Deck 8: The Gold Rush and Economic Development

Question 1

The greatest physical obstacle on the overland trail was the

A)alkaline deserts of the Great Basin.
B)Sierra Nevada mountains.
C)deep-water channels of the Humboldt River.
D)eastern face of the Transverse range.

Answer 1

Sierra Nevada mountains.

Question 2

A majority of gold seekers from elsewhere in the USA came to California

A)by way of the Isthmus of Panama.
B)around Cape Horn.
C)by railroad.
D)by way of overland trails.

Answer 2

by way of overland trails.

Question 3

The gold discovery at Sutter's Mill on January 24,1848

A)was the first recorded discovery of gold in California.
B)was the result of weeks of careful prospecting.
C)influenced the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
D)created little excitement in San Francisco until May.

Answer 3

created little excitement in San Francisco until May.

Question 4

Women in California during and after the gold rush

A)quickly grew to a majority of the population.
B)enjoyed a greater freedom than they had known back home.
C)were denied the right to pursue business enterprises.
D)rarely sought divorces.

Question 5

The first improvement on the pan,as a method of extracting placer gold,was the

A)rocker.
B)"long tom."
C)sluice.
D)arrastra.

Question 6

Restrictive covenants in California mining codes

A)limited the number of individual claims.
B)rationed the use of water from free-flowing streams.
C)barred foreigners from filing claims.
D)stipulated stiff penalties for covens of Wiccans.

Question 7

Banks in gold-rush California were

A)positively encouraged by the state constitution.
B)granted generous charters by the state legislature.
C)eagerly sought by the majority of residents eager to increase the circulation of paper money.
D)none of the above

Question 8

In 1848 a substantial number of gold diggers were California Indians.

Question 9

The main overland route to the California gold fields was

A)the central California trail.
B)the southern trail across Texas and New Mexico.
C)the southern trail to Mazatlan.
D)Lassen's Cutoff.

Question 10

The "forty-eighters" were gold seekers who came only from various parts of California.

Question 11

According to the report of Colonel Mason,more than half the gold diggers in California in 1848 were

A)deserters from the armed forces.
B)immigrants from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America.
C)Chinese.
D)California Indians.

Question 12

Which of the following mining methods originated in California?

A)the use of chlorine gas
B)the arrastra
C)the stamp mill
D)hydraulic mining.

Question 13

James Beckwourth was an

A)agent for the Franco-American Société d'Argonaut.
B)entrepreneur who monopolized the supply of maple syrup on the overland trail.
C)African American trapper and scout.
D)Irish-American accountant who rose to fame in gold-rush San Francisco.

Question 14

James Marshall's discovery of gold at Sutter's mill caused an immediate rush to California's gold fields.

Question 15

The gold rush of 1848 was touched off by the actions of entrepreneur Sam Brannan.

Question 16

The textbook suggests that without a gold rush California would have

A)attracted more unmarried young men.
B)entered the United States before Oregon.
C)had a far more orderly social evolution.
D)never become as populous as it is today.

Question 17

The "mother lode" was

A)largely a myth created by the tourist industry.
B)the principal deposit of gold in California.
C)a vein of gold that stretched from Eureka to Yreka.
D)none of the above

Question 18

Sam Brannan was

A)a leader of the California Mormons.
B)an assistant to James Marshall at Sutter's Mill.
C)skeptical of the importance of Marshall's gold discovery.
D)all of the above.

Question 19

The peak year of gold output in California was

A)1846.
B)1848.
C)1849.
D)1852.

Question 20

The "multiplier effect" of the gold rush was most clearly evident in the early development of

A)agriculture.
B)manufacturing.
C)cattle ranching.
D)banking.

Question 21

The simplest method for placer mining during the California gold rush was the "long tom."

Question 22

Assess the roles played by James Marshall and Sam Brannan during the early period of the California gold rush.

Question 23

Explain the evolution of mining methods during the California gold rush.

Question 24

Evaluate the positive and negative effects of the gold rush on California history.

Question 25

Mining codes were drawn up in more than 500 California mining camps.

Question 26

Women in gold-rush California generally experienced less freedom than they had known back home.

Question 27

Gold rush mining codes often excluded Mexicans,Asians,and other foreigners from mining in California.

Question 28

Explain how the gold rush was an "economic multiplier" for California.

Question 29

A majority of the forty-niners traveled to California by way of various overland routes.

Question 30

Speculate on how California would have developed without a gold rush.

Question 31

Describe the various land and sea routes the forty-niners followed to the California gold fields.Indicate the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Question 32

During the 100 years after the gold rush began in 1848,the value of gold produced in California exceeded the value of the state's agricultural production during the same period.