The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream

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The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream Audible Audiobook – Abridged

Brian Mancinelli (Narrator), H. W. Brands (Author), Random House Audio (Publisher)

4.5 392 ratings

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By the Author of the Bestselling Pulitzer Prize Finalist THE FIRST AMERICAN

THEY WENT WEST TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES AND IN THE BARGAIN THEY CHANGED THE WORLD. THIS IS THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE GOLD RUSH.

When gold was first discovered on the American River above Sutter's Fort in January 1848, California was sparsely populated frontier territory not yet ceded to the United States from Mexixo. The discovery triggered a massive influx as hundreds of thousands of people scrambled to California in search of riches, braving dangerous journeys across the Pacific, around Cape Horn, and through the Isthmus of Panama, as well as across America's vast, unsettled wilderness. Cities sprang up overnight, in response to the demand for supplies and services of all kinds. By 1850, California had become a state—the fastest journey to statehood in U.S. history. It had also become a symbol of what America stood for and of where it was going.

In The Age of Gold, H. W. Brands explores the far-reaching implications of this pivotal point in U.S. history, weaving the politics of the times with the gripping stories of individuals that displays both the best and the worse of the American character. He discusses the national issues that exploded around the ratification of California's statehood, hastening the clouds that would lead to the Civil War. He tells the stories of the great fortunes made by such memorable figures as John and Jessie Fremont, Leland Stanford and George Hearst—and of great fortunes lost by hundreds now forgotten by history. And he reveals the profound effect of the Gold Rush on the way Americans viewed their destinies, as the Puritan ethic of hard work and the gradual accumulation of worldly riches gave way to the notion of getting rich quickly.

Listening Length

6 hours
Author

H. W. Brands
Narrator

Brian Mancinelli
Audible release date

November 27, 2002
Language

English
Publisher

Random House Audio
ASIN

B00007KSES
Version

Abridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	6 hours
Author	H. W. Brands
Narrator	Brian Mancinelli
Audible.com Release Date	November 27, 2002
Publisher	Random House Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Abridged
Language	English
ASIN	B00007KSES
Best Sellers Rank	#268,807 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #212 in Expeditions & Discoveries #1,287 in US State & Local History #1,521 in Expeditions & Discoveries World History (Books)

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Kevin & Bruce

Fascinating & riveting

Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2024

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Feels like the way history class should have been. Gripping, compelling and a window into lives unimaginably harrowing, yet inspiring.

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M. Strong

Great approach - lays out the impact of gold in California

Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2007

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If you are looking for a book about gold mining in the 1850s in California, this actually isn't it. The book spends very few pages talking about the actual mining of of gold. Instead, Brands takes a broader approach, looking at the historical impact of the discovery of gold in California and comes up with some very interesting insights.

The first thing Brands analyzes in Age of Gold is how the masses that flocked to California actually got there and where they came from. By using personal stories, Brands really brings the voyages and the hardships to life. He finds individuals who came to California from Chile, Australia, Europe and the Eastern U.S. and explains what was unique and common to each of their experiences. It's truly amazing to someone living in the age of commercial jets to read about the trails of getting from New York to San Francisco in 1850, no matter the choice of land or sea.

The second aspect of Brand's analysis is the culture of California in the 1850s and beyond. How the cities of the territory emptied on the discovery of gold and then filled up. Brands talks about the bar and brothel filled towns and settlements and the initial lack of women in California. He also points out how hard it was to set up a civil society with everyone in town simply for the purpose of getting rich quickly off of gold. The rapidity with which California goes through different phases is fascinating.

Brands then looks at how California's population explosion forced the statehood debate for California into the fore in Congress and ultimately forced the slavery debate into prominence again. Every state that came into the Union at this time was hotly contested as to whether it would be a free state or a slave state, with huge ramifications for the balance of free/slave power in congress.

The whole of the story is told through peoples' stories and experiences and has a very personal feel. Well worth reading.

