The Gold Rush and the Chinese - Report Example

The Gold Rush and the Chinese: Introduction: The Gold Rush and Thesis ment: The Californian goldrush began in the year 1849, and it had a great impact in changing the lives of many people. It helped in giving economic opportunities to many immigrants who were coming to United States, and specifically to California. The main reason for moving to this state of California was to escape poverty, and this is by working at the discovered gold mines in the state. People came from all over the world, and this includes Australia, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. People coming from this country saw America as a land of opportunity, and hence they moved to this country, for purposes of finding economic prosperity. However, it is important to explain that the Chinese people were the largest immigrants to migrate to California. It is approximated that more than 300,000 Chinese were able to arrive in California. This large number of the Chinese immigrants who came to California during the 1849 period of the gold rush, had a great influence on the California, that we know today. The Mode of Transportation: California was able to be promoted to the status of a state, because of the discovery of gold, and the enormous economic and social activities that was taking place in state. This is because of the large influx of immigrants in to the region. California experienced a growth in its transportation system, and this is because the government was able to build rail-roads from California to other parts of the country. The intention of building these rail-roads was for transporting immigrant workers, in and outside of California. Furthermore, these rail-roads were aimed at transporting gold. Steamships were also developed, and this was the main mode of transporting the Chinese people, from China to California. The shipping company that these people used was the Pacific Mail Steamship Corporation, which began offering transportation services in the year 1848. Another company is the Oriental and Occidental Steamship Company that began its operations in the year 1874. The money used for transportation was donated by friends, employers and relatives. These people were so useful in California that their employers used to pay recruiting agencies transportation costs, for purposes of bringing them to California. Furthermore, there was a shortage of unskilled labor, and the Chinese people were able to provide this type of labor. This is mainly because the Chinese immigrants who came to America, had a low level of education, and most of them came from rural areas. The district of San Francisco was their main entry point, and it witnessed a rapid influx of visitors and immigrants. Life in China: The mine fields were initially unregulated but with the advancement of time, the miners elected someone within them to administrate and enforce mining fields. The Chinese arrived in California from Eastern Asia, and they did so in response to overpopulation, war, and poverty at home (Bakken, 26). In other instances, high taxes after the Opium Wars was able to force farmers out of their lands, and this made them poor. They lacked a means to sustain their livelihood that reciprocated into them looking for other ways of sustaining themselves (Yung, 39). Years of droughts and floods were able to result to economic problems. Then merchant vessels brought news of the existence of gold in California, leading to immigration to this state. The effects on the economy: Labor: The gold rush was able to shape the state of California into what we know now and made serious transformation on United States of America. In terms of labor market, the gold rush created a labor shortage in California. Majority of people were able to leave their jobs, going to the gold fields to make a fortune (Bakken, 26). The shortage created many work opportunities. Majority of people who were able to get jobs are immigrants who were unable to find gold, when they reached California. They, therefore, got jobs in cities and towns that were growing at a high rate than one could imagine (Brands, 47). Unfortunately, the labor shortage resulted into what we commonly refer to slavery because native Indians were exploited at the expense of the shortage of labor. The Chinese also provided labor in the Agricultural sector of California. Wheat was the major crop that was grown in the state of California. Furthermore, the favorable climatic condition was able to allow an intensive cultivation of flowers, fruits and vegetables. In the Eastern parts of United States, there was a strong demand for these products, and with the completion of the transcontinental railroad, then it was possible to supply to these markets. On this basis, the Californian agricultural industry was expanding, hence there was a manpower shortage. The Chinese people played a great role, in filling this manpower shortage, and in the 1960s, the white land owners, recruited thousands of Chinese immigrant workers to their farms. However, it is important to understand that most of these workers were not unskilled, but experienced workers farmers, who had left their farmlands in China. It is these people who played a great role in expanding the Californian fruit, wine and vegetable industry. Business: The huge influx of people meant that other areas started to grow. This period saw high levels of industrialization, and other fields of growth started to spring up immediately (Isaacs, 33). The city of San Francisco opened up opportunities to manufacturing, trade, merchant business, entertainment industry, agriculture, and it saw an increase in the emergence of financial institutions such as banking organizations (Green, 60). All these developments led to the birth of Capitalism state of economy. In 1855, the day of an individual mine