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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 3 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.When did California become a state?
  • A.In 1776
  • B.In 1850
  • C.In 1959
2.What happened to California's Native peoples during the Gold Rush?
  • A.Many thousands died from violence, disease and the loss of their land
  • B.Nothing changed for them
  • C.They became the richest people in the state
3.Why are the gold seekers called "forty-niners"?
  • A.There were only 49 of them
  • B.Most of them arrived in 1849
  • C.They were all 49 years old
4.In the 1850s California made miners who were not US citizens pay special taxes. Who did this hurt most?
  • A.The governor
  • B.Miners from New York
  • C.Mexican, Chilean and Chinese miners
5.Many people grew rich in the Gold Rush without finding gold. How?
  • A.By staying at home in Europe
  • B.By selling food, tools and clothing to miners
  • C.By printing their own money
6.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
7.Why did California's population grow so quickly after 1848?
  • A.Spain gave the land away
  • B.Gold drew people hoping to get rich
  • C.A railroad had just been built
8.Chinese immigrants came to California in large numbers in the 1850s. Which is true?
  • A.They were welcomed by every law
  • B.None of them stayed in America
  • C.They worked hard as miners and in businesses but faced unfair laws and violence

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.6.3-5 · Set 3 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The California Gold Rush

Set 3. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.In 1850
  2. 2.Many thousands died from violence, disease and the loss of their land
  3. 3.Most of them arrived in 1849
  4. 4.Mexican, Chilean and Chinese miners
  5. 5.By selling food, tools and clothing to miners
  6. 6.By wagon across the country, or by ship around South America or across Panama
  7. 7.Gold drew people hoping to get rich
  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.