114A: Reasons for Westward expansion

Question 1

Why did many settlers move out West in the 1840’s?

Answer 1

With regard to the Mormons, who moved to escape persecution, high taxes and over population in the East

Question 2

What did the West offer the possibility of?

Answer 2

Starting a new and better life with cheap and fertile land

Question 3

What did the government encourage?

Answer 3

Settlers to move West as it meant the government could control more land

Question 4

What discovery brought over many new settlers?

Answer 4

The discovery of Gold in California in 1848

Question 5

What else was the move west influenced by?

Answer 5

Manifest Destiny

Question 6

What was Manifest Destiny?

Answer 6

The belief held by many Americans that God had chosen them to populate the entire of the US. It also gave white Americans the ‘divine right’ to populate the continent and to spread its Christian and Republican values

Question 7

What was Manifest Destiny also a doctrine of?

Answer 7

White Supremacy that granted no Native Americans or non-white claims to permanent possession of the lands in the US

Question 8

What was ‘Manifest Destiny’ the key slogan of?

Answer 8

Justifying the expansion of the USA in the 1840s and 1850s

Question 9

How did the federal government secure control of the lands west of the Mississippi?

Answer 9

By creating federal territories governed by officials appointed by the Federal Government

Question 10

What population did areas have to reach to become a state?

Answer 10

60,000

Question 11

What did the government introduce in 1862?

Answer 11

the Homestead Act

Question 12

What did the Homestead Act do?

Answer 12

Released 160-acre plots of land for farmers to claim for free provided they would farm the land for 5 years

Question 13

By 1865, how many homesteaders had settled on the Plains?

Answer 13

20,000

Question 14

Which act was introduced in 1873?

Answer 14

Timber and Culture Act

Question 15

What did the Timber and Culture Act do?

Answer 15

Gave homesteaders and additional 160 acres of land provided 40 of the acres were planted with trees

Question 16

Which act was introduced in 1877?

Answer 16

The Desert and Land At

Question 17

What did the Desert and Land Act do?

Answer 17

Offered a further 640 acres at $1.25 dollars an acre provided some of it was irrigated

Question 18

What were some of the pull factors of the west?

Answer 18

Offer of free or very cheap land, chance of a new start, stories of the beautiful land, looking for good farm land

Question 19

What were some of the push factors to the west?

Answer 19

Escape poverty and unemployment in the East, escape religious persecution (e.g. mormons), ex-soldiers of the Civil War who saw a lack of opportunity when they returned home and looked to the West as a chance for a new start

Question 20

What were the government keen to encourage?

Answer 20

Railroad expansion in the West, they realised it would lead to more migration to the area

Question 21

What did Lincoln sign in 1862?

Answer 21

The Pacific Railroad Act

Question 22

What did the Pacific Railroad Act do?

Answer 22

Authorised 2 companies to build a transcontinental railroad

Question 23

Why was did the railroad affect the Native Americans?

Answer 23

They were not consulted despite the railroad running through their lands

Question 24

What were the Central Pacific to do?

Answer 24

Build eastwards from Sacramento, California

Question 25

What were the Union Pacific to do?

Answer 25

Build westwards from Omaha, Nebraska

Question 26

Where and when did the two lines meet?

Answer 26

Promontory, Utah in May 1869

Question 27

How did the trains affect the Native Americans?

Answer 27

It disturbed the buffalo herds and lured settlers to their plains

Question 28

Where did the second gold rush occur?

Answer 28

The Black Hills of Dakota in the mid 1870s

Question 29

What was the problem with the discovery of gold in the Black Hills?

Answer 29

The US government had recognised the Black Hills as belonging to the Native American tribe, the Sioux

Question 30

By which treaty was the Black Hills recognised as belonging to the Sioux?

Answer 30

The Treaty of Laramie of 1868