The California Gold Rush<span> (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when </span>gold<span> was found by </span>James W. Marshall<span> at </span>Sutter's Mill<span> in </span>Coloma, California.<span> The news of gold brought some 300,000 people to </span>California<span> from the rest of the </span>United States<span> and abroad. </span><span>The sudden influx of immigration and gold into the money supply reinvigorated the American economy, and California became one of the few American states to go directly to statehood, in the </span>Compromise of 1850<span>. The Gold Rush initiated the </span>California Genocide<span>, with 100,000 </span>Native Californians<span> dying between 1848 and 1868.</span>
<span>The Ancient Romans built roads for their military but it immediately helped commerce and political negotiations. There are some Roman roads still being used today.</span>
