It has always been understood that the 1848 discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada influenced the battle over the admission of California to the Union. Now, historian Richards makes clear the links between the Gold Rush and many of the regional crises in the lead-up to the Civil War. Richards explains how Southerners envisioned California as a new market for slaves, only to be frustrated by California's prohibition of slavery. Still, they schemed to tie California to the South with a southern-routed railroad and worked to split off the southern half as a separate slave state. Richards recounts political battles in Washington and feuds, duels, and perhaps outright murder in California as the state came close to being divided in two.--From publisher description. Includes information on Chivalry Democrats, Jefferson Davis, Democratic Party, Stephen A. Douglas, free soil movement, John C. Fremont, Know Nothing Party, Mexico and Mexicans, James K. Polk, Republican Party, Sacramento, San Francisco, secession, Zachary Taylor, Transcontinental Railroad, Whig Party, etc.