California Gold Rush
This 1848 discovery at Sutter's Mill touched off a mass migration to California.
What is Gold?
This overland route, starting in Missouri, became the main path for settlers heading to the Pacific Northwest.
What is the Oregon Trail?
The common two‑wheeled or four‑wheeled vehicles used by families migrating west were called this.
What are covered wagons/prairie schooners?
The westward movement led many settlers to adopt this kind of economy based on farming large tracts of land and market crops (two words).
What is: market economy, commercial economy, "cash-crop" farming...
This President presided over the U.S. during much of the 1840s and oversaw territorial expansion, including the Oregon boundary settlement and Mexican War era.
Who is James K. Polk?
People who rushed to California seeking fortune in 1849 were commonly called this.
Who were Forty-niners?
Wagon trains typically traveled this many months to reach Oregon Country from Independence, Missouri.
What is 4 to 6 months?
This mid-19th century transportation innovation (completed coast‑to‑coast later) began transforming movement of goods and people and spurred settlement patterns.
What was the Transcontinental Railroad?
The rapid arrival of settlers and miners often turned quiet settlements into these short-lived, fast-growing towns.
What are boomtowns?
These men and women guided many wagon trains and provided vital knowledge of routes, campsites, and survival techniques (two-word term).
Who were mountain men, trail guides etc?
This immediate economic effect in California created:
What were boomtowns?
Two major hazards travelers faced on the Oregon Trail were these (name two).
What are: disease, accidents, starvation/dehydration, severe weather?
New inventions such as the Steam Engine influenced westward development by doing this to goods and travel times (short answer).
What is lower cost and decrease transport time?
Describe one cultural change in family life or gender roles that occurred in many western frontier communities (short answer).
What are more responsibilities for women & children, everyone contributes more flexible gender roles etc...
Name one Indigenous nation or group that was significantly affected by American expansion.
Who were the: Cherokee, Seminole, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Navajo, Apache...
This group faced exclusionary laws, violence, and discriminatory taxes during the Gold Rush despite their central role in mining.
Who were immigrants and/or non-white miners.
This belief/idea—widely used by Americans in the 1840s—justified U.S. expansion into the West.
What is Manifest Destiny?
Name one way improved infrastructure (roads, ferries, later railroads) changed economic life in western towns.
What is encourage town growth, increased trade, made settlement easier?
How did patterns of religion and missionary activity change as settlers moved west? (short answer)
What was: Missionary activity increased—new churches and missions accompanied settlers, efforts to convert Indigenous peoples rose, and new religious communities (e.g., Mormon migration) moved westward.
Besides miners and settlers, name one other group drawn to western boomtowns and explain their role in one sentence.
Answers will vary
One long-term political or demographic consequence of the Gold Rush for California.
Answers Vary: California’s rapid population growth led to statehood (1850); Accelerated displacement of Native Americans
Explain how migration along the Oregon Trail affected relations between settlers and Indigenous nations (short answer).
Answers will vary:
List 7 types of infrastructure (past or current)
What are: roads, railroad(railway), schools, utilities, hospitals, energy, ports, communication, sewers, energy, postal service....
Explain how the concept of land ownership in the West clashed with Indigenous views and practices (short answer).
What is commodity vs sacred; private owned vs shared etc...
Pick one historical figure associated with western exploration, settlement, or policy and summarize their impact in two sentences.
Answers will vary.