the population of San Francisco, California, skyrocketed around 1850 for which of the following reasons? u. s. victory in the Spanish-American War or purchase of the Alaska territory from Russia or discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada or us victory over many American Indian tribes

The population of San Francisco, California, skyrocketed around 1850 because of the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada.

Explanation:

The city was founded in 1776 by Spanish settlers. Following independence from Spain, the area became part of Mexico.

The city, like the rest of the territory of present-day California, was torn by the United States from Mexico following the Mexican-American war (1846-1848), and was renamed San Francisco. It was the Californian gold rush that followed the American annexation that stimulated a rapid growth of the area, and its definitive transformation from a small urban center into a big city: from 1000 inhabitants in 1848 it passed to 25000 in December 1849. New demographic impulse gave the discovery of silver mines in 1859; this uncontrolled growth also caused a greater incidence of crime in the city, and some neighborhoods became known as a paradise for criminals, prostitution and gambling.