home

=**THE GOLD RUSH** =   

In the mid 1800s many Americans headed west to follow their “manifest destiny”. Some went for personal reasons, like trade or religious conversion. Most were farmers who moved west in search of more and better land. The largest migration west, however, did not occur because of manifest destiny. It was not as a result of the need for new farmland or religious tolerance. Instead, one of the greatest migrations in United States history came from a “hunger for gold”. In the years that followed, gold fever encouraged people from all over the world to leave their homes and travel to California in search of ‘striking it rich’. James K. Polk, President of the United States, gave an important speech in 1848 outlining the benefit of heading west. In it he stated that the gold mines in California are “more extensive and valuable than was anticipated” and that “the explorations already made warrant the belief that the supply is very large and that gold is found at various places in an extensive district of country”.

WELCOME  to Miss Brown's wikispace on the ** California **** Gold Rush! ** Please follow the directions on the next page and complete ALL parts of the lesson. Happy Westward Travels!!

the annexation of Texas in 1845 the concept of Manifest Destiny and its relationship to westward expansion the acquisition of the Oregon Territory in 1846 the territorial acquisitions resulting from the Mexican War the search for gold in California the Gadsden Purchase of 1854    -identify reasons for heading west -describe the consequences of the Gold Rush -identify different perspectives of the California Gold Rush
 * __ MASSACHUSETTS __****__ STANDARDS: __** USI.26 Describe the causes, course, and consequences of America’s westward expansion and its growing diplomatic assertiveness. Use a map of North America to trace America’s expansion to the Civil War, including the location of the Santa Fe and Oregon trails. (H, E, G)
 * __ OBJECTIVE: __** At the end of this lesson you will be able to: