Many people felt that their lives would be better off if the colonies remained under British rule. Some of these people were simply afraid to go up against the might of the British army. Others had business interests in Great Britain and knew that British trade was important to the economy.
When the western Roman empire collapsed in 476 AD, the unifying force for most of Europe was gone. Along with the loss of the government, much of the engineering abilities and "modern amenities" were also lost. The "barbarians" of Europe did not, for the most part, have the abilities or knowledge to build roads, aqueducts or the other marvels of the Roman Empire, which is why the period immediately after Rome's collapse is often referred to as the "Dark Ages".
The only unifying force of any sort left would be Constantine's Roman Catholic church, which did manage to preserve some of the knowledge and vestiges of the empire. As the only thing left really, it became the main power in the European world throughout the Middle Ages, functioning almost as an imperial government until Luther set off the Reformation in 1546.
Basically supporters of the free silver movement thought that bimetallism would help the economy by causing inflation. This would help farmers and others who had too much debt.
The guillotine was what the french used to execute people
The news of gold brought about 300,000 people to CA from the rest of the US and abroad. Roads, churches, schools and other towns were built throughout CA to accommodate. In 1849 a state constitution was written, a governed and legislature chosen and CA became a state in 1850 as part of the Compromise of 1850. Agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of settlers aswell