Gold Rush: African Americans in the Gold Fields
Over 2,000 African Americans came to California during the gold rush. The majority were free men and women looking for a better life. Approximately 200–300 were enslaved people brought by their enslavers to mine gold. California entered the union as a free state in 1850, but would tolerate slavery in many regions, and would pass discriminatory laws targeting Black Americans, including the Fugitive Slave Act of 1852.
Thomas Gilman Freedom Papers
This document records when Thomas Gilman, an enslaved man, purchased his freedom from J. B. Gilman of Tennessee for $1,000. Thomas Gilman then lived and farmed at Shaw’s Flat, Tuolumne County until 1911. Even though California entered the Union as a free state, people from other states were allowed to bring enslaved people with them as long as they did not intend to reside permanently in California. Southerners brought approximately 200 to 300 enslaved people to work the mines.
Thomas Gilman
This image of Thomas Gilman was taken circa 1900 and shows him standing outside his cabin at Shaw’s Flat.
Archy Lee
Title page of a biography of Archy Lee, a formerly enslaved African American man who was brought to California in the 1850s. California was a free state and Lee used the courts to sue for his freedom. His case became a cause célèbre for the general public. The legal battle was hard fought but finally, in March 1858, the U.S. District Court in San Francisco ruled that Archy Lee was a free man.
Mining near Auburn Ravine, 1852
Unidentified African American man mining for gold in Placer County, 1852. Although the miner’s name was not recorded, he nonetheless serves as a powerful reminder of the key role of African Americans in the California Gold Rush.
Spanish Flat, 1852
This photograph shows four unidentified men, including an African American man working at a long tom. There is no way to know for sure if he was a free man or one of the over 200-300 enslaved people brought to California to mine gold.
Mary Ellen Pleasant
Mary Ellen Pleasant (1814–1904) is known as the mother of California’s civil rights movement. She moved to San Francisco in 1852 and became a self-made millionaire thanks to her keen business acumen. Pleasant often used her wealth to aid the African American community and to support the abolitionist movement. When a streetcar refused to stop for her, she sued the company for denial of service to Black people and eventually won when the California Supreme Court ruled segregation on streetcars was unconstitutional.