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Primary
Other

The Object of History: Behind the Scenes With Curators of the Nmah: Gold Nugget

For Students 9th - 10th
Take a look at and lend an ear for primary sources featuring the California Gold Rush. Men and women from around the world landed in the United States and flocked to the west coast in search of nuggets of gold.
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Primary
Museum of the City of San Francisco

Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: The Gold Discovery

For Students 9th - 10th
This site contains information on the dramatic impact of the California Gold Rush. From "The History of California," published in 1897.
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Handout
Sacramento Bee

Sacramento Bee: Gold Rush Cost in Environmental Damage

For Students 9th - 10th
This site discusses how the California gold rush left lasting damage of the California environment. Read how the state's environment has been forever changed.
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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
Sacramento Bee

Gold Rush: Justice Wasn't Pretty but It Was Quick

For Students 9th - 10th
This CalGoldRush.com site contains information on justice and law in California during the gold rush. Many felons lost their lives at the end of a rope.
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Website
Oakland Museum of California

Gold Rush: California on the Eve Californios

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource presents information about the Spanish influence in California before the Gold Rush.
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Handout
Sacramento Bee

Gold Rush: Culture Took Hold Despite Tough Crowds

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource contains information on the development of culture in California during the gold rush. Culture developed in spite of the harsh conditions and tough people.
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Handout
Museum of the City of San Francisco

Virtual Museum of San Francisco: African American Rights Gold Rush Era

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides information concerning African American rights in the California gold country before the Civil War.
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Handout
State Library of North Carolina

N Cpedia: Gold Mining in the Uwharries

For Students 9th - 10th
In the early decades of the 1800s, the southern Piedmont's gold mines attracted prospectors, investors, and miners. Tar Heel gold had first been found in 1799 on John Reed's farm in Cabarrus County, several miles west of the Uwharrie...
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Searching for Gold: A Collaborative Inquiry Project

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Contains plans for six lessons that ask students to research the Gold Rush before teaching each other about it. In addition to objectives and standards, this instructional plan contains links to sites used in the lessons as well as...
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eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: Making a Living in Gold and Cattle

For Students 11th - 12th
In this section, students will learn about the major discoveries and developments in western gold, silver, and copper mining in the mid-nineteenth century. They will be able to explain why the cattle industry was paramount to the...
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Website
Oakland Museum of California

Gold Rush: Law, Order and Justice for Some Discrimination

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource presents information about the culturally diverse mining towns in California during the time of the gold rush and the treatment of minorities.
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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: 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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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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Website
Oakland Museum of California

Gold Rush: Prospecting Coyote Hole

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource presents information on African American miners during the California Gold Rush.
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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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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: 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: 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
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

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.