rap2016_ch12

Quiz for Document 12–3: Walter Colton, California Gold Rush Diary, 1849–1850

Choose the best answer to each question.

1. What did Colton find so admirable about the gold miners in California?

California gold miners had a refined sense of class and civilization even under the most challenging circumstances.

California gold miners had left behind the burdens of racial prejudice and treated Europeans, Africans, and Asians with equal respect.

California gold miners had discovered a surefire path to prosperity and equality.

California gold miners were free of class distinctions, and their chances at success were refreshingly equal and “democratic.”

2. How did Colton describe the gold rush’s impact on everyday life in Monterey?

The new wealth allowed the town to build nice schools and hospitals.

It disrupted all social and domestic arrangements.

It increased violence and crime in the town.

Monterey soon became a ghost town because everyone left to search for gold.

3. Which of the following matches Colton’s observations on the racial and ethnic makeup of the gold miners?

They were mostly wealthy, white Californians who could afford to quit their jobs and search for gold.

They were a mix of races and ethnicities, from white Californians to Irish immigrants to Mexicans.

The white gold miners forced Asian immigrants to work almost as slaves.

The gold rush attracted many immigrants mostly from Mexico and Canada.

4. According to Colton, what were the miners’ opinions on slavery in California?

They thought that each man should work for himself and refused to use slavery.

Many of them were staunch abolitionists.

They supported slavery and tried to import slaves to work in the mines.

They engaged in strident debates over whether California should be a slave state.