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Handout
Sacramento Bee

Gold Rush: Indians' Misfortune Was Stamped in Gold

For Students 9th - 10th
This CalGoldRush site discussses the triumphs and hardships of Indians during the California gold rush. Some became rich, but many were sold into slavery.
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Website
Oakland Museum of California

Gold Rush: Silver and Gold: Chinese Man

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Handout
Sacramento Bee

Gold Rush: Rivals in the Newspaper Field

For Students 9th - 10th
This article from the Sacramento Bee discusses the rise of journalism during the California gold rush. Many journalists left their jobs and headed west to cover this great event.
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Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: History: California Gold Rush for Kids

For Students 1st - 9th
Kids learn about the California Gold Rush from the Old West on this site. Thousands of people move to the west to search for gold and strike it rich.
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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
Sacramento Bee

Gold Rush: Boring Diet Gave Miners Appetite for Dining

For Students 9th - 10th
This site discusses the eating habits of many of the miners during the California gold rush.
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Gold Rush

For Students 9th - 10th
See how the discovery of gold changed California and introduced lawlessness, violence, and vigilantism.
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Handout
Sacramento Bee

Gold Rush: Sacramento Was Gateway to Gold

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the growth and importance of Sacramento as a mining town in the California Gold Rush. From a larger site from the Sacramento Bee.
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Primary
Sacramento Bee

Gold Rush: Religion Reclaimed Souls

For Students 9th - 10th
This article, entitled "Religion Reclaimed Souls as Mining Expanded," contains information on the developement of religion in California during the gold rush.
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Handout
Other

Sierra Foothill Magazine: Gold Rush Women

For Students 9th - 10th
This article discusses the varied roles of women during the Gold Rush.
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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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Primary
Museum of the City of San Francisco

Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: A Gold Rush Poem

For Students 9th - 10th
A poem written in England but certainly expressing the hopes and dreams of those seeking gold in California. Included in the San Francisco Business Directory of 1864-65.
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Primary
Digital Public Library of America

Dpla: California Gold Rush

For Students 9th - 10th
The sources in this primary set document the broad "forty-niner" experience. Includes teaching guide.
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Handout
Other

California State Military Museum: Mariposa Indian War, 1850 1851

For Students 9th - 10th
The California State Military Museum has captured the history of the Indian Wars. This is a synopsis of the Mariposa Indian War which occurred between 1850-1851, the best known battle during the Gold Rush years.
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Primary
Harp Week

Harp Week: Mining Life in California

For Students 9th - 10th
Illustrated article from Harper's Weekly, October 3, 1857, page 632, focusing on Chinese workers and their life in California mining camps.
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Interactive
Other

The California Gold Country: The Mining Camps

For Students 9th - 10th
This site is based on the book The California Gold Country: Highway 49 Revisited by Elliot H. Koeppel. This page provides an interactive map showing gold mining camps that have survived and exist as towns today. Most of the place names...
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Website
University of California

The Bancroft Library: Italian Americans in California

For Students 9th - 10th
An introduction to the history and culture of Italian immigrants and their descendants in California from 1687 to the present. Shows how the people, industries, and neighborhoods of an area change over time. Includes a virtual exhibit...
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Primary
Calisphere: University of California Libraries

University of California: Calisphere: Chinese Exclusion Act

For Students 9th - 10th
Primary source images that highlight Chinese immigrants to California, the perceptions held about them and the sentiment leading to the Chinese Exclusion Act.
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Lesson Plan
University of California

History Project: Debate Over the California Constitutional Convention, 1878 1879

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Lesson on immigration, conflict and nativism in which young scholars examine primary source documents to evaluate public policy and attitudes towards Chinese immigrants in California, 1878-1879.
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Handout
Other

California Gold Country: No Place for a Woman?

For Students 9th - 10th
Information about women in the California gold camps.
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Handout
Sacramento Bee

Gold Rush: Prospectors Still Prowl the Hills for Gold

For Students 9th - 10th
This CalGoldRush.com site discusses how the California gold rush still inspires many individuals who continue searching for gold hoping to someday strike it rich.
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eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: The Mexican American War, 1846 1848

For Students 11th - 12th
After reading this section of a chapter on "Westward Expansion," students will be able to identify the causes of the Mexican-American War and describe the outcomes of the war in 1848 and the effect of the California Gold Rush on westward...
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Website
Oakland Museum of California

Gold Rush: Prospecting: Chinese Placer Mining

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource presents information about Chinese miners in California and the prejudice they suffered.
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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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