California Gold Rush | The First Strike | 1
American History Tellers
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Only about 15,000 non-native Americans lived in California in 1848 and most of them were from Mexico. Before the Mexican-American War Mexico had been so desperate for people to move to California that they briefly sent Condicts there. The gold rush changed all that Suddenly California was a place you could strike it rich as a result during the latter half of 1848 Outsiders began streaming in but even though California became a US territory in 1848 few of the new arrivals were Americans.
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