This page shows questions in the Gold Rush public release module at MSDE. 8th Grade Social Studies
"Gold Rush"
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Introduction
A student is researching the California Gold Rush. The compelling question is:
The Gold Rush: Was it worth it?
The student has found the following sources. Use the sources and source information to answer the questions.
Background Information
In 1848, John Sutter and James Marshall found flakes of gold in a stream while building a water-powered sawmill in California. News of the discovery soon spread and thousands of people came to California hoping to “get rich quick.” Between 1848 and 1853, the number of gold seekers increased from 4,000 to over 250,000. The Gold Rush peaked in 1852 and by the end of the decade, it was over. Most of the gold seekers were Americans and Chinese, but many had come from Europe and South America. The arrival of settlers and immigrants changed the makeup of the population of California and helped speed up the process of statehood. In September 1850, California became the 31st state to enter the Union.
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Source Information: Peter Burnett, the first Governor of California (1849 to 1851), delivered this speech in January 1851. Burnett was born in Tennessee, raised in Missouri, and eventually moved to the Pacific coast at age 36. Upon hearing about the discovery of gold, like thousands of others, he moved his family to California in 1848, hoping to find his fortune. In this speech he explains the impact of the Gold Rush on American Indians.
Source A
. . . We have suddenly spread ourselves over the country in every direction, and appropriated [taken] whatever portion of it we pleased to ourselves, without their [the American Indians ’] consent and without compensation [payment]. Although these small and scattered tribes have among them no regular government, they have some ideas of existence as a separate and independent people . . . They have not only seen their country taken from them, but they see their ranks [numbers] rapidly thinning from the effects of our diseases. They instinctively consider themselves a doomed race; and this idea leads to despair. . . . This leads to war between them and the whites; and war creates a hatred against the white man that never ceases to exist. . . .
That a war of extermination will continue to be waged between the races until the Indian race becomes extinct must be expected. While we cannot anticipate this result but with painful regret, the inevitable destiny [fate] of the race is beyond the power or wisdom of man to avert [stop].
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Source Information: Beginning in January 1849, Alexander Van Valen and four business partners set off on a journey from New York to California, a journey that would take 200 days. He left his wife and four daughters for over two years, hoping to find gold. While he made some money, he did not make as much as he had hoped and returned home to his family. This is an excerpt from a letter he wrote to his wife, Susan, on day 414 of his travels.
Source B
. . . I can now see that I have done wrong. I ought to have remained at home, and endeavored to [fulfill] my pledge to love, cherish and protect. I know that I have erred [done wrong], and hope you will pardon my misconduct and neglect, and may I never, (if permitted to return once more), be induced [persuaded] to follow the golden bubble again. At the time I thought I was doing for the best, prompted by the hopes of realizing a speedy Fortune, blinded by the dazzling prospects of obtaining a little Gold, slighted [wronged] her who it was my duty not to neglect and whom it was my good fortune to be connected with, though undeserving mortal as I am [I am not worthy], if you can pardon me this time, I shall feel grateful, and if it should ever be my lot, to visit a distant country again in hopes of bettering our condition in life, may we be united in the enterprise [pursuit], and perhaps success will follow the undertaking [venture], if not we can at any rate enjoy the pleasures of each others society. . . .
From your Affectionate Husband
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Source Information: This excerpt comes from the military governor of California Colonel R.B. Mason’s official report to President James K. Polk in 1848. In it he describes his two-month journey throughout the gold mines of Northern California and the observations he made. This report led to the sudden influx of people to California, later called the Gold Rush.
Source C
The most moderate estimate I could obtain . . . was, that upwards of 4,000 men were working in the gold district, of whom more than one-half were [American] Indians, and that from 30,000 to 50,000 dollars’ worth of gold, if not more, were daily obtained. . . .
The discovery of these vast deposits of gold has entirely changed the character of Upper California. Its people, before engaged in cultivating their small patches of ground, and guarding their herds . . . have all gone to the mines. . . . Labourers of every trade have left their work-benches, and tradesmen their shops; sailors desert their ships as fast as they arrive on the coast. . . . I have no hesitation now in saying, that there is more gold in the country . . . than will pay the cost of the present war with Mexico a hundred times over. No capital is required to obtain this gold, as the labouring man wants nothing but his pick and shovel and tin pan . . . .
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Source Information: German immigrant Charles Christian Nahl and his brother headed West around 1848 to make their fortune by mining gold. They were unsuccessful as gold miners but created a business as artists specializing in engravings, photographs, and paintings. The print entitled “A Road Scene in California” was made by Nahl in 1856 and shows American Indians, Chinese immigrants, settlers, and gold prospectors during the Gold Rush.
Source D
A Road Scene in California
This is a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
Alexander Van Valen regretted participating in the Gold Rush.
Explain how evidence from Source B supports the statement.
This is a question with 2 parts, including a question with drop-down menus from which you must select an option to fill in the blank, and, a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
Part A
Do Source A and Source C provide similar or different viewpoints on the benefits of the Gold Rush?
Part B
Briefly explain your answer with evidence from both sources.
Enter your answer in the space provided.
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Consider the Source Information provided for Source A.
Why might a historian question Source A’s usefulness as evidence for determining how American Indians felt about white settlement in California?
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The arrival of settlers and immigrants changed the makeup of the population of California.
Explain how evidence from Source D supports the statement.
This is a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
People in the 1850s were concerned about the fate of American Indians.
Explain how evidence from Source A supports the statement.
This is a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
Consider the Source Information provided for Source B.
Why might historians question Source B’s usefulness for determining the long‑term impacts of the Gold Rush on California?
This is a question with 2 parts, including a question with drop-down menus from which you must select an option to fill in the blank, and, a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
Part A
Do Source C and Source D provide similar or different explanations of who participated in the Gold Rush?
Part B
Briefly explain your answer with evidence from both sources.
Enter your answer in the space provided.
This is a question with 2 parts, including a test question that allows you to select spans of text directly from the passage, and, a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
Part A
Consider the Source Information provided for Source C.
Select one detail from the Source Information that indicates why a historian might use this source to learn about the Gold Rush.
The following is an excerpt from military governor of California Colonel R.B. Mason’s official report to President James K. Polk in 1848. In it he describes his two-month journey throughout the gold mines of Northern California and the observations he made. This report led to the sudden influx of people to California, later termed the Gold Rush.
Part B
Explain why the detail you selected in Part A indicates why a historian might use this source to learn about the Gold Rush.
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The information provided in Sources A through D is credible. Use these sources to respond to the compelling question.
The Gold Rush: Was it worth it?
Develop a claim that responds to the compelling question.
- Explain how one source supports your claim.
- Explain how a different source supports your claim.
- Use details and examples from the selected sources to support your response.
Enter your answer in the space provided.