Consequences of California Gold Rush for Industrial Urbanization
When gold was claimed to be discovered near Bathurst NSW in 1851, the news rapidly set off a series of gold rushes attracting fortune seekers from all around the world to Australia. This significant event was a vital factor into altering the course of Australian history and its future forever, collectively transforming Australia socially, culturally and economically.
Firstly, the gold rush was a consequential event into the social effects as shown through the liberation of citizens from social classes and conventions creating an enduring impact on the political development. This is as a result of the harsh and unjust conditions miner had to live up to, as well as the ridiculous amount of fee they had to pay even when they did not find gold. As a result, miners decided to fight for better changes and rights. They protested to the government hoping for changes for better rights and especially, to abolish the license fee.
The Gold Rush was a significant factor in the profound impacts on countries economy. This is presented by the driving population growth which led to the growth stimulation of secondary industries and city urbanization. Moreover, not only did the gold rush help to create more job opportunities during this time period in the increasing demand for better transportation methods but did it also rapidly lead into the urbanization of many cities. As Melbourne’s population rapidly expanded, it very soon became an instant city.
Starting with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, more and more Americans migrated westward, settling new frontiers and establishing trading markets, farms and ranches, mines, and towns in areas that had previously been untouched by Americans. Beginning with President Thomas Jefferson’s instruction of the Lewis & Clark expedition to explore the Northwest territories, adventurers began to settle and document areas along the Oregon Trail, today’s Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, and Kansas. Some of those explorers also moved southwards into California, when one lucky miner found gold in Californian Mountains in 1484. This led to an enormous boom of settlers moving to California in the Gold Rush looking for gold and prosperity. Most of those pioneers didn’t get rich from their diggings, but they built big urban centers like San Francisco.
The Californian Gold Rush also attracted many immigrants - in particular from China, Mexico, France, Germany, Russia, and Ireland - who also wanted to try their luck at gold mining. Though the Gold Rush attracted many immigrants, it was not the main factor boosting immigration into the United States. Immigrants were typically poor, working-class families, who were looking for better lives and opportunities in America. As most immigrants came from Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia the Northeast, in particular, received massive waves of immigrants, though some immigrants migrated to the West and Midwest as well. Most of these working-class immigran
Overall, from a single small village, it transformed itself and grew into a prosperous Victorian-Era centre in a manner comparable to what had happened to the city of San Francisco during the Californian Gold Rush. This is supported by a photograph of Melbourne in the late nineteenth century, depicting the vastly urbanized street of the Victorian City.
