Why The California Gold Rush

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Most of the world was rushing to California for gold, they went through plenty of unpleasing situations that are extremely disgusting for maybe even just a little bit of gold, one ounce at least. The California Gold Rush started on January 24, 1848, when James Marshall discovered a single nugget of gold, but it really started on April 1848 when Samuel Brennan shouted out about the gold, that's when most of the world came for some of the gold. The tortuous travel times, the collecting of gold for cash, and the common crime that were committed, these were the challenges people faced during the California Gold Rush.
People suffered through travel, and traveling back then wasn't as luxurious as it is now, they basically didn't travel, they were …show more content…
Miners created their own system of justice, they held trials whenever they caught someone stealing from a person. If someone stole not a lot of gold or supplies they got whipped or got their ear cut off, but if they stole large amounts, they were hung. Anyways, they all most likely died either their cuts got infected or they got shot by gold rushers meting out their punishment. (Saffer, 44) Being distracted by criminals, stopped the flow of their gold, which is most likely the reason for the harsh punishments they gave.The gold rushers made up their own mining laws also. You can claim reasonable amount of land, and the plot had to marked by stakes, while each miner can only have one plot at a time. (Saffer, 44) This brought lots of conflict, making another source of reason for people to commit crimes because they are not happy with the law. “With no police force in California’s cities, criminals from all over the world flocked to San Francisco. There, they could commit their crimes with little fear of punishment.” (Saffer, 44) With criminals from everywhere, miners were surely filled with fear, and the production of getting gold was certainly slowed down because the chance of criminals stealing or hurting them. It was surly dangerous just being a person mining gold, even for a criminal it is dangerous, but back then, harsh was the usual. Even through travel, gold challenges, and crimes, people somehow still mined though the horror’s of the California gold rush. People were insane, but as said before, people have an unsatisfied greed for gold. In California, there was a gold rush, that had most of the world rushing to
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