The California Territory first emerged at the end of the Mexican-American War. In the treaty, the territory was given over to the United States, and it was the seed that became California. This expanded the boundaries of the United States of America from the Atlantic, 3,000 miles across to the Pacific. George Washington’s dream of expanding to the West instead of focusing on the East was fulfilled (Washington’s Farewell Address). *and this will not change font or color*
The swift statehood of California emphasizes the importance of the Gold Rush (Paddison, Joshua: Gold Rush. Statehood and the Western Movement). Congress passed the 31st state on September 9th 1850. Just two and a half years after the discovery of gold in Sutter’s Mill on January 24th 1848 (The West: A Ken Burns Documentary). The Californian government felt the stress of the unsuccessful gold rush, just as much as the miners. The frustration of the limited gold was taken out on the immigrants in Northern California. The California State Legislative imposed a twenty-dollar tax on immigrant miners (Monroe, Judy: The California Gold Rush, page 30). While the local government was new, it was not very authoritative. The government was unable to protect the land from squatter that took over the original Californios land (Thorton, Stuart: After the Gold Rush).
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Even James Sutter, who found the first gold nugget and sparked the gold rush, had lost some of his land due to squatters. Before he died he demanded some sort of restitution from the national government, but never received it (The West: A Ken Burns Documentary). The Gold Rush caught President Taylor’s attention when he announced it during his State of the Union Address (Calliope: The Gold Rushes of North America, page 59). This helped carry the gold fever through Americans.