Downside of the Gold Rush
Although the Gold Rush has many benefits to the United States, it also caused some trouble. Greed, prejudice and violent crime increased during the Gold Rush. "Gold fever" was infecting not only civilians, but also immigrants. The Gold Rush took people away from their families and jobs. according to a May 1848 editorial from the Californian "The whole country, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and from the sea shore to the base of the Sierra Nevada resounds with the sordid cry of 'gold, GOLD, GOLD!' while the field is left half planted, the house half-built, and everything neglected but the manufacture of shovels and pickaxes." Greed was the main reason men packed up their bags and left for the golden country.
Many men left their good paying jobs and their families for the gold. Even a mayor and a town constable, who took his prisoners with him to the gold mines, left for California. Because of this, families were separated and jobs outside of mining are lacking in the availability of workers. Many miners died because of the Gold Rush. Not only did they died on the journey to California but they also died in the mines where risky conditions caused misfortunes and helped the spread of diseases."Many, very many that come here meet with bad success and thousands will leave their bones here. Others will lose their health, contract diseases that they will carry to their graves with them. Some will have to beg their way home, and probably one half that come here will never make enough to carry them back," according to S. Shufelt, who talked about the gold-seekers in a March 1850. The gold rush caused death and despair to the workers.
The gold rush increased the level of crimes such as gambling, prostitution, fighting, robbery and murder. Religious leaders were among many who did not like the Gold Rush. Rancher Hugo Reid wrote about the violence to a friend in 1849. "Don't go to the mines on any account. They are...loaded to the muzzle with vagabonds from every corner of the globe, scoundrels from nowhere, rascals from Oregon, pickpockets from New York, accomplished gentlemen from Europe, interlopers from Lima and Chile, Mexican thieves, gamblers of no particular spot, and assassins manufactured in Hell for the express purpose of converting highways and byways into theaters of blood." Moving to California was rough because of all the crime
The environment and community of Natives living in California were damaged as well. The Gold Rush caused tensions between natives and settlers. Indians were forced to move off their land by the miners. The gold miners brought new diseases that infected the Indian population. The Gold Rush damaged the environment as well. California's landscape was changed to benefit the miners. They often dammed waterways which destroyed natural habitats. Miners often used toxic chemicals such as mercury that contaminated water supplies. The Gold Rush was not all beneficial to California.