Gold Rush of California

         The California Gold Rush lasted for a whole decade from 1848 to 1858. James W, Marshall had his first encounter with a nugget of gold in the American River. His encounter with the golden nugget created an influx of immigrants from around the world and the United States. According to Harvard University Library, the Gold Rush increased San Francisco’s population in 1848 it had about 1,000 inhabitants and in 1850 the population grew to 20,000.

            The Gold Rush brought immigrants from all around the world, including many Chinese. In 1850, California ratified the Foreign Miners Tax which taxed foreign miners $20 a month.  The tax law did not stop the influx of Chinese immigrants because in 1882, the United States ratified the Chinese Exclusion Act. This stopped the immigration of Chinese into California for about a decade. The Gold Rush was the beginning of immigrants from different ethnic backgrounds, in which shapes the culture of San Francisco today.