A Golden State

by Rawls, James J.; Orsi, Richard J.; Smith-Baranzini, Marlene; Kirk, Anthony

• ISBN13: 9780520217706
• ISBN10: 0520217705
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-05-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

California's storied Gold Rush triggered momentous changes not only for the state, but also for the nation and the world. The economic impact of that epoch-making event is the focus of the second volume of the California History Sesquicentennial Series. The chapter contributors offer a range of perspectives, including commentaries that reflect the new scholarship of environmental and resource history. Together, the essays and more than 90 illustrations show how the Gold Rush precipitated a veritable economic revolution whose effects continue to this day. Among the topics given a fresh interpretation are the relationship between technology and society; the environmental impact from mining and the sudden increase in California's population; the influence of the Gold Rush on agriculture, manufacturing, banking, and transportation; and its impact on the peoples and economies of Latin America, Europe, and Asia. The popular image of the independent prospector is also examined anew, as is the role of different groups of industrial workers, including Chinese, Mexicans, and women. The Gold Rush was a multiplier, an event that accelerated a chain of interrelated consequences that in turn accelerated economic growth. But it also touched a deep-seated nerve in the human psyche and unleashed economic forces, for good or ill, that transformed California forever into a Golden State.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Michael McCone
Richard J. Orsi
A Golden State: An Introduction	1	(23)
James J. Rawls
Making Old Tools Work Better: Pragmatic Adaptation and Innovation in Gold-Rush Technology	24	(28)
Ronald H. Limbaugh
Capitalism Comes to the Diggings: From Gold-Rush Adventure to Corporate Enterprise	52	(26)
Maureen A. Jung
``We all live more like brutes than humans'': Labor and Capital in the Gold Rush	78	(27)
Daniel Cornford
Environmental Changes before and after the Gold Rush	105	(18)
Raymond F. Dasmann
``I am resolved not to interfere, but permit all to work freely'': The Gold Rush and American Resource Law	123	(26)
Donald J. Pisani
Mother Lode for the West: California Mining Men and Methods	149	(25)
Duane A. Smith
Seeing the Elephant	174	(11)
Anthony Kirk
The Gold Rush and the Beginnings of California Industry	185	(24)
David J. St. Clair
From Hard Money to Branch Banking: California Banking in the Gold-Rush Economy	209	(24)
Larry Schweikart
Lynne Pierson Doti
``Property of Every Kind'': Ranching and Farming during the Gold-Rush Era	233	(17)
Lawrence James Jelinek
The Golden Skein: California's Gold-Rush Transportation Network	250	(26)
A. C. W. Bethel
A Veritable revolution: The Global Economic Significance of the California Gold Rush	276	(17)
Gerald D. Nash
List of Contributors	293	(4)
Index	297