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1849californiagoldrush Book
1849californiagoldrush Book
Gold Rush
A Reading A–Z Level U Leveled Book 1849: The California
1849:
Gold Rush
Word Count: 1,498
Connections
Writing
Write a paragraph explaining what the
author wants readers to learn from the
Prices Gone Wild chart on page 14.
Social Studies and Art
Create a poster that shows the tools for
placer mining and how these tools were
used to find gold in California.
•U
O•R
Written by Cynthia Kennedy Henzel
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Glossary
devastating (adj.) causing great physical or
emotional damage (p . 15)
economy (n.) the circulation of money in
industry, trade, and finance 1849: The California
1849:
Gold Rush
in a country or area (p . 15)
entrepreneurs people who start and operate
(n.) their own businesses (p . 14)
erosion (n.) the natural removal of rock or
soil by water, wind, or ice (p . 6)
gravel (n.) a loose mixture of rock
fragments (p . 6)
greed (n.) a selfish and intense desire
for more of something than
is needed (p . 7)
hatred (n.) a strong feeling of dislike
or disgust (p . 12)
hazards (n.) possible dangers or risks (p . 9)
hostility (n.) deep-seated anger and
unfriendliness (p . 10)
Written by Cynthia Kennedy Henzel
settlers (n.) people who make a new,
www.readinga-z.com
permanent home on a
frontier (p . 12)
transcontinental extending across a continent
Focus Question
(adj.) (p . 15) What was the effect of the gold
wealthy (adj.) having a large amount of rush on westward expansion?
money or possessions (p . 15)
16
Words to Know
devastating hatred
economy hazards
entrepreneurs hostility
erosion settlers
gravel transcontinental
greed wealthy
Photo Credits:
The Golden State
Front cover, back cover: © Underwood Archives/age fotostock; title page:
© Jupiterimages/PHOTOS.com/Thinkstock; page 3: © GRANGER/GRANGER; The biggest winners of the Gold Rush were
pages 6, 11: © Photo Researchers, Inc/Alamy Stock Photo; pages 7, 13: © Hulton
Archive/Getty Images; page 9: © Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo; page 10:
white settlers, the U .S . government, and wealthy
© P.R. Wood/Bettmann/Getty Images; page 14: © Courtesy: CSU Archive/ investors . The Gold Rush was devastating to Native
Everett Collection Inc./age fotostock; page 15 (top): © Everett Collection
Historical/Alamy Stock Photo; page 15 (bottom): © zhudifeng/iStock/Thinkstock peoples, however . Around three hundred thousand
settlers, mostly white, swarmed California . In the
1860s, the country began to connect the East and
West by building the transcontinental railway,
causing further destruction to Native lands .
Ri
A
ve
Once California became a state in 1850, AMERICA
TL CE
r
O
AN AN
TIC
the U .S . government took control of the land,
PA C E
including areas with gold . Soon, fear and F
O
CI
AN IC
hatred led to the killing of thousands of Six days after Marshall found the
Native peoples . New laws allowed settlers to gold, Mexico signed the treaty that ended
arrest Native people for minor wrongdoings . The the Mexican-American War . The treaty gave
government then forced them to pay their fines California to the United States . Neither side
by working on ranches . Around three hundred knew that gold had just been discovered there .
thousand Native peoples lived in California
before the Gold Rush . More than one hundred Sam Brannan, who ran a store near Sutter’s Mill,
thousand were dead only twenty years later . soon let out the secret . Brannan wanted to cash in
when he heard the news, but he wasn’t interested
in mining . Instead, he bought all the shovels in the
Good Prospects, Bad Endings
Several of the men involved in the original discovery
nearby city of San Francisco . Then he filled a bottle
of gold ended up with nothing to show for it. John Sutter with gold dust and ran through the streets yelling
lost his golden property when the United States would about the great discovery . The city of 850 people
not recognize his land grant from Mexico. Sutter, along almost emptied after Brannan sold them each the
with Sam Brannan and James Marshall, eventually lost
tools they needed to find gold—picks, axes, pans,
their fortunes.
and shovels—at very expensive prices .