The California Gold Rush and the independence of Texas were two events that impacted the Westward Expansion during 1800-1848. California Gold Rush took place from 1845 to 1855, marked by the discovery of a significant gold deposit near Sacramento. At the same time, the freedom of Texas in 1836 was achieved when Texas gained independence from Mexico (Corbett et al., 2014). Both events were impactful on Westward Expansion; however, between the two events, California had the most significant influence on the Westward Expansion compared to the Independence of Texas.
Despite the two events influencing extension towards the West, the California Gold Rush was most functional since it sparked a massive movement and settlement in the West. The California Gold Rush was sparked by the discovery of gold in California in 1848. After the word spread to the east that there was gold in California, people sold whatever they owned to make to the country of gold, resulting in increased settlement and Expansion of the western U.S. Over 300,000 adventurers arrived, including people from all over the world, China and Australia (Stange, 2021). Further, it influenced the union to admit California as the thirty-first state of the United States of America. Therefore, people acquired the goal of moving west, claiming their land, and finding gold due to the discovery of gold in California.
The ideology of manifest destiny states that America is destined to expand its territory, democracy, and capitalism across the continent (Corbett et al., 2014). The philosophy molded the view of Americans in the world, influencing the movement to the West. For instance, manifest destiny ignited the California gold rush since people saw it as an opportunity to move West, claim land and find gold. The Americans admitted California as one of its states based on the manifest ideology that America was destined to expand across the continent. Manifest destiny played an essential role in the Expansion of Texas, such that Americans invited Texas to join the United States as the twenty-eighth state. Therefore, the belief in Expansion to the pacific influenced the gold rush, where people moved to California, and Texas became part of the United States.
References
Corbett, P., Janssen, V., Lund, J., Pfannestiel, T., Waskiewicz, S., & Vickery, P. (2014). U.S. History.
Stange, N. (2021). Fools’ Gold: Racism, Social Mobility, and Native Americans during the Gold Rush. Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History, 11(1), 30-40. Web.