The California Gold Rush of 1849 was the catalytic event for the state that earned it a place in the American union in 1850 This was not the first gold rush in North America; however, it was one of the most important events of the Gold Rush. The story of the discovery of gold and that of the 49ers are well known. Men leaving their families in the East and heading West in hopes of striking it rich are the stories most of us heard about when we heard about the California Gold Rush . Over the past two decades, professors and scholars from various fields of study have taken a closer look at the gold rush phenomenon. When California joined the Union in 1850, it helped the United States expand westward, just as most Americans intended to do. The Gold Rush event can be considered significant because it led to the creation of a national railroad. It also provided the conditions for the success of entrepreneurship, capitalism and the development of modern industrialization. The event also had a major influence on agriculture, economics and politics. Before the Gold Rush, the United States was at war with Mexico over territory. Without the Treaty of Guadalupe of 1848, the United States might have evolved differently than it does today. The Treaty of Guadalupe was signed on February 2, 1848, and ended the Mexican-American War. Mexico transferred almost half of its land to the United States (Rohrbough 12). Some Americans believed this to be part of Manifest Destiny, particularly believing President James Polk (Smith, Orsi, and Rawls 26). The Treaty of Guadalupe guaranteed that any Mexican citizen in California who did not want to continue his allegiance to Mexico would automatically be granted, within one year, "the title and rights of citizens...... middle of paper ...... iches? Evidence of the California Gold Rush. " The Journal of Economic History 68.04 (2008): 997-1027. Print. Finkelman, Paul, ed. and Donald R. Kennon, ed. Congress and the Depression of the 1850s. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2012 . eBook (tamusaworldcat). Web. April 7, 2014. Orsi, Richard J. and John F. Burns: Politics, Government and Law in Pioneering California, 2003. . March 2014. Rohrbough, Malcolm J. Days Of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the American Nation: University of California Press, 1997. eBook (EBSCOhost 2014. Smith-Baranzini, Marlene, Richard J. Orsi and). James J. Rawls. A Golden State: Mining and Economic Development in the California Gold Rush: University of California Press, 1999. eBook (EBSCOhost Web March 26).. 2014.