Lesson Plan
California Gold Rush (CGR) 1848-1855
Core Social Science Geography Standards
5. Apply geographic skills, concepts, and technologies (e.g., maps, GIS, Google
Earth) to gather, display, and analyze spatial information.
6. Analyze economic, social, human migration, settlement, and distribution patterns.
7. Locate and examine physical and human characteristics of places and regions,
their impact on developing societies, and their connections and interdependence.
8. Evaluate how human cooperation and competition for resources shape the earth’s
political, economic, physical, and social environments.
9. Evaluate how technological developments, societal decisions, and personal
decisions and actions influence the earth’s sustainability.
8th Geography Standards
8.10. Interpret maps to identify growth and development of the United States.
8.11. Identify and describe patterns and networks of economic interdependence,
migration, and settlement.
8.12. Investigate how differing geographic perspectives apply to issues in U.S.
History.
8.13. Explain how current and historical technological developments, societal
decisions, and personal practices influence sustainability in the United States.
Todd Twyman 11/8/11 9:51 AM
Comment: A
lot
of
standards
but
doable.
Let’s
see
how
they
are
aligned
with
your
objectives…
Goals and Objectives
After completing the lesson, the student will be able to:
1. Create a timeline of events for the CGR from 1848-1855 and describe
how the events contributed to the developed the United States.
2. Organize and evaluate information on the CGR using maps and
Google Earth.
3. Identify how the CGR influenced the nation.
4. Identify how the CGR affected the sustainability of the United States.
5. Obtain information about the CGR using the Internet and through one
written text found through library research.
6. Explain how the CGR created economic, social, and human migration,
settlement, and distribution of patterns.
7. Explain the physical and human characteristics of places and regions
of California, their impact on developing societies, and their
connections and interdependence.
8. Explain how human cooperation and competition for resources
surrounding the CGR shaped the earth’s political, economic, physical,
and social environments.
Todd Twyman 11/8/11 9:52 AM
Comment: Excellent
objectives.
They
are
aligned
to
the
standards
and
move
up
the
cognitive
ladder.
Outstanding.
Pre-Test
1. What is Manifest Destiny?
a. The name of Christopher Columbus’s ship.
b. The term used during the Westward Expansion of the United States.
c. The document that freed the slaves.
d. A new rap artist from Portland.
2. When did the California gold rush of the 1800’s occur?
a. 1848-1864
b. 1875-1903
c. 1840-1900
d. 1800-1850
3. What was a result of the influence of the California gold rush?
a. Population of California grew rapidly and continued after the rush.
b. The Native Americans were displaced from their lands.
c. California becomes a state.
d. All of the above.
4. When and what was the all time high of annual gold production in California
history?
a. 1850, $10 million
b. 1852, $81 million
c. 1857, $50 million
d. 1849, $33 million
5. Why did the California gold rush end?
a. The U.S. Federal Government took control of the lands.
b. The Indians rebelled and took their land back.
c. The rich surface and river deposits were depleted and hydraulic mining
was introduced.
d. The miners got tired.
6. In 1859 the Willard nugget was found in Magalia, Butte County. How big was the
nugget?
a. 54 pounds
b. 68 pounds
c. 25 pounds
d. 100 pounds
7. What do you call it when a miner decides where he/she is going to mine?
a. Placing a home.
b. Buying the mine.
c. Staking a claim.
d. Mine, Mine, Mine.
8. What is this map of?
a. The routes into California
b. The major gold mine claims in California.
c. The sightings of Puddles the Duck in California.
d. Major Forest fires in California in 1855.
9. The California gold rush brought people from …
a. Just the United States.
b. All over the world.
c. From mars.
d. Just the states surrounding California.
10. What kind of mining technique did most miners use during the California gold
rush?
a. Hydraulic
b. Deep tunnel mining
c. Surface and river panning and sloughing
d. Mountain top removal
Key: 1. B, 2. A, 3. D, 4. B, 5. C, 6. A, 7. C, 8. B, 9. B, 10. C.
Todd Twyman 11/8/11 9:53 AM
Comment: Excellent.
We
talked
about
this,
and
your
strategy
for
using
these
data
to
assess
prior
knowledge
and
grouping
strategies
is
a
good
one.
Unit Plan
WEEK #1
*Journals-Unless directed journal writing is to be reflections on class.
What you did? What did you learn? Come up with one question on
the topic to ask during next class.
Monday- Pretest (10 Question-Selective response), Begin Manifest Destiny lesson
Homework: Bring in one thoughtful question about the gold rush, Journal writing.
