Later Gold in California.

As i understand it, the gold rush brought a large amount of Yankees whom then petition for Californias entry into the union as a free state. This destroyed the masons-dixe line, and with it the national party system of Whigs and Democrats. The south got the fugitive slavery act, not enough for them and infuriating large segments of the north.

So, what would happen if we push the gold rush back in time?
 
As i understand it, the gold rush brought a large amount of Yankees whom then petition for Californias entry into the union as a free state. This destroyed the masons-dixe line, and with it the national party system of Whigs and Democrats. The south got the fugitive slavery act, not enough for them and infuriating large segments of the north.

So, what would happen if we push the gold rush back in time?

I doubt it would end well for the North. Although, TBH, you'd probably have to butterfly OTL's Mexican-American War, which, even with Polk in office as OTL, it isn't that hard to do; one thing to remember is that Polk was very much a political opprotunist. Had things been swayed in a direction just a little different than OTL, chances are, we'd have only gotten Texas and the Oregon Country, which, btw, was Polk's original design beforehand. Or, going the Clay route, if he can be sufficiently convinced that the Southwest really would turn into a new haven for slavery, then yes, that too, will work.

But without that, I'm afraid things will be worse for the North in the short term. Without the Mexican War, it'd take longer for the abolitionists to get as fired up as they did in our world. Which means a later Civil War, and possibly more bloodshed as well.
 
How likely was it that gold would take longer to be discovered? It was easily accesible wasn't it?

Yes it was, but then again it had not been discovered until 48. Just pushing it back a couple of years while have a rather large effect. No Mexcian war is also interesting, but a rather different pod imho.
 
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