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gold rush
gold rush influx of prospectors, merchants, adventurers, and others to newly discovered gold fields. One of the most famous of these stampedes in pursuit of riches was the California gold rush. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill early in 1848 brought more than 40,000 prospectors to California within two years. Although few of them struck it rich, their presence was an important stimulus to economic growth. Agriculture, commerce, transportation, and industry grew rapidly to meet the needs of the settlers; mining, too, soon became big business as corporations replaced the individual prospector. Vigilante justice and ad hoc political structures quickly gave way to the complex organization of state government. Other large gold rushes took place in Australia (1851–53); Witwatersrand , South Africa (1884); and the Klondike , Canada (1897–98). The excitement of the California gold-rush days has been captured in the works of Bret Harte and Jack London .
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"gold rush." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "gold rush." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-goldrush.html "gold rush." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-goldrush.html |
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gold rushes
gold rushes Sudden influxes of people to newly discovered gold fields. The most famous gold rush was to California, where in 1848 gold was found by a Swiss settler, J. A. Sutter. As news spread, adventurers from all over the world made for California. Hard-drinkers and gamblers, the ‘forty-niners’ created an archetypal saloon society, where more fortunes were made from speculation in land and goods than from gold. The second great rush was to Australia, where gold was first found near Bathurst in New South Wales in 1851 and later in Victoria at Bendigo and Ballarat, the richest alluvial gold field ever known. A ten-year boom brought diggers back across the Pacific from the declining California field, as well as from Britain, where Cornish tin-mining was declining. The population of Victoria rose from 97,000 to 540,000 in the years 1851–60. Later rushes were to New Zealand (1860), to North Australia, Alaska, Siberia, and South Africa (1880s), and to Klondike in Canada and Kalgoorlie in West Australia (1890s). The most important was probably to Witwatersrand, South Africa, in 1886, where the influx of loose-living miners (UITLANDERS or outlanders) precipitated political tensions, which led to the Second BOER WAR.
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"gold rushes." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "gold rushes." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-goldrushes.html "gold rushes." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-goldrushes.html |
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gold rush
gold rush Rapid influx of population in response to reports of the discovery of gold. The largest gold rush brought c.100,000 prospectors to California (1849–50). Some of the miners, known as Forty-Niners, went on to Australia (1851–53). There were also gold rushes to Witwatersrand, South Africa (1886), Klondike in the Yukon, Canada (1896), and Alaska (1898).
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Cite this article
"gold rush." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "gold rush." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-goldrush.html "gold rush." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-goldrush.html |
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gold rush
gold rush • n. a rapid movement of people to a newly discovered goldfield. The first major gold rush, to California in 1848–49, was followed by others in the U.S., Australia (1851–53), South Africa (1884), and Canada (Klondike, 1897–98). |
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"gold rush." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "gold rush." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-goldrush.html "gold rush." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-goldrush.html |
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Gold Rush
Gold Rush, see Forty‐niners.
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Cite this article
James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Gold Rush." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Gold Rush." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-GoldRush.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Gold Rush." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-GoldRush.html |
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