Gold Rush

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the 19th century Gold Rush in America and how it contributed to the overall development of the American identity. It looks into the historical interdependence of the Gold Rush and the contribution of immigrants, and especially women, to the construction of the American cultural heritage. The paper largely bases its discussion on Jo Ann Levy's book "The Crucible Women on the Overland Journey".

From the Paper:

"The American society was rather vulnerable to the influences of different other cultures seeing that the idea of national identity was not strongly engulfed in the general conscience, especially taking into consideration the relatively recent experience of the civil war. This is why the immigrants that populated the western part of the country were rather successful in maintaining their cultural identity and kept the specificities of their national origins. In the Chinese case, it manifested through the establishment of the Chinatowns that became natural parts of cities such as San Francisco. It has been argued the fact that the Chinese community was strongly attached to the national values of their culture and during the 19th century, they were rather reluctant to adopt the English language, not so much as a defiance of the discriminatory practices of the American authorities but rather out of a deep respect and attachment to their own cultural heritage. The idea of this constant relation to the Chinese land is also present in Levy's novel in depicting the overall environment in which the actions take place, filled with description of the traditional parades, silk banners and flashing-eyed dragons that are part of the Asian culture."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "A Conversation with Jo Ann Levy." The Gold Rush. http://www.goldrush.com/~joann/conversa.htm (accessed 18 February 2007)
• Beckett, Elizabeth, and Sarah Teel. Women in Alaska's history- Gold Rush. http://library.thinkquest.org/11313/Gold_Rush/index.html (accessed 18 February 2007)
• Broukal, Milada and Michael V. Uschan. The California Gold Rush. New York, Gareth Stevens, Inc., 2003.
• Butler, Anne. Daughters of Joy, sisters of misery: prostitutes in the American West, 1865-90. Illinois, University of Illinois Press, 1997.
• Chen, Yong. Chinese San Francisco, 1850-1943: A Trans-Pacific Community. Stanford, Stanford University Press, 2000.

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