Economic Impacts
		GOVERNMENT: “I resolved not to interfere, but permit all to work freely, unless broils and crimes should call for interference.” ~Richard Barnes Mason
		- Especially during the military period, the government followed a policy of de facto laissez-faire. Civilian government less tolerant, dominated by racist, protectionist interests. - Gun ownership was almost universal and even encouraged. As a result, crime in mining camps was less frequent than in relatively peaceful cities of the East Coast. - Property rights staunchly defended: 1851: legislation providing for death penalty for theft of property over $100. - Courts and justice system based on Anglo-Saxon model.
			Foreign Miners Tax of 1850: - $20 monthly fee from every foreign miner - Intended to “protect” American miners from foreign competition - Fueled ethnic resentment and diverted many foreigners to other growing Californian industries. - Extreme failure, depopulated mining camps, filled cities with penniless foreigners, repealed a year later.
				MECHANIZATION: - Comes about as gold more difficult to extract. - Joint agreements among miners evolve into corporations to attain the capital for procuring mining technology. - Hydraulic mining (1853): Using jets of water to tear apart walls of riverbeds in search of gold.
					PROCEED.