Manifest Destiny and the Opening of the West - “Gold Rush“ Series Part 1

The Discovery of America... and the opening of the great American West in the early 19th century is explored. The westward march of Americans toward the Pacific sets the stage for the Gold Rush. A LionHeart FilmWorks original production. The finding of gold nuggets in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848 which sparked the ’Gold Rush’, arguably one of the most significant events to shape American history during the first half of the 19th century. An exploration of the stories of struggle and triumph for the thousands who risked everything in the pursuit of wealth and the illusive American Dream. As news spread of the discovery, thousands of prospective gold miners traveled by sea or over land to San Francisco and the surrounding area; by the end of 1849, the non-native population of the California territory was some 100,000 (compared with the pre-1848 figure of less than 1,000). A total of $2 billion worth of precious metal was extracted from the area during the Gold Rush, which peaked i