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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 21 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 was gold found in California in January 1848?
  • A.At Plymouth Rock
  • B.At the Alamo
  • C.At Sutter's Mill, on the American River
2.Why are the gold seekers called "forty-niners"?
  • A.Most of them arrived in 1849
  • B.There were only 49 of them
  • C.They were all 49 years old
3.In the 1850s California made miners who were not US citizens pay special taxes. Who did this hurt most?
  • A.Mexican, Chilean and Chinese miners
  • B.The governor
  • C.Miners from New York
4.How did San Francisco change after gold was found?
  • A.It stayed the same size
  • B.Everyone left it
  • C.It grew from a small town to a city of tens of thousands
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.When did California become a state?
  • A.In 1959
  • B.In 1850
  • C.In 1776
7.Chinese immigrants came to California in large numbers in the 1850s. Which is true?
  • A.They worked hard as miners and in businesses but faced unfair laws and violence
  • B.None of them stayed in America
  • C.They were welcomed by every law
8.How did most forty-niners from the East travel to California?
  • A.By train across the country
  • B.By airplane
  • C.By wagon across the country, or by ship around South America or across Panama

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.6.3-5 · Set 21 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The California Gold Rush

Set 21. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.At Sutter's Mill, on the American River
  2. 2.Most of them arrived in 1849
  3. 3.Mexican, Chilean and Chinese miners
  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.In 1850
  7. 7.They worked hard as miners and in businesses but faced unfair laws and violence
  8. 8.By wagon across the country, or by ship around South America or across Panama

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