Unit 3- Reading Guide 3
Vocab: Define each of the following terms
Sand Creek Massacre
Treaty of Ft. Laramie (1868)
Sitting Bull
Helen Hunt Jackson
Assimilation
Dawes Act
Longhorns
Long drive
Chisholm Trail
Homestead Act
Exodusters
Oklahoma Land Giveaway
Frederick J. Turner’s Frontier Thesis
Soddy
Morrill Act
Name_________________________
Hatch Act
Bonanza farm
Oliver Hudson Kelley
The Grange
Farmers Alliances
Munn v. Illinois
Interstate Commerce Act
Populist Party
Populism
Bimetallism
Gold standard
William Jennings Bryan
“Cross of Gold” speech
Guided Reading Questions: Provide comprehensive answers, in complete
sentences, to each of the following questions.
1. What factors contributed to the steady push westward throughout the 19th
century?
2. How does the territorial holding of Native Americans change from the Indian
Intercourse Act of 1834 to the treaties of Fort Laramie and Fort Atkinson in
the 1850s? Did Native Americans respect the treaties? Why or why not (your
opinion)?
3. How did the Sioux near the Bozeman Trail, led by Crazy Horse, seem to get
revenge for the Sand Creek Massacre? How do the views of Native Americans
and whites differ on the death of Fetterman and his men? What monumental
treaty does this death on the Bozeman Trail lead to?
4. What “Wars” crushed the Indian resistance on the southern plains? What
discovery spelled doom for the Native Americans, including the Sioux, in the
norther plains (Wyoming, Montana, Dakotas…)
5. What happens at the Battle of Little Big Horn? How long did this “victory” last
for the Sioux? Despite his death, how did Custer become a national hero?
6. How does the quote from a Native American student at the Carlisle School
illustrate assimilation?
7. What does the Dawes Act (1887) represent regarding the US policy toward
American Indians after the Civil War? Provide evidence.
8. What happened at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota? What does this
massacre represent?
9. Describe the route of cattle, from pasture to dinner plate, during the Gilded
Age. What famous cattle drive ending point was the home of legends like
Wyatt, Earp, Bat Masterson, and Doc Holliday?
10. What factors contributed to the end of the open range?
11. What factors contributed to settlers moving west to farm? What quote
marked the completion of the first transcontinental railroad?
12. Describe the role of immigrants in building the railroads and people the the
plains.
13. How did Oklahoma get the nickname, the “Sooner State”?
14. In 1890, the Census Bureau declared that the frontier no longer existed.
Based on Frederick Jackson Turner’s “Frontier Thesis,” how did the process
of moving from the east coast to the west shape the American character?
What alternative have some historians proposed as an alternative to Turner’s
thesis?
15. Describe life for women on the frontier. How did technology turn the prairie
into an agricultural factory?
16. How did crop prices and railroads cause trouble for farmers? What other
common problems did farmers face?
17. How did economic policy during and after the Civil War contribute to
problems for farmers? Be sure to refer to the amount of Greenbacks in
circulation, the calls for more money in circulation, and the Bland-Allison Act
(1878) in your answer.
18. What was the effect of “the increasing domination of markets by a few
powerful buyers” on farmers and crop prices?
19. What was the purpose of the Grange and the Farmers Alliances? What
success did they have at the state and national level in passing laws that
helped farmers?
20. The farmers eventually built political power by forming a political party.
What was that party? What was its platform? Who types of people did it
attract?
21. What were the effects of the Panic of 1893?
22. The election of 1896 is often seen as the culmination of the Gilded Age. What
groups of people do the major political parties attract? What are the
arguments for bimetallism? What are the arguments for the gold standard?
23. Who are the candidates for each political party in the 1896 election? What
message is William Jennings Bryan sending in his “Cross of Gold” speech?
24. How does the election of 1896 mark a turning point in American politics?
25. What are the legacies of the populist movement of the Gilded Age?