USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Forty-niners rushed to California with visions of gilded promise, but they discovered a harsh reality. Life in the gold fields exposed the miner to loneliness and homesickness, isolation and physical danger, bad food and illness, and even death.

Detailed explanation-2: -Some miners were injured in explosions or electrocuted. Others fell off ladders, slipped on rocks, inhaled silica dust, or suffered from mercury, lead or arsenic poisoning.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Gold Rush had an effect on California’s landscape. Rivers were dammed or became clogged with sediment, forests were logged to provide needed timber, and the land was torn up-all in pursuit of gold.

Detailed explanation-4: -In addition to the white American settlers who comprised the majority of the mining populace, free African-Americans could also be found among their ranks. More numerous were Mexicans who were hoping to strike it rich. Word reached European shores and immigrants headed to America’s west.