The California gold rush of the 1840’s and 50’s was no exception. It all started in 1848 when a newspaper based in San Francisco called “The Californian” first broke the news of gold in the area. “GLORIOUS SUCCESS! AT THE BEE HIVE!! UNPARALLELED IN CALIFORNIA!!!” Once the news broke, people moved to California by the thousands and interest by the states grew larger and larger by the day. Furthermore, America saw that a great deal of people were already coming to California from other parts of California, from the east coast and even from South America.So, they decided to do their best to acquire California for the ability to have it’s own gold, and for the growth of its economy. Evidence of the U.S. interest in California can be found right after the gold was discovered. Just a few days after the gold was discovered, the treaty of Guadalupe was signed, and California became a U.S. territory from that moment own. By signing the treaty, the U.S. confirmed it’s attraction to California, and also proved that a major reason to get California was to have gold . In short, gold always draws interest when it’s discovered, and the U.S. did everything in it’s power to make sure they got …show more content…
expanded, the only place it could trade with other countries was through the Atlantic Ocean. So, the number of countries it could trade with was very limited. When it saw the opportunity to acquire California, it also saw the opportunity to trade with countries in the Pacific Ocean. Countries such as China and Japan could be within reach, and the U.S. would be able to boost its economy even more. For example, in a book called Empire on the Pacific, the author, Norman A. Graebner, argues throughout his novel that the U.S. expanded to this area because it wanted to become a power in trading in the Pacific Ocean. Trading with other countries is essential in growing the economy of a country, and because of the location of California on the west coast, the U.S. saw an ideal spot to expand to. By expanding, the states opened the doors for trading today, and the U.S. are now major trading partners with countries of a pacific border such as China and Japan. Today, the U.S. now receives almost 500 billion dollars in imports from China and Japan. Succinctly, the expansion to California was a major event for trade at the time, and it led to great opportunities