What do I capitalize? Which is correct in this sentence: California Gold Rush or California gold rush? Please support with the grammatical rule.

The decline of whaling in America began with the California gold rush in 1849.

Most sources capitalize California Gold Rush because it's a specific event in U.S. history, like the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Great Depression.

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/capitals.htm

See #4 -- historical events

What do you think -- capitals or not?

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In the sentence "The decline of whaling in America began with the California gold rush in 1849," the correct capitalization is "California Gold Rush." This is because "California Gold Rush" is a proper noun referring to a specific event in history and should be capitalized according to the capitalization rules for proper nouns.

According to the grammatical rule, proper nouns are capitalized. Proper nouns are specific names of people, places, organizations, events, etc., and they are always capitalized. In this case, "California Gold Rush" is a specific event that took place in California during the 1800s, so it is considered a proper noun and should be capitalized.

In this sentence, the correct capitalization would be "California Gold Rush" because it is a specific event and should be treated as a proper noun.

The general rule for capitalization is that proper nouns, or specific names of people, places, or things, should be capitalized. This includes the names of specific events, such as the California Gold Rush.

In the sentence you provided, "California Gold Rush" refers to a specific event in history, which took place in California in 1849. It is considered a proper noun because it is a unique name for a specific event, and is therefore capitalized.

If the phrase "California gold rush" was used instead, with lowercase letters, it would suggest a more general reference to gold rushes in California, rather than a specific event. However, in this specific sentence, "California Gold Rush" is the correct capitalization choice.