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What was the Gold Rush?

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Quick answer

A gold rush is a frenzied migration of people to a region after gold is discovered. The most famous, the California Gold Rush of 1848–1855, drew hundreds of thousands of 'forty-niners' west, rapidly transforming the economy and population of the American West.

Key things to understand

  1. It's a mass migration sparked by a gold discovery.
  2. The California Gold Rush began in 1848.
  3. Hundreds of thousands sought fortune as 'forty-niners'.
  4. It rapidly reshaped the economy and settlement of the West.

People also ask

What was the Gold Rush?
A surge of people migrating to find gold, most famously to California starting in 1848.
Who were the forty-niners?
The prospectors who flooded into California in 1849 seeking gold.
What impact did the Gold Rush have?
It boomed California's population and economy, but also displaced Native peoples and harmed the environment.