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The California Gold Rush is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on how gold changed where people lived, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.Geo.6.3-5. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 11 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

The California Gold Rush

D2.Geo.6.3-5

NameDate

Choose the best answer.

1.Where did the gold seekers come from?
  • A.From across the United States and from countries such as Mexico, Chile and China
  • B.Only from California
  • C.Only from Spain
2.How did San Francisco change after gold was found?
  • A.It grew from a small town to a city of tens of thousands
  • B.It stayed the same size
  • C.Everyone left it
3.How did most forty-niners from the East travel to California?
  • A.By train across the country
  • B.By wagon across the country, or by ship around South America or across Panama
  • C.By airplane
4.In the 1850s California made miners who were not US citizens pay special taxes. Who did this hurt most?
  • A.The governor
  • B.Mexican, Chilean and Chinese miners
  • C.Miners from New York
5.Why did California's population grow so quickly after 1848?
  • A.Spain gave the land away
  • B.A railroad had just been built
  • C.Gold drew people hoping to get rich
6.Why did new towns spring up beside rivers in the Sierra Nevada foothills?
  • A.It never rained beside the rivers
  • B.Miners settled where gold could be found in the streams
  • C.The Spanish missions built them
7.What happened to California's Native peoples during the Gold Rush?
  • A.Nothing changed for them
  • B.They became the richest people in the state
  • C.Many thousands died from violence, disease and the loss of their land
8.Chinese immigrants came to California in large numbers in the 1850s. Which is true?
  • A.None of them stayed in America
  • B.They worked hard as miners and in businesses but faced unfair laws and violence
  • C.They were welcomed by every law

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.6.3-5 · Set 11 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The California Gold Rush

Set 11. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.From across the United States and from countries such as Mexico, Chile and China
  2. 2.It grew from a small town to a city of tens of thousands
  3. 3.By wagon across the country, or by ship around South America or across Panama
  4. 4.Mexican, Chilean and Chinese miners
  5. 5.Gold drew people hoping to get rich
  6. 6.Miners settled where gold could be found in the streams
  7. 7.Many thousands died from violence, disease and the loss of their land
  8. 8.They worked hard as miners and in businesses but faced unfair laws and violence

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Geo.6.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.