Unit 8 - The California Gold Rush

Unit 8 - The California Gold Rush

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Multiple Choice

How much was that 12 pound gold nugget worth?

• $200,000

• $1,000,000

• $1,500,00

• $3,000,000

Discovery of Gold

• In 1848 gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in northern California

• People from all over the U.S. and the world traveled by ship, wagon, horse, and by foot to come to California and try their luck at finding gold and becoming rich

• The Oregon and California Trails were packed with ten of thousands of people moving west to California from the east coast of the United States

• So many people came to California in 1849 they were called the San Francisco 49rs

Multiple Choice

Where was gold discovered?

• Wilson's Mill

• Anderson's Mill

• Gurnee Mills

• Sutter's Mill

Multiple Choice

When was gold discovered in California?

• 1845

• 1846

• 1847

• 1848

Staking a Claim

• Prospecting was the act of looking for gold

• Staking a claim gives you a place where you can look for gold which was located near a river or stream that was used to clean the dirt to find the gold

• Placer miners panned for gold and a long sluice box was used to wash the pay dirt and would trap the gold in ridges

• $60 million in gold was found in 1853 alone

Multiple Select

What tools were used to look for gold? (Pick 2)

• Sluice Box

• magnets

• Pan

Multiple Choice

How much gold was mined in 1853?

• $20 million

• $40 million

• $60 million

• $80 million

Multiple Select

Which three are terms used when mining for gold?

• Sluice Box

• Nuggets

• Making it Rain!

• Pay Dirt

Mining Camps

• Were temporary and were full of tents and rough looking wooden houses

• 95% of miners were men and most were young

• Women made money by cooking meals, washing clothes, and running hotels in town

• Buying food and supplies was very expensive and the prices were inflated due to the amount of gold circulating from business to business

• Billy Mason gained her freedom in California and became one of the richest land owners in California

• 24,000 Chinese immigrants came to California to try their luck at finding gold which lead to California to place a $20 tax on all foreign miners hired by companies

• Levi jeans were created during the gold rush for miners who needed durable pants to mine in

Multiple Choice

People from all over the world came to the California gold fields to get rich.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

How many Chinese immigrants moved to California?

• 20,000

• 23,000

• 24,000

• 29,000

Impact on California

• Within a year California's population swelled to over 100,000 people

• California applied for statehood in 1850

• There was talk that California would split into two parts: The southern part would allow slavery and the northern part would be free of slavery

• The people of California voted to not allow slavery in their state and eventually the Compromise of 1850 allowed California into the Union

Multiple Choice

California became a slave state in 1850

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

How many people lived in California by 1850?

• 100,000

• 125,000

• 150,000

• 200,000

Multiple Choice

Who were the first people to find gold in California and when?

• Mexicans in the 1930s

• Mexicans in the 1710s

• Portuguese in the 1830s

• Mexicans in the 1830s

Multiple Select

What three ethnic groups were mistreated during the California Gold Rush?

• Native Americans

• German Americans

• Mexicans

• Chinese