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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 7 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.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
2.Chinese immigrants came to California in large numbers in the 1850s. Which is true?
  • A.None of them stayed in America
  • B.They worked hard as miners and in businesses but faced unfair laws and violence
  • C.They were welcomed by every law
3.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
4.Why are the gold seekers called "forty-niners"?
  • A.Most of them arrived in 1849
  • B.They were all 49 years old
  • C.There were only 49 of them
5.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
6.Where was gold found in California in January 1848?
  • A.At Plymouth Rock
  • B.At Sutter's Mill, on the American River
  • C.At the Alamo
7.How did San Francisco change after gold was found?
  • A.It stayed the same size
  • B.It grew from a small town to a city of tens of thousands
  • C.Everyone left it
8.When did California become a state?
  • A.In 1959
  • B.In 1776
  • C.In 1850

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.6.3-5 · Set 7 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The California Gold Rush

Set 7. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.By wagon across the country, or by ship around South America or across Panama
  2. 2.They worked hard as miners and in businesses but faced unfair laws and violence
  3. 3.Mexican, Chilean and Chinese miners
  4. 4.Most of them arrived in 1849
  5. 5.Gold drew people hoping to get rich
  6. 6.At Sutter's Mill, on the American River
  7. 7.It grew from a small town to a city of tens of thousands
  8. 8.In 1850

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