Gold Rush!

1. Set Focus
Pose this essential question: How did the Gold Rush change America? 

2. List Vocabulary
Share some of the challenging vocabulary words in the article (see below). Encourage students to use context to infer meanings as they read.

• fundamentally (p. 18)
• momentous (p. 18)
• emanating (p. 20)
• droves (p. 20)
• compressing (p. 20)
• endured (p. 20)

3. Engage
Ask students to share their ideas about what a gold rush is and why people would rush to an area to find gold. If needed, define the term. Then explain that the article is about one of the most famous gold rushes.

4. Read and Discuss
Ask students to read the Upfront article about the Gold Rush. Review why the article is a secondary source. (It was written by someone who didn’t personally experience or witness the events.) Then pose these critical-thinking questions:

• Summarize the events of 1848 that led to a rush of people from around the world heading to California beginning in 1849. (A worker at Sutter’s Mill found gold at the mill on Jan. 24, 1848. John Sutter, the mill’s owner, tried to keep the discovery secret, but a storekeeper showed off a vial of gold from the mill on May 12, and news of the discovery spread and was reported in newspapers. After President James Polk talked about the discovery in his December 1848 State of the Union, droves of people headed to California to find gold.)

• Based on the photos and the text, what was life like for the typical gold miner? (The typical gold miner faced many challenges. Based on the article, gold miners missed the loved ones they left behind, lived in uncomfortable camps, worked all day, often got sick and were malnourished, and felt stress from the financial risks they took and from the competition and conflicts they faced from fellow miners. The pictures show how hard the work was and the dismal conditions under which most miners worked.)

• Malcolm Rohrbough says that many gold miners treated the Gold Rush as a zero-sum game. What does he mean by zero-sum game? Why do you think they treated it this way? (In a zero-sum game, any gain that your competitor makes means you have suffered a loss equal to that gain and vice versa. They probably treated it this way because there weren’t endless amounts of gold, and they had risked so much to be there.)

• What do you think is the most significant effect of the Gold Rush? Of the events on the timeline, where do you think the Gold Rush ranks for significance in westward expansion? How might the U.S. be different today if the Gold Rush hadn’t happened? Explain. (Responses will vary, but students should support their ideas with evidence from the text and their own knowledge about history.)

5. Use the Primary Sources
Project, distribute, or assign in Google Classroom the PDF ‘Woefully Disappointed,’ which features excerpts from a letter dated Sept. 4, 1850, by gold miner Augustin Hibbard to his brother William. Discuss what makes the letter a primary source. (It provides firsthand evidence concerning the topic.) Have students read the excerpts and answer the questions below (which appear on the PDF without answers).

• How would you describe the tone and purpose of these excerpts from Hibbard’s letter? (The tone can be described as straightforward, critical, and, at times, regretful. Hibbard’s purpose is to describe his experiences as a gold miner and to stay in touch with his brother.)

• Hibbard says, “I might be in the same situation.” What does he mean? Why do you think he thinks this? (Hibbard means that he might soon be sickly and destitute and in need of kindness and generosity from the people around him. He probably sees this as a potential future for himself because he is similar to the man he helped—he left a comfortable home thinking he could quickly get rich—and because he sees many around him who are suffering.)

• What main points about gold mining does Hibbard make? What are some key supporting details he includes? (One of Hibbard’s main points about gold mining is that it is difficult work that is hard on your health. He supports this point with details about the person he helps as well as with details about how his own health suffered. Another of his main points is that most people do not become rich from gold mining. He supports this point with the observation about many having become destitute in the same way as the man he helped and with his observations that not 1 in 500 will get rich and not more than 1 in 100 will earn back their expenses.) 

• Why does Hibbard think his brother might be surprised to hear about what being a gold miner is really like? What is his attitude toward these reports? (He thinks his brother might be surprised to hear about the realities of gold mining because of all the reports that travel around the world of gold miners striking it rich. He thinks these reports are terrible and calls them “unblushing false-hoods” spread by vile people.)

• Based on the Upfront article and the excerpts from Hibbard’s letter, why do you think people were willing to travel long distances and make many sacrifices to try to find gold in California? (Students’ ideas will vary but points should be supported with evidence from both texts.)

6. Writing Prompt
If you were part of the Gold Rush, would you have become a miner or would you have opened a business? Explain in a brief essay.

7. Quiz
Use the quiz to assess comprehension.

8. Classroom Debate
Should the U.S. have sent federal troops to prevent gold miners from raiding the land and property of the state’s Indigenous population, Sutter, and other property owners?

9. Research Groups
Have small groups each research a different gold rush and create a presentation for the class comparing their assigned gold rush with the California Gold Rush.