7 people found this helpful

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Bruce Loveitt

Ounce For Ounce...As Good As It Gets

Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2003

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This is the third book I've read by Professor Brands, and he just seems to get progressively better. (The other two were "The Reckless Decade" and "The First American.") He is a rare bird- a scholar who can write well for a popular audience. Before I sat down to write this review, I tried to think of any way this book could have been improved. Upon reflection, I really couldn't come up with anything. The author sets the stage by opening the book with the discovery of gold on the American River, above Sutter's Fort, in January 1848. He next writes about the people who came to California to try and make their fortune, where they came from, and how they got there. Nowadays, with transcontinental and global travel being so easy, we tend to forget how difficult it was to travel 150 years ago. Professor Brands brings the hazards to the forefront. You could go around South America via Cape Horn....if you could force your way through the severe storms, heavy seas, and gargantuan gales that stalked those latitudes and were the curse of sailing ships. (This section also gives the author the chance to talk about cruelty aboard ship. The crews consisted, frequently, of landlubbers who had been kidnapped and forced to serve. The men were often beaten in order to "motivate" them to work harder.) You could also sail to the Caribbean side of Panama, cross by land to the Pacific side, and continue to California by sea. The major drawback to this method was you stood a pretty good chance of dying from some horrible tropical fever. (On the Caribbean side, the ships would dock at a place called Chagres. People would often take out life insurance before they started on the long journey to California. Such were the odds of you catching the dreaded "Chagres fever" that the insurance companies had a "Chagres exclusion clause," which stated that if you stayed in Chagres overnight, your policy was void.) People who made the trip across the continental United States were pretty safe until they reached the "jumping off" spots of St. Joseph and Independence in Missouri. After that, you had to worry about cholera and the climate. You could run out of provisions and you and the animals you had brought could weaken and die in the snow-covered mountains or become dehydrated and bake to death in the desert. (The seekers-of-fortune who came from Asia and Australia via the Pacific actually had the easiest trip.) In the next section of the book, Professor Brands discusses the difficulties of mining- finding a good spot became more difficult as more and more people arrived. Prices of goods were so high that it wasn't easy to find enough gold to cover your expenses. Most people went home disappointed. Depending on your attitude, you looked back with bitterness on a horrible trip and backbreaking work or you shrugged your shoulders, appreciated that you had had a unique adventure, and got on with your life. Professor Brands also discusses the various methods of mining. At first it was easy to "pan" the streams, but after lots of people were in place and the choice spots were taken, later arrivals had to dam rivers and dig deep shafts into the sides of mountains. The author also discusses the political and social aspects of "The Age Of Gold." Many different nationalities were thrown together, friction resulted, and prejudice reared its ugly head. Native Californians, of Spanish and Mexican origin, were shunted aside, as were the Indians. People who came up from South America (mostly Chile) to stake claims were resented by American miners. The Chinese also had a tough time, with their pigtails and "strange-sounding" language and "odd-looking" written characters. The rapid increase in population and tremendous wealth generated by the gold-strikes made California unlike other areas that had been settled. California didn't have the luxury of developing slowly and of going through the process of becoming a Territory first. People pressed for statehood right away. As this was pre-Civil War America, that brought up the argument, in California and in Washington, as to whether California was going to be a free state or a slave state. And since California was growing so quickly and becoming so important, people also pushed for better transportation.....which led to the transcontinental railroad being built. It's all here, along with colorful and exciting narrative concerning not only the physical locations, but also talking about many of the interesting people who either explored, or helped maintain the peace, or who made their money from the mines or the railroads. (People such as John Fremont, William Tecumseh Sherman, Leland Stanford, and George Hearst- the publisher's father.) This is a great tale, and Professor Brands does a great job telling it.

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Max Layton

A Nugget In Every Chapter!

Reviewed in Canada on April 12, 2016

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H. W. Brands tells a story of immense historical sweep through the eyes of the individuals who transformed America and redefined the American Dream. From ne'er-do-wells like John Marshall (who discovered the gold in the first place and died a pauper) to George Hearst (who stumbled upon the largest gold mine in the world and left his son, William Randolph, a fortune) these are heart-rending and heart-warming stories of grit, determination, and just plain luck. Absolutely fascinating!

C. Ball

The best overview of the Gold Rush out there...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 5, 2011

Verified Purchase

It's no exaggeration to say that California was created by gold. No doubt there'd have been a state there anyway - the concept of Manifest Destiny ensured that Americans were always going to spread out across the continent - but the discovery of gold in 1848 accelerated the process and made for a way of life and an atmosphere quite unlike America up to that point. In pre-Gold Rush America the cardinal virtues were patience and hard work, rural, agrarian and slow - Jefferson's gentleman farmers. The Gold Rush ushered in the era of the quick buck, the sudden fortune, the wealth that could be gambled for, won and lost in the space of a week.

This is a wonderful book, well-written and pacy, and it covers far more than just the lives and wealth of the men and women - Americans and immigrants alike - who rushed to California to strike it lucky. It explores how the Gold Rush impacted the rest of the country, the role of California in upsetting the precarious balance between slave and free states that resulted in the Civil War, the way the ripples of gold spread out to affect the rest of the world, most particularly in the concept of the gold standard and free trade.

Whilst I might have liked a bit more about the day-to-day lives of the miners, more about life in the new city of San Francisco or in the mining camps themselves, for a broad-ranging, comprehensive overview of the Gold Rush and its place in California and America's history, the book can't be bettered.

6 people found this helpful

Jasper 1

Gold From The Past

Reviewed in Canada on April 27, 2019

Verified Purchase

Interesting Read