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Handout
Sacramento Bee

The Sacramento Bee: Timeline of John Sutter

For Students 9th - 10th
John Sutter was the unwitting lynchpin in the California Gold Rush. Read the time line of events that show how he suffered for that discovery.
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Primary
Oakland Museum of California

California's Untold Stories: Art of the Gold Rush

For Students 9th - 10th
The Oakland Museum presents an exhibit of art that show the miners, mining towns, new cities, and people of the Gold Rush. Be sure to read the overview of the exhibit to get the historical background.
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Primary
Oakland Museum of California

California's Untold Stories: Silver and Gold

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides a virtual tour of the mining of silver and gold in California through excellent photos and facts.
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Unknown Type
History Teacher

Historyteacher.net: Westward Expansion & Manifest Destiny: Quiz (1)

For Students 9th - 10th
This 10-question multiple choice quiz is immediately scored and tests your knowledge of westward expansion in the 1800s.
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Unknown Type
History Teacher

Historyteacher.net: Westward Expansion & Manifest Destiny: Quiz (2)

For Students 9th - 10th
Ten multiple choice question quiz is immediately scored and covers territorial expansion and the Manifest Destiny.
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Unknown Type
History Teacher

Historyteacher.net: Westward Expansion & Manifest Destiny: Quiz (5)

For Students 9th - 10th
Choose the correct word from the drop down menu for each of the twelve questions to evaluate your knowledge of people and events relating to westward expansion in the mid 1800s.
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Moving West, Natural Disasters

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Assign reasons from Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to explain pioneers' migration to and return from the American plains in the 1800s. Research, write and produce a newspaper dedicated to a natural disaster such as the 19th-century drought.
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Handout
PBS

New Perspectives on the West: John Augustus Sutter (1803 1880)

For Students 9th - 10th
Biography of John Sutter, a Swiss settler who helped to develop Californian and saw his fortunes dwindle after the California Gold Rush.
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Handout
PBS

New Perspectives on the West: James Wilson Marshall (1810 1885)

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief biography of James Marshall who discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848, which led to the California Gold Rush.
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Primary
Other

Ailello Studios: The Land of Glittering Dreams

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn some interesting facts about the California Gold Rush through images, personal stories and other writings.
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Graphic
Other

Gilded Age: From Frontier to Factory Timeline 1845 1916

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A timeline that lists major events in culture, military, industry, and politics across three-quarters of a century.
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Handout
Other

The Gold Rush: Despair

For Students 9th - 10th
This page discusses what happened to many of the gold miners when the gold ran out in California.
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Handout
Other

The Gold Rush: Collision of Cultures

For Students 9th - 10th
This page discusses the many different cultures that came to California during the gold rush.
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Handout
Other

The Gold Rush: Changes

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the environmental impact the changing technology of gold mining inflicted on California and the economic impact on the miners.
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Handout
Other

The Gold Rush: Fever

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides information about the Gold Rush, and fever that took place during westward expansion.
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Handout
Other

The Gold Rush: Gold Country

For Students 9th - 10th
A great look at the people who made money providing services for the miners in the California Gold Rush.
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Handout
Other

The Gold Rush: The Journey

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the routes followed by those seeking the riches of California. Find out the advantages and hazards of each route.
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Handout
Other

The Gold Rush: San Francisco

For Students 9th - 10th
This page discusses how the gold rush led to the massive growth of San Francisco.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: California History Collection: The Discovery of Gold

For Students 9th - 10th
Contains an article on the discovery of gold in California at Sutter's Mill that resulted in the California Gold Rush.
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Article
Mount Holyoke College

Department of International Relations: John L. O'sullivan on Manifest Destiny

For Students 9th - 10th
Excerpt of text of John L. O'Sullivan's 1839 article advocating manifest destiny.
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Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Westward Expansion

For Students 9th - 10th
A comprehensive overview of the expansion across the North American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific in the west from 1841-1850. Provides a summary, list of interesting facts and a timeline.
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Primary
Museum of the City of San Francisco

Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: Ulysses S. Grant and the Gold Rush

For Students 9th - 10th
From Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs is this description of his 1852 trip to California across Panama and his stay in San Francisco.
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Primary
Museum of the City of San Francisco

Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: Samuel Brannan's Bank

For Students 9th - 10th
This site contains a poster of a new bank started by Sam Brannen in San Francisco during the gold rush.
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Primary
Museum of the City of San Francisco

Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: The Miners' Ten Commandments

For Students 9th - 10th
Written by James Hutchings in 1853, the ten commandments of miners show the life of the miner.