The Lewis and Clark Expedition and the California Gold Rush

The Lewis and Clark Expedition and the California Gold Rush

In the 19^th century, settlers moved into the American West in huge numbers. This prompted the Westward Expansion, which was influenced by several events. From my perspective, the two most significant events in the Westward Expansion were the Lewis and Clark expedition, which followed the Purchase of Louisiana, and the California Gold Rush.

The Lewis and Clark expedition took place to help open the settlement and exploration of the purchased West Louisiana. In 1803, under the administration of President Thomas Jefferson, America purchased Louisiana from France (Kastor 2008). This purchase multiplied the territory of the U.S., entirely removed France from North America, and secured conveyance along the Mississippi River and passage into New Orleans. Shortly after the purchase completion, a group of explorers set out to explore the land to establish diplomatic and friendly contact with the Native tribes and claim the Pacific Northwest before Europe did it. The mission turned out to be successful and encouraged more Americans to move into the territory.

The second significant event was the California Gold Rush. In January of 1848, James Marshall and Sutter John discovered gold in the American River in California, close to the Sierra Nevada. Both men tried to keep the discovery a secret, but word soon went out and ended up being printed in the San Francisco newspaper (Holliday 2015). Shortly after, more gold was discovered in the Feather and Trinity streams near the Sierra Nevada. Soon, people came from Mexico, Peru, Oregon, Chile, and the Pacific Islands, rushing into the goldfields. By 1849, approximately 100,000 people, alluded to as forty-niners, had come looking for fortunes. By 1855, it is estimated that around 300,000, including foreigners like Indians and Chinese, occupied California, and the San Francisco population grew, making it the eighth-largest city in the U.S. at that time.

Effects of the ideology of manifest destiny on the two events mentioned above

The ideology of manifest destiny was that the U.S. was an expansionist and transcontinental empire (Merk et al., 1995). Following this ideology, Louisiana was purchased. It vastly expanded the U.S’s territory; additionally, after the U.S became one nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific, they gained possession of California after conquering Mexico, where the gold was soon discovered. Hence the manifest destiny ideology led directly to the California Gold Rush and the purchase of Louisiana from France.

References

Kastor, P. J. (2008). The Nation’s Crucible: The Louisiana Purchase and the Creation of America. Yale University Press.

Holliday, J. S. (2015). The world rushed in: The California gold rush experience. The University of Oklahoma Press.

Merk, F., & Merk, L. B. (1995). Manifest destiny and mission in America history: A reinterpretation. Harvard University Press.

8.3 Partisan Politics – U.S. History/OpenStax. Openstax.org. URL: https://openstax.org/books/us-history/pages/8-3-partisan-politics

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Week 3 Discussion: Manifest Destiny and the Mexican War of 1846
3
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:

• Textbook: Chapter 8 (section 8.3), 11
• Lesson
• Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Initial Post Instructions
For the initial post, pick two (2) of the following historical events:
• The Lewis and Clark Expedition
• The Missouri Compromise
• Independence of Texas
• Mexican War of 1846-1848
• The California Gold Rush
Then, address the following for your selections:
Which of your two selections do you consider most impactful on Westward Expansion during 1800-1848? Explain why.
• Analyze the effects of the ideology of Manifest Destiny on the two historical events that you chose from the list.