Tuesday- Manifest Destiny Lesson cont. Domenico Tojelli painting analysis / Assign
groups based on pretests. Homework: Email group members-Finish Tojelli group
work if not done / Journal*.
Wednesday- Group Project Rubric & Essay Rubric handed out, Go over group project.
(Sandwich board or power point) / Research
http://www.learncalifornia.org/doc.asp?id=118 and/or
http://www.calgoldrush.com for articles. Homework: Summarize your news
article and/or California fact / Journal –Seeing the Elephant?
Thursday- Timeline-Interactive computer website (Kidport.com)-Build own timeline.
Homework: complete timeline / Assign group duties / Journal- What event do you
see as the most significant and why? (Not Sutter’s Find)
Friday- 10 Question Quiz (Manifest Destiny & timeline) / Give full essay prompt- go
over rubric, include journal (quote or thought), field questions. Homework:
Brainstorm / Outline Essay idea / Set meeting time for project work as a group /
Journal- Questions about the essay.
WEEK #2
Monday- Map & Geography Skills – Gold Rush era Map, Identify and create
Homework: Work on essay / Find one map to include in essay.
Tuesday- Sustainability (Internet Research)- Gold, Greed, & Genocide:
http://www.1849.org/index2.html
Native American Impact:
http://www.kawvalley.k12.ks.us/schools/rjh/marneyg/03-04_PlainsProjects/Gray_04_goldrush.htm
Homework: Work on essay / Projects / Find a sustainability fact for essay
Wednesday- 10 Question Combined Map/Geography & Sustainability/Effects Quiz /
Field essay questions. Homework: Work on essay / Projects / Bring in issue or
question on the essay
Thursday- Work day on timeline/essay/web research (movie?)
Homework: Finish essay / Projects
Friday- Collect essays & have presentations of projects
Lesson Plan
Monday: 54 minutes
4 min House Keeping and settling
20 min Pre-test
10 min Self-Correction (10 points all 100%)
1 min Stretch and Stand
15 min lesson on Manifest Destiny Part 1 lecture & Journal Introduction
(Hand out Timeline @ beginning of lesson)
Homework: Bring in one thoughtful question about the gold rush, Journal
write. *
4 min questions session
Focus Question:
What part did Manifest Destiny play in the rush to the California gold fields?
Student Learnings:
a. Students will examine the beliefs of Manifest Destiny and its role in the California
Gold Rush.
b. Students will analyze a painting to gather information about Manifest Destiny.
Procedures:
1. Provide students with Resource #4-1, the Timeline of California. Share with students
to recap, as needed, the following background information
Todd Twyman 11/8/11 9:54 AM
Comment: Great
overview.
I
wonder
if
15
min.
will
be
enough.
Let’s
see
how
it’s
delivered…
Todd Twyman 11/8/11 9:56 AM
Comment: Put
this
question
on
the
board
and
refer
to
it
throughout
and
at
the
end
in
closure.
I
like
that
you
are
using
the
topic
of
“Gold
Rush”
to
meet
the
standards.
Very
sophisticated.
It
is
clear
that
you
know
how
the
standards
can
be
folded
into
a
given
topic.
Background Information: Native Americans occupied what is now North and South
America long before Europeans came to the Western Hemisphere. In the 16th century,
Spanish explorers and conquistadors concentrated on the western coasts of North and
South America. While the Spanish also explored Florida and the Mississippi River area,
most of the East Coast was explored and settled by a variety of other European countries,
primarily England. The 13 colonies became the United States of America.
Americans steadily moved westward, first through land occupied by Native Americans
and then through land owned and occupied by Mexicans and Native Americans. As more
Americans moved westward, people developed beliefs, labeled Manifest Destiny in
1845, about how far the United States should extend and why, and ideas of the best ways
to use the land.
Manifest Destiny was specifically applied to Mexicans and Native Americans. The
doctrine was used to justify the Mexican-American War, resulting in the acquisition of
about 40 percent of Mexico's territory, including California. While the Gold Rush
brought to California considerable numbers, it brought mostly Euro-Americans to a place
predominantly inhabited by Native Americans and Californios (Mexicans living in
California).
Todd Twyman 11/8/11 9:58 AM
Comment: I
would
put
this
on
the
overhead,
give
them
a
copy,
and
have
them
take
turns
reading
it.
It
takes
time,
but
everyone
has
a
chance
to
access
the
textual
information.
Food
for
thought.
Note to teacher:
While Manifest Destiny was certainly not the reason people flocked to California during
the Gold Rush (people came to California to get rich and then return home), it certainly is
an important part of the bigger picture of the times. The Mexican-American War and the
rapidity with which California became a state can be attributed to Manifest Destiny.
