Before the Gold Rush

Abstract

“Before the Gold Rush” recounts British efforts to find new sources of gold in order to enable the smooth functioning of the newly restored gold standard after 1820. Their first port of call was Latin America, where mining had declined during Napoleon’s occupation of Iberia; despite substantial investment by British speculators, this sector never regained its prior prominence as a world leader in gold yields. Instead Russia picked up that baton, yielding nearly half of the world’s total output by the early 1840s. Although Britons welcomed the new gold, they did so warily, owing to that country’s status as their leading national rival. Such concerns prompted them to hedge their bets by prospecting for gold (without much success) in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia—parts of the world that were all conveniently in the process of passing under direct British rule.