Analyzing the Shift in Gender Roles in California History (1845-1900)

This essay delves into the significant transformations in gender roles within Californian society during the 19th century, specifically focusing on the period from 1845 to 1900, coinciding with the Gold Rush era. It explores how the influx of miners, migration, and economic shifts impacted the roles of men and women. The essay highlights the demographic changes, including the disproportionately low female population, and the influence of slavery and its eventual abolition on Californian society. It examines the political and social reforms that shaped gender dynamics, providing a comprehensive overview of the evolving landscape of gender roles in California during this pivotal historical period. The essay references key historical events and their influence on the roles of both genders, painting a picture of the social and political changes that occurred.

Running head: HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA – GENDER ROLES
HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA – GENDER ROLES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA – GENDER ROLES
The nineteenth century had observed a great number of changes and evolution in the
gender roles that were maintained in the United States. The society of California, especially the
gender roles within the society had faced changes in the political and the social matters that had
been present within the nineteenth century. The following paper attempts a discussion on the
evolution of the gender roles that were observed in the Californian society during the time period
from 1845 to 1900.
The period that is being discussed in this paper refers to the era of the Gold Rush. This
era signifies the search for the discovery of various precious metals including gold from the
various areas of the world where there had been a possible chance of its existence. This involved
the onrush of the miners from the surrounding areas to the place wherein the availability of this
metals was most likely. The major motive behind this onrush had been the seeking of a fortune
from the mining of the precious metals from the mines. The steep rise in the trading activities as
well as the migratory activities had been a result of the gold rush that had taken place in the mid-
nineteenth century (Holliday). The roles that were played by people of both genders were seen to
have been evolving during the era. The Gold Rush resulted in the huge amount of migration to
the states of United States. The population of the state of California in the year 1848 was around
14000 which was increased to 250000 by the year1852, within a span of four years (Eifler).
However, the female population had faced a huge decline to almost 8% of the total population
being women.
The mid-nineteenth century also faced the issues with the slavery that was predominant
and a very commonplace occurrence within the country of the United States of America. The
Californian state was no exception. The situation faced a revision during the reign of the
Abraham Lincoln, the first President of the United States of America. The president had put forth

2HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA – GENDER ROLES
an abolition of the slavery system and thus brought the slavery system to an end. This had further
led to the migration of the people to the state of California and thus leading to the increase in the
economy of the state (Martell). The end of slavery within the country had led to the freedom of
around four million people who had been working as slaves under the fair-skinned people. This
leads to the huge loss in terms of the financial matters that the fair-skinned people had majorly
invested in. The people who owned the plantations had to pay the workers with the wages which
led to the loss of the plantation owners in the financial aspects (McGuinness). The political
scenario within the country also faced a great amount of the changes during the mid-nineteenth
century and continued to face several reforms till the onset of the twentieth century.
Thus, from the above discussion, it might be pointed out that the United States have
actually faced a number of changes in the nineteenth century in the fields of politics, migration,
citizenship and other such issues.

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References
Eifler, Mark A. The California Gold Rush: The Stampede that Changed the World. Routledge,
2016.
Holliday, James S. The world rushed in: The California gold rush experience. University of
Oklahoma Press, 2015.
Martell, C. C., Bryson, J. R., & Chapman-Hale, W. C. (2017). Teaching Racial Inequity Through
the California Gold Rush. Race Lessons: Using Inquiry to Teach About Race in Social
Studies, 61.
McGuinness, Aims. Path of empire: Panama and the California gold rush. Cornell University
Press, 2016.