Manifest Destiny did become a basis for public policy and laws.
Notes
on
Manifest
Destiny
Lesson:
Todd Twyman 11/8/11 10:00 AM
Comment: Is
this
the
answer
you
are
looking
for
in
the
focus
question?
If
so,
this
is
well
aligned
to
the
text
and
will
require
that
students
reason
through
it
to
answer
the
question.
You
may
have
to
provide
scaffolding
questions
to
get
here.
Think
about
effective
questioning
strategies
for
your
strategy
presentation…
Resource
#4‐1:
Timeline
of
California
1521
Cortés
conquers
the
Aztecs,
and
Spain
controls
Mexico.
1674
Sanson
Map
outlining
the
Island
of
California
published.
1769
Junipero
Serra
and
de
Portola's
expedition
begins
to
colonize
Upper
California.
1769­70
Presidios
and
missions
are
established
at
Monterey
and
San
Diego.
1776
San
José
pueblo
is
established.
1776
Mission
is
established
in
San
Francisco.
1781
Los
Angeles
pueblo
is
established.
1821
Mexico
gains
its
independence
from
Spain
and
takes
control
of
California.
1826
Jedediah
Strong
Smith
makes
the
first
overland
trip
by
an
American
to
California
from
the
East.
Early
1830s
Americans
settle
Oregon.
1835
Texas
becomes
a
republic.
1844
"54°40'
or
Fight";
Polk,
favoring
expansion,
is
elected
president.
1845
John
O'Sullivan,
editor
of
the
United
States
Magazine
and
Democratic
Review,
coins
the
term
Manifest
Destiny.
1846
Oregon
ceded
by
Great
Britain
to
the
United
States.
1846
Bear
Flag
Republic,
Sonoma,
California.
1846
Mexican‐American
War
begins.
1846
Mormons
sail
to
and
land
in
San
Francisco,
led
by
Sam
Brannan
in
defiance
of
Brigham
Young.
Jan.
24,
1848
Gold
is
discovered
at
Sutter's
Mill.
Feb.
2,
1848
Mexican‐American
War
ends
with
the
Treaty
of
Guadalupe
Hidalgo.
1849
California
Gold
Rush
begins
on
a
global
scale;
the
world
rushes
in.
world
rushes
in.
Sept.
5,
1850
Compromise
of
1850;
California
becomes
a
state.
Tuesday: 54 minutes
4 min House Keeping and settling
5 min Return pre-tests with group identifiers on them and group up
(While they group up handout group worksheet, Progress of
America, Tojetti Resource)
10 min Manifest Destiny lecture Part 2(Progress of America, Tojetti)
10 min Manifest Destiny Group worksheet
20 min Art Inquiry Worksheet
5 min Perspectives Worksheet/ Finish as homework along with other
homework
Homework: Email group members- Finish Tojelli group work in not done
in class, Journal write. *
MD Lecture Cont.:
Students will understand that people flocked to California for the gold, but many brought
with them the beliefs and values of Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny and the
assumptions and prejudices underlying it are thus a part of the larger issue of
relationships between English-speaking and Spanish-speaking people in the western part
of the United States. These issues and conflicts still exist today.
2. Give students Worksheet #4-1, Manifest Destiny Group Inquiry. Individual students
fill out their own inquiry sheet during or after the group discussion. Have students work
in group3. You can present Resource #4-2, Progress of America, overhead after the group
inquiry, or you may want to start off the lesson with it and follow with the group inquiry.
Note to teacher:
Tojetti's allegorical painting, Progress of America, of 1875, illustrates Bishop Berkeley's
famous line, "Westward the course of empire takes its way." The central figure wears a
liberty cap, personifying America. Flying putti (young children) dip down and crown her
with a laurel wreath and lead her chariot, decorated with the American eagle and drawn
by two white horses. Four maidens accompany her, representing agriculture, medicine,
the arts and mechanics. In the right background, two Raphaelesque women follow
holding a tablet; behind these two steams a railroad locomotive. To the left, a group of
Indians and buffalo flee the advance of this personification of civilization. Note the
contemporary (1875) dress of one maiden. A California poppy can be seen embedded on
one of the chariot wheels. The composition borrows from the early Renaissance. Chariot
processions accompanied by childlike angels were popular, and the pose of America's
arm reminds one of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, in which God touches the finger
of Adam and infuses him with life. *
4. Show students the color overhead and visual primary source on Manifest Destiny, the
painting Progress of America. Also share with students the background information on
Domenico Tojetti, Resource #4-3. You could make an overhead or provide students with
a copy of the information. Have students continue to work in groups and use the Artwork
Inquiry Sheet, Worksheet #4-2, to discover meaning in the painting. What do you think
were the beliefs and values represented here? Is this painting consistent with the beliefs
of Adams and O'Sullivan (see Student Worksheet #4-1)? What groups' values were
these? Are there beliefs and values that have not been considered? Whose? Why not?
