Name:______________________________________
Period:_____________
DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION
This question is based on the accompanying documents. It is designed to test your ability to
work with historical documents. Some of these documents have been edited for the purposes
of the question. As you analyze the documents, take into account the source of each
document and any point of view that may be presented in the document.
Historical Context:
Following the California Gold Rush, there was a rush to settle the American West. This
settlement was promoted by the government, as seen through a number of laws passed by
Congress. These laws helped both railroad companies and average American citizens to
seek a new life in the West.
Task:
Using information from the documents and your knowledge of social studies, answer the
questions that follow each Document in Part A. Your answers to the questions will help you
write the Part B essay, in which you will be asked to:


Describe the hardships and motivations for moving West.
Describe the consequences of Westward expansion for Native Americans
and the natural world of the American West.
Part A
Short-Answer Questions
Directions: Analyze the documents and answer the short-answer questions that follow each document in the space
provided.
Document 1
As soon as the railroad demonstrated its practicality… far-thinking men realized that it would be the
tool Americans used to pry open the continent and extract wealth from mines, factories, and fields…
In mid-1862, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act authorizing the Central
Pacific Railroad to build east from Sacramento and the Union Pacific Railroad to build west from
Omaha. On May 10, 1869, the two companies met at Promontory Summit, Utah, completing the
nation’s first Pacific Railroad…
-from “Rails to the Pacific,” California State Railroad Museum
1a What tool made it possible to tap the riches of the American West?[1]_________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
b How was the transcontinental railroad funded? [2]__________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Name:______________________________________
Period:_____________
Document 2
CROSSING WATER TO ESCAPE A PRAIRIE FIRE
2a What are the settlers trying to get away from? [1]__________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
b
What dangers do you see for settlers crossing the West?[1] __________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Document 3
On arriving at Rich Bar… many went a few miles farther down the river. The next morning, two men
turned over a large stone, beneath which they found quite a sizable piece of gold. They washed a small
panfull of the dirt, and obtained from it [gold worth] two hundred and fifty-six dollars. Encouraged by
this success, they commenced staking off the legal amount of ground allowed to each person for
mining… before the night the entire bar was “claimed… The largest amount [of gold] ever taken from
one panfull of dirt was fifteen hundred dollars. In a little more than a week after its discovery, five
hundred men had settled upon the Bar for the summer.
- Mrs. Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe
from a letter, September 20, 1851
3a Why were people drawn to settle in Rich Bar?[1] _________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
b How long did it take for 500 men to settle at Rich Bar? [1] __________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Name:______________________________________
Period:_____________
Document 4
-newspaper illustration of a Great Plains hunt, 1871
4a Why are the buffalo in the document running? [1] ________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
b What are the men in the picture doing?[1] ________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Document 5
I wasn’t nineteen years old when I come up the trail… The average age of cowboys then… was twentythree or –four…
Look at the chances they took and the kind of riding they done… over rough country. Even in the
daytime those deep coulees* could open up all at once… before you had a chance to see where you
were going, and at night it was something awful if you’d stop to think about it, which none of them ever
did. If a storm come and the cattle started running- you’d hear that low rumbling noise along the
ground… then you’d jump for your horse and get out there in the lead, trying to head them and get them
into a [circular course] before they scattered… It was riding a dead run in the dark…
* coulee= ravine or ditch
-taken from “Up the Trail in ‘79” from We Pointed Them North:
Recollections of a Cowpuncher, by E.C. Abbott and Helena Huntington
Smith
5a What was something that was challenging about being a cowboy? [2] _________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
b How old was the average cowboy? [1] ____________________________________________________
Name:______________________________________
Period:_____________
Document 6
Interactions Between White Settlers and Native Americans, Mid-1800s
-taken from “Americans Move West,” by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston
6a Which state or territory had the largest concentration of Native American reservations in 1890? [1]
_____________________________________________________________________________________
b
Why were Native Americans forced onto reservations? [2] __________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Name:______________________________________
Period:_____________
Document 7
- Poster created by the Burlington & Missouri River R.R. Co., mid-1800s
7a How much land does this poster advertise as being for sale?[1] ______________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
b Why would this poster encourage people to buy land from this company?[2] ____________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Name:______________________________________
Period:_____________
Part B
Essay
Directions: Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs, and a
conclusion. Use evidence from at least four documents in your essay. Support your response with
relevant facts, examples, and details. Include additional outside information.
Historical Context:
Following the California Gold Rush, there was a rush to settle the American West. This
settlement was promoted by the government, as seen through a number of laws passed by
Congress. These laws helped both railroad companies and average American citizens to
seek a new life in the West.
Task:
Using information from the documents and your knowledge of social studies, answer the
questions that follow each Document in Part A. Your answers to the questions will help you
write the Part B essay, in which you will be asked to:


Describe the hardships and motivations for moving West.
Describe the consequences of Westward expansion for Native Americans
and the natural world of the American West.
SEE RUBRIC PROVIDED BY TEACHER FOR GRADING BREAKDOWN