The California gold rush was not merely
an American happening--it was a world event. Many mines, especially
in the south, were worked by foreigners who came solely for the
gold. Chinese, Chileans, Mexicans, Irish, Germans, French, and
Turks all sought their fortune in California.
Like their American-born counterparts, foreign miners had no intention
of staying in California. Their goal was to get the gold and get
home. But hauling gold out of the country was a difficult operation--bandits
often preyed on foreigners. The Chinese had a unique solution.
As gold became
less plentiful, resentment towards foreigners grew. Under pressure,
the California legislature passed the Foreign Miners Tax in 1850,
a $20 per month levy payable by every foreign miner--a tax which
only fueled the growing fire of ethnic resentment.
Many foreign miners refused to pay the tax and left the country.
Others, like the Chinese, stayed in California, in mining--or
in more traditional jobs in the metropolitan culture that was
developing. Although there were ethnic skirmishes, most of these
new residents thrived. If you had something to contribute, California
would take you in. Almost instantly, the state had assembled the
most diverse ethnic culture in the world.
Yet one ethnic
group did not do well--the original residents of California's
gold country: Native Americans. Uninterested in gold or in mining--they
were almost immediately annihilated.
African Americans
fared surprisingly well. Southerners who brought their slaves
to help in the digging quickly found out that 49ers didn't take
kindly to that idea--but it wasn't because of an opposition to
slavery. The miners had quite a different reason for objecting.
In 1850,
California was admitted to the Union as a free state--adding to
eastern tensions that would lead to the Civil War. But few in
California cared much about the slavery question. There was still
but one thing on the minds of nearly everyone here--money. And
money was becoming harder and harder to find.
