Politics and Newspapers: Race Relations and its Influence on Gold Rush San Francisco

Abstract

Politics and Newspapers: Race Relations and its Influence on Gold Rush San Francisco Victor Toste D uring and immediately after the American Gold Rush, the city of San Francisco became the largest city in the American West. This growth was fueled by the consistent migration of easterners travelling west in hopes of hitting it rich with gold, or gaining steady work that the new industry of gold mining had created. This idea of “going out west” created a distinct difference in what people considered to be the culture of the American North and South vs. that of the West. The term “Wild West” is used to describe the lack of structure and general unknown of the west compared to the rest of the United States. The rapid growth of the city of San Francisco and the surrounding area led to the first instances of consistent economy and infrastructure that near to the Pacific. One of these infrastructures was journalism, and in October of 1855, James King of William published the first issue of the “Daily Evening Bulletin.” By the New Year, it had become one of the more popular newspapers in the area. In the final issues of its inaugural year, sections and stories focused on the selling of meats and pastries for the holidays, but it is stories discussing the appointment of local officials that stands out amongst all other advertisements. Like The American West, California, and specifically large cities like San Francisco were still trying to form an identity in a country that was already being divided over issues of slavery and labor. In the early nineteenth century, most of the North had abolished slavery, but it was still strong in the South. With the Gold Rush making California economically viable for a large population to settle in, it became a point of contestation among pro and anti- abolitionists. 1 One of the men that opposed slavery in California was the former state senator and rising political figure, David C. Broderick. His rapid advance through the California political system, and his political views created friends, but also enemies and doubters. Soon, the California State Senator was being accused of using his power to influence elections in and around the city. King, the editor of the “Daily Evening Bulletin,” felt this was an abuse of his power and thus he began to run articles against Broderick; accusing him of stuffing ballots and other political offences. In a time where the city of San Francisco was growing, like an infant child, it absorbed what it learned from those around it. Thus, King and Broderick fell on two sides of the growth of California. Broderick wanted to use the lessons learned in his birthplace of Washington D.C. and eventually made the party system of San Francisco irrelevant. “It was Broderick and anti-Broderick.” 2 The relationship between David C. Broderick and James King of William is a representation of the questions being asked of slavery not only in the North and South, but also in the West, as well as the struggle for identity of the people within California and the state as a whole during the Gold Rush and prior to the American Civil War. Junius P. Rodriguez, Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World, (Armock: Sharpe Reference, 2007), XLVIII. Jeremiah Lynch, A Senator of the Fifties: David C. Broderick, of California, (San Francisco: A.M. Robertson, 2011), 73.