The Gold Rush of 1849 - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com. Throughout 1849, people around the United States (mostly men) borrowed money, mortgaged their property or spent their life savings to make the arduous journey to California.
In pursuit of the kind of wealth they had never dreamed of, they left their families and hometowns; in turn, women left behind took on new responsibilities such as running farms or businesses and caring for their children alone. Thousands of would-be gold miners, known as ’49ers, traveled overland across the mountains or by sea, sailing to Panama or even around Cape Horn, the southernmost point of South America. By the end of the year, the non-native population of California was estimated at 100,000, (as compared with 20,000 at the end of 1848 and around 800 in March 1848). To accommodate the needs of the ’49ers, gold mining towns had sprung up all over the region, complete with shops, saloons, brothels and other businesses seeking to make their own Gold Rush fortune.
Far and Away - Land Rush Scene. Lewis and Clark . Into The Unknown. Oregon Trail, The : MECC : Free Streaming. Newsies - Sante Fe. America The Story of Us — Building the Erie Canal — History.com Videos. ERIE CANAL. Traveling the Erie Canal, 1836. Traveling the Erie Canal, 1836 It was the engineering marvel of its time - its construction compared to the building of the pyramids of Ancient Egypt.
The idea for a canal connecting the Hudson River and the Great Lakes was first proposed in the early 1800s by a miller living in a village in upstate New York. President Thomas Jefferson declared the idea "little short of madness", but Dewitt Clinton, then Mayor of New York City, championed the concept. When Clinton became Governor of the state, he pushed through legislation funding the construction of the canal - Clinton's "Big Ditch" (also dubbed "Clinton's Folly") was born. The massive job was begun in 1817 and completed in 1825. The canal's opening ignited the first great western migration. This lucrative trade made New York City America's busiest port and a commercial powerhouse. The Erie Canal was the transportation marvel of its day.
In 1836 Thomas S. Pioneers Turned Millionaires. Pioneers Turned Millionaires: Levi Strauss Denim is literally the fabric of America, and all because of the vision and perseverance of Levi Strauss.
After immigrating from Buttenheim, Germany, Strauss headed west during the Gold Rush to sell his dry goods. His San Francisco fortune came not from gold, but from a small copper rivet and a patent that would soon bring him fortunes he had only dreamed of before. See how his dedication and vision transformed his simple work pants into the most popular clothing product in the world. << Back to Series Home How to Make Money in a Gold Rush Thousands rushed to California to find gold and get rich quick, but the people who actually made their fortunes were the merchants who built their businesses to serve the forty-niners. Strike it Rish. Gold Rush from History Channel. America on the Move. Transportation Revolution. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Play the song America the Beautiful.
Online versions of the music and the lyrics can be found at these two federal web pages: America the Beautiful ; a song sheet posted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (part of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Ask the students to identify the song. One day some of the other teachers and I decided to go on a trip to 14,000-foot Pikes Peak.
Bates wrote a poem about what she saw, and people liked the sentiments in the poem so much that they started singing the words as lyrics to popular tunes of the time. Distribute print copies of the lyrics to "America the Beautiful" or project the words on a screen so that all students can see them. You have probably read about this geographic expansion in a history book. [NOTE: As the students prepare to work at their computers, they may enjoy hearing the Ray Charles' version of the song at www.brownielocks.com/americathebeautifulWAVE.html . Other Links: 1.