Student
Worksheet
#4‐1
Manifest
Destiny
Group
Inquiry
John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United States (1825-1829), wrote in 1811:
"The whole continent appears to be destined...to be peopled by one nation. The acquisition of a definite
line of boundary to the [Pacific] forms a great epoch in our history."
Todd Twyman 11/8/11 10:18 AM
Comment: Interesting
approach.
How
will
you
ensure
that
each
student
has
access
to
email?
What
if
I
don’t
have
access?
What
accommodations
will
you
make
for
me
without
stigmatizing
me?
Something
to
think
about.
Todd Twyman 11/8/11 10:19 AM
Comment: Great
notes
and
aligned
to
the
focus
question.
I
like
the
idea
of
that.
It
is
a
routine
of
the
learning
target
that
students
can
shoot
for
every
class.
In 1845, John O'Sullivan, a New Yorker and editor of the United States Magazine and Democratic
Review, wrote:
"Away, away with all these cobweb tissues of rights of discovery, exploration, settlement, contiguity, etc.
The American claim is by the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the
continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and
federative self-government entrusted to us. It is a right such as that of the tree to the space of air and earth
suitable for the full expansion of its principle and destiny of growth. ...It is in our future far more than in
the past history of Spanish exploration or French colonial rights, that our True Title is to be found."
Using these quotes as clues, think about what you think the words manifest and destinymean.
manifest________________________________________________
destiny_________________________________________________
Now use a dictionary to define these words as they are used in the above passage, and see how close you
came to that meaning.
manifest________________________________________________
destiny_________________________________________________
What do you think Adams and O'Sullivan were saying about the expansion of the United States to the
Pacific Ocean?
Adams________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
O'Sullivan______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Did they agree or not? Why?
______________________________________________________________________
Resource #4-3
Domenico Tojetti, 1806-1892, Painter of Progress of America, 1875
Tojetti came to California at the age of 65 in 1871 as a prominent artist. He had studied in
Rome and Paris and later became a professor at the Academy in Rome. Commissioned
(paid to paint a specific work) by the Vatican and European princes and kings, he also
restored a number of paintings in the Vatican.
Tojetti accepted an appointment as the head of a proposed Academy of Fine Arts for
Guatemala. He and his family--a wife, two sons, and a daughter-- traveled around the
Horn. They survived a shipwreck, but lost all their possessions. Tojetti established the
Academy of Fine Arts and taught until his health was affected by the climate. The
Tojettis traveled to Mexico City and stayed there briefly. Then they moved on to San
Francisco.In San Francisco, Tojetti and his two sons, also artists, painted frescoes and
religious paintings for Catholic churches. They also accepted commissions for portraits
and allegorical paintings. (Allegorical paintings use fictional figures and actions that are
symbolic of truths to make a statement about human conduct or experience.) Tojetti also
taught portraiture at the School of Design, had many private students and painted in the
style of the Vatican court. Tojetti continued to speak Italian in San Francisco. He died at
home in San Francisco, 223 Leavenworth Street, on March 28, 1892.
Student Worksheet #4-2: Artwork Inquiry
1. What do you see happening in the picture?
2. Look more closely at the picture and describe the people, objects, or activities in the chart below.
Suggestion: you can divide the work in parts and examine one part at a time.
Description
People: Look at their facial expressions, poses, gestures, & clothing
Activities: What are people doing?
Objects
3. What is the setting of the picture? Where does it take place? What is the place like?
Student Worksheet #4-3
Looking for Perspectives and Credibility
1. Title of the document or piece of art.
2. Who is the author/artist of the document or piece of art?
3. Summarize the document or artwork in two sentences.
4. What interests, background and experiences might lend perspectives
to this person's writing or artistic work?
5. What words or parts of the piece of art or writing indicate
perspectives in your answer to question #3?
6. Would you trust this artist/writer as a credible spokesperson on this
subject? Why or why not? If not, who would you trust as a credible
spokesperson on this subject?
Todd Twyman 11/8/11 10:26 AM
Comment: Thanks
for
including
the
artifacts
for
the
lesson
plans.
They
are
clearly
aligned
to
your
objectives
and
are
appropriate
for
the
grade
level
you
have
chosen.
You
are
well
ahead
of
the
game.
Nice
work.