The Fraser River Gold Rush of 1858 free essay sample

I live in Fort Victoria. The region changed awfully with the Fraser River  . gold rush of 1858. In that year, as many as 30,000 people arrived in the region. Therefor, the population of Fort Victoria rose. There was such an entrance of people, in fact, the Britain established the colony of  British Columbia  on the mainland, in order to strengthen its control over the area. The gold rush brought With it, different people of many ethnic backgrounds. For example, like Hispanic and Chinese. People came from the United States and from other parts of British North America. Until the gold rush of 1858, fur trading had been the dominant industry, controlled by the Hudson Bay Company. With the rush, gold mining  became the absolute economic activity. Coal mining, as well as forestry and fishing, also emerged during this period, but none rivalled gold in importance. The period of prosperity was short-lived. By the mid-1860s the gold rush had collapsed, sinking British Columbia into a painful trouble. We will write a custom essay sample on The Fraser River Gold Rush of 1858 or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The British Colonies were interested in forming a Federal Union or a Confederation. Although not all colonies wanted to do so. While Canada and the Maritime provinces were negotiating Confederation in the mid 1860s, British Columbia and Vancouver Island were consider a union of their own. In this time of trouble that followed the gold rush, separate colonial administrations was a wrong financial burden. The union of the two colonies became official in 1866. In 1867, the reformers convinced the governer to allow British Columbia into Confederation. But a major catch was the thousands of kilometres of HBC-owned land separating British Columbia from Canada. That land, known as  Ruperts Land and the North-west Territories. , would have to be accomplished before Canada could stretch from sea to sea. In May of 1868 De Cosmos helped to found the  Confederation Legue. In July 1868, the Canadian government had passed the  Ruperts Land Act. This was to purchase all land that belonged to HBC. With this purchase Canada controlled territory all the way to the Pacific Ocean. So basically, I support confederation because simply put, It brought all the colonies together and also formed a law biding government. By: Khadheeja Sally