While preparing for a Junior Achievement class that I was to teach, I read up on the California Gold Rush of the nineteenth century.
Did you know:
- Gold was initially discovered at Sutter’s Mill (in Coloma, California) on January 24, 1848?
- President Polk confirmed the discovery of gold in California to Congress on December 5, 1848?
- California was admitted to the Union as the 31st state on September 9th, 1950?
- In late October, 1850, reports from Sacramento City stated that 57,000 miners are working the gold fields?
- In 1854, there were approximately 25,000 Chinese in California, and nearly all of them could read?
For more information about the history of the California Gold Rush, or San Francisco in general, click here. When reading, take note of all of the earthquakes that were recorded… it’s kind of amazing!
According to the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco:
- In 1851, gold exports amounted to $34,492,000?
- In 1852, gold exports amounted to $45,587,803?
- In 1853, gold exports amounted to $56,390,812?
- In 1854, gold exports amounted to $51,429,101?
- In 1855, gold exports amounted to $44,640,090?
[tags]DYK, California, Gold, Money, History[/tags]