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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 4 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 are the gold seekers called "forty-niners"?
  • A.There were only 49 of them
  • B.They were all 49 years old
  • C.Most of them arrived in 1849
2.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
3.Where did the gold seekers come from?
  • A.Only from Spain
  • B.Only from California
  • C.From across the United States and from countries such as Mexico, Chile and China
4.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.They were welcomed by every law
  • C.None of them stayed in America
5.How did San Francisco change after gold was found?
  • A.It grew from a small town to a city of tens of thousands
  • B.Everyone left it
  • C.It stayed the same size
6.When did California become a state?
  • A.In 1850
  • B.In 1776
  • C.In 1959
7.What happened to California's Native peoples during the Gold Rush?
  • A.They became the richest people in the state
  • B.Nothing changed for them
  • C.Many thousands died from violence, disease and the loss of their land
8.Why did new towns spring up beside rivers in the Sierra Nevada foothills?
  • A.It never rained beside the rivers
  • B.The Spanish missions built them
  • C.Miners settled where gold could be found in the streams

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.6.3-5 · Set 4 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The California Gold Rush

Set 4. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Most of them arrived in 1849
  2. 2.By selling food, tools and clothing to miners
  3. 3.From across the United States and from countries such as Mexico, Chile and China
  4. 4.They worked hard as miners and in businesses but faced unfair laws and violence
  5. 5.It grew from a small town to a city of tens of thousands
  6. 6.In 1850
  7. 7.Many thousands died from violence, disease and the loss of their land
  8. 8.Miners settled where gold could be found in the streams

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