Explain why the Gold Rush created a new crisis over slavery?

Answer 1

north wanted gold. south wanted gold

Answer 2

With the gold rush, the issue of slavery in the far west became practical as well as abstract, and immediate rather than remote. The newcomers attracted to California in 1849 included free blacks and slaves brought by planters from the south. White prospectors loathed the thought of competing with either of these groups and wanted to drive all blacks, along with California's Indians, out of the gold fields. Tension also intensified between the gold-rushers and the 'Californios', whose extensive land holdings were protected by the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Spawned by disputed claims and jealousy, violence mounted, and demands grew for a strong civilian government to replace the ineffective military government in place in California since the war. President Polk began to fear that without a satisfactory congressional solution to the slavery issue, Californians might organize a government independent of the US. The gold rush guaranteed that the question of slavery in the Mexican cession would be the first item on the agenda for Polk's successor and, indeed, for the nation.

Answer 3

It made the slaves more in demand.