Essay on the History of Mexicans During and After the Gold Rush

The history of Mexicans has turned out to be interesting since t5hey were treated as foreigners despite the fact that many of them were born in California. Furthermore, before 1848, California was part of Mexico. During the Gold Rush, the number of Mexicans exceeded that of the Americas in California. The Mexicans were better miners with greater experience than Americans. They taught Americans the mining techniques. However, more Americans went to the west as gold fever spread. Since Mexicans were foreigners to the gold mine, they were subjected to a broad range of regulations and taxes (California Perspective on America, n.d.). At the same time, they received lower wages than native Americans. The U.S natives sometimes sold land owned by Mexicans.

Since the gold rush, Mexicans have continued living in California despite being discriminated against by the native Americans. However, their pollution has been increasing consistently. By 2019, there were about 10.9 million Mexican-born persons living in America (MPI, 2020). Therefore, Mexicans have extended to other parts of the country other than California.

The Mexicans were marginalized, disenfranchised, and endured discrimination while in the U.S. first, as aforementioned, Mexicans were subjected to more regulations and taxes than those of the Native Americans. Moreover, their parcels of land were sold by Americans. These cohorts managed to endure the discrimination by complying with the regulations and laws of the American government and the state of California. As such, it is evident that

Mexicans have suffered a big deal at the hands of the American natives. However, compliances assisted them in surviving in the unfavorable conditions caused by discriminative Americans.

Mexicans and Native Americans endured a huge form of discrimination perpetuated by both the state and the local governments. They suffered early prejudice and violence under the diverse authorities in California. While the authorities regarded the Mexicans as legally white and awarded citizenship, other people of color were disregarded and denied citizenship rights. The land held by the minority groups was not protected by California law. The state and local governments failed to provide property rights to the native Californians. They were stripped of their ancestral land with no protection from the government. The legal system thus marginalized the indigenous Californians by denying them property rights. The governments passed legislation laws that sought to segregate these groups by denying them education rights, voting rights and perpetuating judicial inequality. For example, civil proceedings in state courts resulted in legislation that prevented the black or the Indians from testifying or giving any evidence in court.

The government could have adopted diverse approaches to prevent these discriminations. Regulation would have proved the most effective approach to end discrimination. The state and the local governments would have persuaded various legislative measures to ensure that these groups were protected from discrimination and segregation. For example, instead of denying the outside groups the rights to own property, local and state governments, through the diverse legislative houses and the courts, should have provided sought to legally protect these groups (corouredconvention.org) 2021). Such actions would have sent a clear message to the majority groups that racial discrimination and segregation is an illegal issue that should not be embraced

References

California Perspective on America. (n.d.). Gold Rush: 1848-1860. http://picturethis.museumca.org/pictures/mexican-miner-working-mule

MPI. (2020). Mexican immigrants in the U.S. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/mexican-immigrants-united-states-2019

Multi-Ethnic Legal Discrimination in California – Equality Before the Law: California Black Convention Activism, 1855-65. Equality Before the Law: California Black Convention Activism, 1855-65. (2021). Retrieved 27 September 2021, from https://coloredconventions.org/california-equality/life-and-politics/multi-ethnic-legal-discrimination/.