Chileans
Illustration of an attack on a Chilean mining camp, n.d.; courtesy the California State Library
Competition and Discrimination in the Goldfields
The various groups did not work alongside each other peacefully. Once the most gold-rich spots had been claimed and prospecting became more difficult, tensions escalated. National and racial differences led to prejudice and discrimination, especially on the part of Anglo-American miners. The new California state government passed a Foreign Miners Tax in 1850 that targeted the French, Mexican, and Chilean prospectors. The tax was briefly repealed, but it was reinstated in 1852 when a surge of Chinese immigrants came to work in the gold fields. Not surprisingly, California Indians lost even more of their land to settlers during this time and were expelled from the areas around the mines.
American prospectors were particularly resentful of the Chilean labor system. Those who were against slavery in the American south saw injustice in a system that bound workers in servitude to land owners. They also considered the large labor force behind these Chilean mining operations to be unfair competition. In response, many Americans in the mining camps used the raw power of violence and the legal powers of the state to gain control over the goldfields.