PART A The most significant physical geographical factor that contributed to the development of the ancient South American society of the Incas was the Andes Mountains. The Inca Empire had villages and cities throughout the Andes Mountains. Some of these settlements were as low as sea level and their capital, Cusco, was at an altitude of 11,200 feet. The Andes are considered some of the longest and highest mountain ranges. In fact it’s tallest peak, Mount Aconcaqua, in Argentina, tops out at 22,841 feet (Zimmermann, 2013). Despite the fact that people were traversing mountains the people flourished creating trails, aqueducts and agricultural practices that still exist today. Almost every aspect of the Incas life were affected by …show more content…

A few years later California became the 31st state to join the United States. At that time, in 1850, a census was taken and the population had skyrocketed to 223,856 (Kelly, n.d.). Kelly also states that the population of San Francisco rose over 50,000 in the years between 1848 and 1849. Before the gold rush most Americans never thought of going to California. It was little more than a wilderness full of beasts and Indians and tales abounded of lawlessness. Only the truly brave dared to travel to California. The discovery of gold, however, changed all of this. John Sutter, a sawmill owner, found a large nugget in his mill, and overnight the California gold rush began. Newspapers reported the discover and once then President James Polk confirmed the rumors during his annual state of the union address in December 1848, the rush was officially on! Not only did prospectors from all over the United States make the long journey to California, but voyage by sea had also gotten a lot more accessible and advanced to allow people from all over the world to find their own wealth in the foothills of California. It is estimated that one-fourth of the prospectors came from other nations. Unfortunately, not everyone realized their dream of becoming wealthy. The inundation of people also brought business and thus transformed California and the