). “Fortune smiled on many black miners.” Bee.

Magagnini, Stephen. (1998b). “Chinese transformed Gold Mountain.” Bee.

Magagnini, Stephen. (1998c). “Indians’ misfortune was stamped in gold.” Bee.

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California Culture During the Gold Rush

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