Gold Mountain: Real Gold or Fool's Gold

Should driver's licenses be granted to unauthorized immigrants? That is the question class members grapple with in a lesson that asks them to first read a fact sheet that details the arguments for and against licensing unauthorized...

The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first race-based restriction on immigration in American history. Why was the act passed after Chinese immigrants helped build the Transcontinental Railroad? A series of documents, including speeches and...

Students compare contemporary cultural differences with historical differences based on population percentage. In this cross-curriculum Gold Rush/math lesson, students analyze aspects of California's Gold Rush population and diversity...

Using a variety of online resources, learners study life and society in California during the gold rush. They use a map to identify area where gold was located, explore pre-selected websites, describe mining practices, and create an...

A collection of primary source photos from 19th-century California which portray what everyday life was like during the California Gold Rush.

Students create a multimedia presentation comparing the experiences of immigrants who arrived at New York's Ellis Island with the experiences of those who arrived at California's Angel Island.

Upon hearing of the gold discovery at Sutter's Mill in California in the 1840s, a flood of migrants went West in search of wealth and fame. Others, such as Chinese workers, came from farther away. Using video clips from historians and...

Primary source images depicting the rapid growth of small settlements into big cities as people continued to come to California from all over the world during the Gold Rush.

Explore original images depicting scenes of ethnic diversity in California during the Gold Rush years.

An image is provided of "Gan Saam Meets El Dorado," which depicts the Chinese miners in California during the 1850s in search of gold.