In the years of the Gold Rush, from 1848 to 1852, California became U.S. territory, and then a state. In these chaotic years, do you find people to be especially greedy, or especially cooperative? Do you find the "rule" of greed or the "rule of law to be most important? As discussed in class, this is a rhetorical question and your answer can be one, the other, or both. Begin with class and reading examples of avarice and division, and consider to what extent the new state of California represented only a portion of the population, perhaps only the most powerful. On the other hand, what examples are there of cooperation or the successful adjudication of conflict?

"Answer the following for your second paper, and sum up, in your conclusion, the extent to which–the Gold Rush years, the rise of Merchant dominance (and the growth of corporate capitalism), the organizations of Labor, or the progressive reformers–(the one you have written about) reflect the entire era from 1848 to 1906. Why or why not? Remember, begin with examples that struck you as mosts significant, historical people and moments discussed in the text, and in Roaring Camp."

CHICAGO STYLE / 6 PAGES / BIBLIOGRPAHY / COVER PAGE

Texts:

Roaring Camp

Lodha & Walker, Atlas, Chapter 3, 4, 5, & 6
Pacific El Dorado, Chapter 4-8

David Vaught, "Transformations in Late Nineteenth Century Rural California," Companion, pp. 116-126; Robert Chao Romero, "Transnational Commercial Orbits,"Companion, pp. 230-245.