Project Questions

1. Which of these documents best demonstrates the larger Pacific Ocean context of the California gold rush?
2. In what ways do the documents illustrate both the strong optimism that attended the gold rush and the fears and conflicts of those who went to California?
3. Compare the perspectives of two heads of nations: James K. Polk in 1848 and King Kamehameha III in 1850.
4. Central Question: How was the gold rush influenced by California’s proximity to places and diverse communities around the Pacific Ocean? To what extent was California’s early social diversity and conflicts also a result of its relationship to the Pacific world?