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Western Expansion Study Guide
What were the reasons for the increase in western expansion? (LARGE)
 Opportunities for Land ownership
 Desire for Adventure
 Technological advances, including the Transcontinental Railroad
 Possibility of obtaining wealth, created by the discovery of Gold and silver
 Desire for a new beginning for former enslaved African Americans - Exodusters
What were the main inventions and adaptations of the Great Plains?
 Barbed wire
 Steel plows
 Dry farming
 Sod houses
 Beef cattle raising
 Wheat farming
 Windmills
 Railroads
What were the physical features and climate of the Great Plains?
 Flatlands that rise gradually from east to west
 Low rainfall
 Erosion by land by wind and water
 Dust storms
Who was the leader of the American Indian tribe during the Battle of Little Bighorn?
 Sitting Bull
What is the name for the lands in which American Indians were forced to live when the
United States government pushed them off their traditional lands?
 Reservations
What was the name of the battle where General Custer led his soldiers against the
Lakota tribe?
 Battle of Little Bighorn
What was the name of the famous battle where the American army surrounded and
murdered many unarmed American Indians?
 Battle of Wounded Knee
Who was the Nez Perce chief who claimed that he would “fight no more forever” after
his failed escape to Canada?
 Chief Joseph
continued……………………….
What were the two major ways in which the population of American Indians decreased
during western expansion?
 Warfare and disease
What was the process called when American Indians were required to change their
lifestyles to become more like the American settlers?
 Assimilation
What was one of the main causes for the reduction of American Indian homelands?
 Broken treaties
What reduced resource was important to American Indians for food, shelter and
clothing?
 Buffalo
What crop grew best on the Great Plains?
 Wheat
Why did the United States government prefer to force American Indians onto
reservations?
 to have more land for settlers to farm
Which invention or adaptation made it possible to grow wheat on the Great Plains?
 Dry farming
Which state in the Great Plains had the most cattle ranching?
 Texas
What law encouraged settlers to move west?
 The Homestead Act
Which group did NOT benefit from western expansion?
 American Indians
Boomtowns were the result of what?
 Miners discovering silver and gold; towns sprouting to support their needs
What was the goal of the Transcontinental Railroad?
 Link the East to the West
 Move supplies and people more quickly and cheaply
Why did cattle ranching experience a period of growth?
 The expansion of the railroads
Why did former slaves call themselves Exodusters?
 They were on a journey to freedom
What was a major impact of the cattle drives?
 Many towns were established by railroads in the Midwest