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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 6 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.A railroad had just been built
  • B.Gold drew people hoping to get rich
  • C.Spain gave the land away
2.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
3.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
4.When did California become a state?
  • A.In 1850
  • B.In 1776
  • C.In 1959
5.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
6.Where did the gold seekers come from?
  • A.Only from Spain
  • B.From across the United States and from countries such as Mexico, Chile and China
  • C.Only from California
7.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
8.Why did new towns spring up beside rivers in the Sierra Nevada foothills?
  • A.Miners settled where gold could be found in the streams
  • B.It never rained beside the rivers
  • C.The Spanish missions built them

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.6.3-5 · Set 6 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The California Gold Rush

Set 6. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Gold drew people hoping to get rich
  2. 2.They worked hard as miners and in businesses but faced unfair laws and violence
  3. 3.Many thousands died from violence, disease and the loss of their land
  4. 4.In 1850
  5. 5.By wagon across the country, or by ship around South America or across Panama
  6. 6.From across the United States and from countries such as Mexico, Chile and China
  7. 7.By selling food, tools and clothing to miners
  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.