Huntington Library
Huntington Library: Land of Golden Dreams: Li's Journey: China to California
Li is a 14-year-old boy from Guangdong, China, who travels to California during the Gold Rush. Read about his journey on a sailing ship from Southern China to San Francisco. Along the way experience, the sights and sounds of sea travel...
University of British Columbia
Ubc Library: The Chung Collection
This is a fabulous collection of artifacts related to Chinese immigration to British Columbia. Although most of the artifacts are not online, there is a lengthy video interview with Dr. Wallace Chung, the collector, and detailed...
Oakland Museum of California
Gold Rush: Silver and Gold: Chinese Man
This resource presents information about the Chinese miners who came to California during the gold rush period of American history and faced discrimination and hostility.
Other
The Gold Rush: Collision of Cultures
This page discusses the many different cultures that came to California during the gold rush.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: The Chinese Question From a Chinese Standpoint, 1873
Lesson on how the Chinese in California confronted anti-Chinese sentiment and discrimination in the late 1800s. Comprehensive activity with primary source materials.
Oakland Museum of California
Gold Rush: Law, Order and Justice for Some Discrimination
This resource presents information about the culturally diverse mining towns in California during the time of the gold rush and the treatment of minorities.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: Religion Reclaimed Souls
This article, entitled "Religion Reclaimed Souls as Mining Expanded," contains information on the developement of religion in California during the gold rush.
Oakland Museum of California
California's Untold Stories: Natives and Immigrants
This site provides a tour through the history of natives and immigrants to the California Gold Rush area, including African American, California Indian, Chinese, and Latino.
Other
Object of History: The Gold Nugget
Audio-pictorial overview of the story of the California gold rush.
Schools of California Online Resources for Education
Score: Gold Mountain Webquest
At this site from the Schools of California Online Resources for Education, students will travel back in time as Chinese Immigrants in this detailed WebQuest. By using the resources and links given, students will file a job profile,...
University of California
Bancroft Library: Anti Chinese Movement and Chinese Exclusion
Describes the discrimination, racism, and exclusion that the Chinese experienced from their arrival in the United States during the Gold Rush. Anti-Chinese legislation was also a factor in their experience. Links to primary resources at...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Gold in California
The gold rush in California accelerated the western migration of thousands of young American men, who streamed into California to find riches. See who else arrived in California and find out what they did. In addition, there is a map...
University of California
History Project: Debate Over the California Constitutional Convention, 1878 1879
Lesson on immigration, conflict and nativism in which students examine primary source documents to evaluate public policy and attitudes towards Chinese immigrants in California, 1878-1879.
Oakland Museum of California
Gold Rush: Prospecting: Chinese Placer Mining
This resource presents information about Chinese miners in California and the prejudice they suffered.
Other
Kootenay an Exploration of Historic Prejudice and Intolerance
A fascinating look at prejudice against immigrants and First Nations peoples in the Kootenays in Victorian days.
Oakland Museum of California
California's Untold Stories: Silver and Gold
This site provides a virtual tour of the mining of silver and gold in California through excellent photos and facts.
Curated OER
Object of History: Chinese Miners (Chinese Immigration During the Gold Rush)
An image is provided of "Gan Saam Meets El Dorado," which depicts the Chinese miners in California during the 1850s in search of gold.
Curated OER
Chinese Laborers Build Central Pacific Railroad Trestle in the Sierra
Published in 1924, the book, "The Story of California from the Earliest Days to the Present," by Henry K. Norton, relates the lives of the Chinese who immigrated to California to participate in the gold rush. He also recounts the...
Harp Week
Harp Week: Mining Life in California
Illustrated article from Harper's Weekly, October 3, 1857, page 632, focusing on Chinese workers and their life in California mining camps.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Mining Boom
The allure of getting rich quick by finding gold or silver was just a dream for most prospectors. Read about the gold and silver rushes that usually ended up enriching the mining industry, not the miner. Find out about the make-up of the...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Contested Territories
This site highlights the westward expansion of settlers in North America and the effects this expansion had on Native Americans between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.
PBS
Pbs: New Perspectives on the West
This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves....