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Gold found near Sutter’s Mill
While James Marshall was working near Sutter’s Mill, he found gold! Sutter and Marshall agreed to try to keep the golden discovery a secret. Such a large secret is hard to keep, however they wanted to find and sell this gold themselves so they would make all the money from this discovery. -
The secret of gold is exposed
Despite Marshall and Sutter not telling anyone about their findings, the next day a Spanish speaking worker found gold and shouted “Oro! Oro! Oro! (Spanish for gold)” for all to hear. The President at the time, President Polk, brought even more publicity and excitement to the subject by announcing the discovery of gold in his farewell message to Congress in December 1848. -
People flocked to California to search for gold
Once people heard about the discovery of gold in California, many thousands of people rushed to get there and find as much gold as they could. Around 80,000 people crowded into the state of California to join in the search, with around 20% coming from places other than the US. -
Population in California boomed
San Francisco became a place to buy things and a trade center for travelers. It’s population went from around 800 people to over 25,000 in two years, that’s a 3025% increase! This is largely due to the fact that most people who traveled to California to search for gold first arrived in San Francisco. -
Completion of the transcontinental railroad
This population boom was followed by large economic growth. However, California couldn’t provide all of the food and resources the miners and their families needed, so much of it had to be imported. This unveiled another challenge because California was isolated from the rest of the US. This need for a way to transport goods to California prompted the construction of the transcontinental railroad. Despite taking almost 20 years to be completed, it was the basis of growth for a stronger economy.