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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 17 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.Why did California's population grow so quickly after 1848?
  • A.Gold drew people hoping to get rich
  • B.A railroad had just been built
  • C.Spain gave the land away
2.How did most forty-niners from the East travel to California?
  • A.By wagon across the country, or by ship around South America or across Panama
  • B.By train across the country
  • C.By airplane
3.Where did the gold seekers come from?
  • A.Only from California
  • B.From across the United States and from countries such as Mexico, Chile and China
  • C.Only from Spain
4.How did San Francisco change after gold was found?
  • A.Everyone left it
  • B.It grew from a small town to a city of tens of thousands
  • C.It stayed the same size
5.Many people grew rich in the Gold Rush without finding gold. How?
  • A.By printing their own money
  • B.By selling food, tools and clothing to miners
  • C.By staying at home in Europe
6.Chinese immigrants came to California in large numbers in the 1850s. Which is true?
  • A.None of them stayed in America
  • B.They were welcomed by every law
  • C.They worked hard as miners and in businesses but faced unfair laws and violence
7.When did California become a state?
  • A.In 1959
  • B.In 1850
  • C.In 1776
8.Where was gold found in California in January 1848?
  • A.At Sutter's Mill, on the American River
  • B.At the Alamo
  • C.At Plymouth Rock

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.6.3-5 · Set 17 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The California Gold Rush

Set 17. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Gold drew people hoping to get rich
  2. 2.By wagon across the country, or by ship around South America or across Panama
  3. 3.From across the United States and from countries such as Mexico, Chile and China
  4. 4.It grew from a small town to a city of tens of thousands
  5. 5.By selling food, tools and clothing to miners
  6. 6.They worked hard as miners and in businesses but faced unfair laws and violence
  7. 7.In 1850
  8. 8.At Sutter's Mill, on the American River

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