Analysis of the Book "Give Me Liberty: An American History" and the Song "Gold Rush Brides"

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History
15 February 2018
Gold Rush Brides Analysis
In relation to chapter 16 of Eric Foner’s Give Me Liberty: An American History book, the song Gold Rush Brides is about the time when women suffered in the Gold Rush Era that happened in California. During that time, California seemed to be a promised land to those who wanted to migrate there and have a better life in order to have a good destiny.
Chapter 16 is about the transformation that took place in the West and farm life during that time. After the Civil War, there was more cultivation of land that made farming more challenging and the burden was felt by women. There was an increase of crop production, but prices dropped and it was the small farmers that suffered because of this. Based on what was happening in California, what will happen to the future of western farming depended on the big agricultural companies.
The line “Dakota on the wall is a white-robed woman, broad yet maidenly”, pertains to the scarcity of women during that time because the men came right away when there was gold discovered. Women arrived later, and in 1850, there were more men than women. Industries like cooking, sewing, and housekeeping were for women and these were essential to all men. The labor of women was given high value, that made men consider their work to be really economically valuable even if they were not paid.<...