User:Atcovi/VA and US History/Election of 1848

Election of 1848
Taylor, Whig candidate, narrowly wins the elections. Taylor wins the elections as he was a Mexican War hero and he was from Louisiana. California came first to apply for statehood as their population booms exponentially due to the Gold Rush of '49. In January 1848, gold was found on John Sutter's property in the Sierra Nevada mountains. "Gold Fever" took over the country and migration towards CA came from many places, such as Europe and Asia.
 * Gold Rush '49

The "Forty-niners" were prospectors who come into CA to find gold.

California Statehood

 * San Francisco became the biggest trade center in CA.
 * 1849: State constitution was drawn up outlawing slavery and CA applied for statehood the same year.
 * This would upset the south as it is below the line to where slavery is outlawed. Throws off the slavehood balance.

The Gadsden Purchase

 * 1853: Franklin Pierce pays Mexico 10 million dollars to acquire land around the US-Mexican border. Pierce paid for this land as it was nice to land (south of a major river and agriculturally beneficial). The railroads wanted Pierce to purchase the land as they wanted to create a railroad from Texas to San Diego
 * It fixed the current border of the 48 states of the US.