California does hold a strong economy. And yes your right it is economically power. But it takes years for a state to become that way.
The Gold rush help California bring settlers and expand it economy from other thing other than gold. The Railway help a lot and many ports were open. And with many immigration from China and south of the border it increase it work force so they had many farms and they grew very rapidly with the shipments of fruits and vegetables.
Eventually companies starting moving in and setup headquarter which brought lot of middle class people. And with its geography it brought tourist as well. All of these factors brought what California is today.
The gold rush only started it. The users saying California isn't economically powerful. California's economy is the eighth largest economy in the world,if the states of the U.S. were compared with other countries.
The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) began slowly on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), Mexico, Peru and Chile and they were the first to start flocking to the state in late 1848.
The population of California was over 110,000 in late 1850. The news of the discovery brought some 200,000 people to California by 1852 from the rest of the United States and abroad. Of the 200,000, approximately half arrived by sea and half came overland on the California Trail and the Gila River trail.
The effects of the Gold Rush were substantial. San Francisco grew from a small settlement of about 200 residents in 1846 to a boomtown of about 36,000 by 1852. Roads, churches, schools and other towns were built throughout California.
In 1849 a state constitution was written, a governor and legislature chosen and California became a state in 1850 as part of the Compromise of 1850. New methods of transportation developed as steamships came into regular service. The first steamship, the SS California (1848), showed up on February 28, 1849.
Soon steamships were carrying miners the 125 miles (201 km) up the Sacramento River to Sacramento, California. By 1869 railroads were built across the country from California to the eastern United States. Agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers.
So therefore, it only took a few years for it to become economically powerful.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.