The gold rush impacted American history by attracting more people to California than would have normally gone there. Also, a lot of people died. One in every five miners who came to California in 1849 was dead within six months.The gold rush created a major labor shortage as many Californians left their jobs and went to the gold fields. This shortage created opportunities for many people that needed the work. Most of these people were immigrants who, when they finally reached California, found that the gold was harder to find and less abundant than they dreamed. They consequently got jobs in the cities and towns that were quickly growing. Unfortunately, this labor shortage also resulted in the exploitation of the Native Indians that was quite similar to slavery, without the official name.The immediate impact was the rush of people into CA. There are reported wagon traffic jams of over 30,000 on the trails to CA. Others came by boat and any means possible. The result of the influx of population was the growth of gold towns in northern CA in the foothills around and above Sacramento. Within two years after the finding of gold in 1848 by John Marshall CA had a large enough population to become a state on Sept. 9, 1850.
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