Gold and Tears: The Ramifications for the Native Americans During the Westward Expansion in the United States

Abstract

Abstract During the California Gold Rush a series of incredibly devastating events accumulated to the genocide of Native Americans in California. The fate of the Natives was harmfully affected by the migration of hundreds of thousands white people. The white settlers established a government and society in which there was no place for the Natives. How did California state policies, or lack thereof, contribute to the genocide during the California Gold Rush? By examining and analysing both modern sources and sources from the period of the Gold Rush, I will determine who should be seen as the perpetrators. newspapers and legislations will give an idea of how the public and government perceived the presence of the Natives, and how they should be treated. Modern sources give reflections of affected areas, numbers of displaced and murdered Natives, and events in order to create an accurate narrative. I will use these sources in combination with the contextualization of several key factors that contributed to the decision making in the Californian government, factors such as the personal opinions of Californian governors, or the massive migration to California and the problems that accompanied this migration. The general trend in my essay will determine that several layers of the U.S. society during the Gold Rush were responsible for the genocide, namely the Settlers who committed, endorsed, or enabled violence against the Natives. The Californian government, the army, and the U.S. government carry the most responsibility for all the transgressions committed against the Natives, both within the period of the genocide as the decades that followed 1880. Lastly I will analyse the modern ramifications for the Native American society by looking at data and information from the U.S. Census Bureau, the CDC and newspapers. These reveal that the Native population deals with significant higher poverty rates, lower education rates, alcoholism and drug abuse, and discrimination by law enforcement. All these problems are remnants of the system the American government attempted to enforce on the Natives. Only in recent years have we seen an increase in repairs and return of traditionally Native lands.