Chapter 8, Lesson 4 - California Gold Rush

Why did many people arrive in California in 1849?

• News of the discovery of gold in 1848 in California caused many people to go to California.

• People heard about gold miners striking gold in California and started to head there in 1849.

• James Marshall discovered gold in 1848 and spread the word so more people could get rich.

• Gold prospectors were scouting the West looking for valuable minerals and struck gold in California.

If you were panning for gold during the gold rush, you would use a __________ to separate gold from sand in the water.

• pan

• spoon

• rocker

• sluice

Which statement best analyzes the economic opportunities caused by the gold rush?

• Very few people got rich from gold, but many who stayed to start businesses were successful.

• Transportation industries that grew out of the success of the gold rush made many people wealthy.

• Immigrants came to California in search of economic opportunities yet many experienced discrimination.

• Many people who came to California in search of gold found it or started businesses to support the mining industry.

If you wanted to find out more about Luzena Stanley Wilson, how could you use a library media center to locate information about her?

• I could go ask others if they have heard of Wilson and if they had any information about what she has done in our state.

• I could write a letter to a historical society in California to find out more about who she was and her contributions to the state.

• I could send an e-mail to my local representative to ask for information about her and why she is important to our state history.

• I could use her name as a search term or search under a topic about women who started businesses in California during the gold rush.

Which of the following expresses the main reasons why the United States government admitted California as a state so quickly?

• Transportation within the country was growing, and more people wanted to get to California to find gold.

• The gold rush made California wealthy very quickly, and it wanted to use that wealth to develop industries in the country.

• The gold rush brought many people to California, and it probably thought there were other mineral resources to be found.

• It had recently signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and wanted to make sure that Mexico was not going to take back California.