Chileans in the California gold rush

which Chileans introduced to California during the gold rush. After the initial boom had ended Chileans were among the groups that suffered explicitly anti-foreign and racist attacks, laws and confiscatory taxes sought to drive out foreigners—in addition to Native Americans—from the mines. There are records of Chileans resisting this treatment both by legal means and by the use of violence. Prior to these incidents Chileans were unaware of the racial worldview of Anglo-Americans, some were surprised to discover they were seen as non-white. These events led to creation of the San Francisco Police Department and of a Chilean consulate in San Francisco within one month after the attack. The severity of these punishments stand out as corporal punishment was otherwise declining in the Western world. ==Later developments==

Many Chileans left following implementation of taxes on foreign miners in 1850. Some left for Chile and other for the Australian gold rushes that begun in 1851. Other Chileans were progressively marginalized, having to share ownership of their prospects with Anglo-Americans to remain in business and came over time to transform into unqualified labour. This contrast to Anglo Americans miners who tended to have more skilled employment using machinery. Many found their way as cheap labour in industrialized mines controlled by Anglo-Americans where they alongside Mexicans took the most dangerous and ill-paid jobs. Many Chileans who stayed in California mixed by marriages with the Euroamerican population. It is speculated they were able to do this more easily than Mexicans due to Chileans commonly having a somewhat lighter skin-tone than the bulk of the Mexicans, thus being more accepted in a racist society. ==See also==