was completely killed giving rise to modern capitalism. National economy was in some way impacted by the gold rush business because the period led many companies to invest into the gold rush (Friedman, 33). It is so that as the gold rush period was going down the dollar amount on business was increasing steadily, many businesses depended on the gold rush at very small levels than it was earlier on stated. In other words, gold did not change California; the rush for gold did change it (Blashfield, 31). There was diversity in Californias state population. The spillover effects (planned or unplanned consequences), such as heightened demand for goods and services led to increased diversity within masses. In turn, this lead to the demands for improved transport systems which in turn created more opportunities for future entrepreneurs (Bakken, 26). The Californian society developed from a village kind of state into a society consisting of strangers and transients. Religion changed from traditional Catholicism to protestant type (Yung, 20). The change is so because with heightened levels of strangers people started to have a desire to have personal relationships with their maker than having to carry it as a union or group (organic solidarity and mechanical solidarity). Gold rush led to the growth and development of new specialized individuals who are ready to take on risk (Bakken, 26). These groups of people commonly referred to as entrepreneurs revolutionized the state of California into modern day California. Influence: Population Increase In 1845, the population of San Francisco was about 400 and around 1860; when the gold rush had slowed down considerably the number had shot up to 56,000 people (Green, 58). The city of San Francisco was the closest to the mine fields, and it was therefore an important supply route to the mines (Green, 66). It is stated that at the height of the gold rush, San Francisco was an exciting place but when the gold rush began, the city almost became empty, and this is particularly because many people ran to the mines to search for a living. Journalists, representing many newspaper organizations also went to the mines, for purposes of finding information and news (Blashfield, 37). Culture and beliefs San Fransisco was diverse both in the race and ethnicity of its inhabitants. While the diversity existed, it was evident that immigrants who came brought their culture to America (Friedman, 33). They came along with culture and beliefs. The heterogeneous state meant that California is not a one race state, but it has all the races in place. People of all races lived in the state, and they managed to socialize with each other, hence sharing their cultural and religious beliefs (Bakken, 26). Conclusion The gold rush period came with its high and lows. The Chinese brought their expatriate labor from their motherland to the United States over the desire to get gold. This desire led to the development of one the worlds centers of power and economy. In our efforts to understand these types of people, it is better to be able to understand their origin, source of family relationship they share and what they do. These people came and grew in population that led to the growth of San Francisco town. Efforts should be directed at what the country can achieve with or without their aid. For purposes of pursuing a better feeding ground, the Chinese were able to leave their homes, and search for better opportunities in the United States. Others had to establish themselves outside the mine fields in businesses like laundry, hotels and restaurants. Some of them realized the knowledge on wealth and had to send support back home, thereby earning the respect back at home. The gold rush gave birth to the present system of economy that is capitalism. It can be added that the system of capitalism gave rise to modern protestant religion because villages turned into households and to strangers. Races mingled, and the rise of slavery brought in a new type of race the Black-American and the Hispanics. The existence of the Chinese in California also had some negative impacts. This is because it led to an increase in ethnic and racial tensions, in the State of California. This is particularly when gold began to be scarce (Friedman, 27). Americans began discriminating against the Chinese people, and they used the political, economic, and social tools to discriminate against them. The political tool used in discriminating against the Chinese is the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. This law was extremely discriminatory, and this is mainly because it was able to deny citizenship to the Chinese, and they were unable to hold any positions in government. Furthermore, this law was able to limit the manner which the Chinese people could mine in California. This limited their ability to earn money, the principal reason that made these people to come to America. This had an effect or reducing the number of Chinese immigrants coming into the country. Works Cited: Bakken, Gordon Morris. Encyclopedia of Immigration and Migration in the American West. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 2006. Print. Blashfield, Jean F. The California Gold Rush. Minneapolis: Compass Point, 2001. Print. Brands, H. W. The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream. New York: Doubleday, 2002. Print. Friedman, Mel. The California Gold Rush. New York: Childrens, 2010. Print. Green, Carl R. The California Trail to Gold in American History. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2000. Print. Isaacs, Sally Senzell. The Gold Rush. Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2004. Print. Yung, Judy. Chinese American Voices from the Gold Rush to the Present. Berkeley: U of California, 2006. Print. Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form Read More