UNCOVERING THE PAST The different types and uses of primary and secondary sources sources related to gold rushes and how we can interpret them Sourcing evidence determining context and revealing bias How and why historians use a variety of sources to give a balanced view of events and their impact on society INTRODUCTION THE PAST COMES ALIVE 4 An overview of the California and Klondike gold rushes and the historical evidence related to them the importance of history and studying events of the past HISTORICAL SOURCES TYPES OF EVIDENCE 8 ANALYZING EVIDENCE INTERPRETATION 16 THE STORY UNCOVERED GOLD RUSHES 20 DIFFERENT VIEWS NOT ALL WAS GOLDEN 34 MODERN EXAMPLES HISTORY REPEATED 38 The impact of the gold rushes then and now the problems of gold mining today both in North America and around the world Timeline 42 Bibliography 44 Internet Guidelines 45 Glossary 46 Index 48 From the first gold rush in North Carolina the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 to the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890s the impact of the gold rushes on Indigenous peoples Problems of law and order overcrowding abandoned mines and destruction of the landscape caused by the gold rushes
INTRODUCTION THE PAST COMES ALIVE Universal history is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul Lord John Dalberg-Acton historian and politician 1895 The past is full of tales of adventure success failure tragedy comedy and excitement These are stories of what people achieved or lost in life Looking back at the past gives us a chance to see how our ideas and values have shaped our world Learning from our mistakes and repeating our successes are just two ways we can use the information of the past to help us prepare for the future Major events such as the gold rushes in North America affect many parts of society The Klondike and California gold rushes of the 1800s changed history geography and the course of immigration and settlement The use of foreign workers changed the cultural makeup of the West Coast New laws were created to deal with what would happen to these workers when the mines closed The need to move goods and supplies led to the building of new highways and railroads New technologies were created to make mining faster and more productive This new wealth changed not only individuals but also entire regions Mines in remote areas opened up new sites for settlement The settlements often encroached on Indigenous peoples traditional lands The miners brought new diseases to these people They also changed the landscape by damming rivers and blasting through mountains The North American gold rushes of the past brought changes we can see and study today Columbia California was a boomtown thanks to the gold rush of 1848 By 1850 it had many hotels banks stores churches and saloons 4 UNCOVERING THE PAST
During the earlier gold rushes mining was hard manual labor using simple tools like shovels and pickaxes EVIDENCE RECORD CARD The California Gold Rush LEVEL Primary source MATERIAL Lithograph LOCATION Columbia California DATE 1852 SOURCE Topfoto Granger DEFINITIONS Boomtown a settlement that grows rapidly from a camp to a thriving town Forty-niner a prospector who arrived for the California Gold Rush in 1849 Gold rush people rushing to a newly discovered goldfield Lode gold gold found between layers of rock Mining claim land where a miner has the right to mine minerals from the ground Pay streak a layer of minerals Placer gold gold deposited near the surface of the ground Prospector an explorer of mineral deposits Sluice box a long sloping box with grooves on the bottom to catch gold GOLD RUSHES 5
