wayground logo

Free Printable Worksheets

NEW

Font size

S
M
L
XL
Worksheets

Social Studies Unit 3: Early History to Statehood

Total questions: 20

Worksheet time: 7mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Pioneers started coming to California in the mid-1800s. Pioneers are ___.

a)

explorers

b)

first settlers

c)

traders

d)

businessmen

2.

Why did Sutter build a fort?

a)

to protect other pioneers

b)

to trade with California Indian groups

c)

to sell supplies

d)

to help California gain statehood

3.

Russian settlers came to California in the early 1800s because ___.

a)

they wanted to set up farms

b)

they wanted to trap sea otters

c)

they were on their way to South America

d)

they wanted to explore all the lands of North America

4.

Who built Fort Ross?

a)

Russian fur trappers

b)

Spanish missionaries

c)

John Sutter

d)

American pioneers

5.

People from the East Coast of the United States came to California across land and ___.

a)

by sailing around Cape Horn

b)

by sailing across the Pacific Ocean

c)

by sailing around Cape Hope

d)

by going through the North Pole

6.

Many settlers migrated west in the early 1800s because ___.

a)

the Civil War had started

b)

the United States was expanding

c)

the United States government paid for their trip

d)

they came to find gold

7.

Which of the following was NOT a result of the Gold Rush?

a)

Many forty-niners came to California.

b)

Boomtowns developed.

c)

Entrepreneurs started new businesses.

d)

A sawmill was built in Coloma.

8.

Who was Louise Clapp?

a)

The wife of the man who discovered gold near Sutter’s Mill.

b)

A doctor who came to help the miners.

c)

The author of letters that described life around the mines.

d)

A teacher in the mining towns.

9.

Who was Biddy Mason?

a)

The first woman to work in the gold mines.

b)

A formerly enslaved woman who became free and successful.

c)

The author of the book Ramona.

d)

A fugitive who helped write the Compromise of 1850.

10.

What did Californians do AFTER becoming a state?

a)

They elected representatives to Congress.

b)

They fought in the Mexican-American War.

c)

They named a military governor.

d)

They voted for the Bear Flag Revolt.

11.

Why did many Mexicans come to California in the early to mid-1800s?

a)

They wanted to trap sea otters.

b)

They wanted to sell supplies.

c)

They wanted farmland.

d)

They wanted to live at the missions.

12.

Who made maps for the United States government?

a)

Pio Pico

b)

John Bidwell

c)

John C. Fremont

d)

James Marshall

13.

Who became governor of California?

a)

Pio Pico

b)

John Bidwell

c)

John C. Fremont

d)

James Marshall

14.

Who was among the first of the American settlers to arrive in California?

a)

Pio Pico

b)

John Bidwell

c)

John C. Fremont

d)

James Marshall

15.

Who discovered gold while building a sawmill next to the American River in 1848?

a)

Pio Pico

b)

John Bidwell

c)

John C. Fremont

d)

James Marshall

16.

Who was Peter H. Burnett?

a)

The first elected governor of California.

b)

A representative of California in the United States Congress.

c)

The man who started the Bear Flag Revolt.

d)

A military governor appointed by the United States.

17.

A republic is a form of government in which citizens ___.

a)

elect leaders to represent them

b)

vote directly to ratify laws

c)

are governed by a king or queen

d)

approve new laws by a majority

18.

What happened to California as a result of the Mexican-American War?

a)

The Bear Flag Revolt began.

b)

Spanish explorers claimed land that later became California.

c)

The final draft of the California Constitution was approved.

d)

California became a territory of the United States.

19.

Mary Tape was upset that her daughter was not allowed to attend public school. She worked for the fair treatment of ___.

a)

California Indians

b)

Mexican Americans

c)

African Americans

d)

Asian Americans

20.

The ___ ended the Mexican-American War over the border between the United States and Mexico.

a)

Compromise of 1850

b)

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

c)

Fugitive Slave Act

d)

California Consititution