18) Continued Westward Expansion (1877 to 1920)

Question 1

Why did former slaves move west?

Answer 1

• Great numbers of former moved west, away from their former masters and lured by the promise of land

Question 2

Transcontinental Road

Answer 2

• Completed in 1869
• Joined the West Coast with the existing rail infrastructure terminating at Omaha, Nebraska
• Enabled unprecedented movement of people and goods
• Almost led to the extinction of the bison which the Indians of the Great Plains depended on
• Irish and Chinese workers played key roles in the construction of railroads

Question 3

Consequences of Transcontinental Railroad for Great Plains

Answer 3

• Played a key goal in the near-extinction of buffalo herds
• Brought a tidal wave of troops, farmers, minders, cattlemen to Great Plains
• Range-fed cattle replaced decimated buffalo herds
• Great Plains Indians were ravaged by diseases

Question 4

Dawes Act of 1877

Answer 4

• Act split up reservations held communally by Native American tribes into smaller units and distributed these units to individuals within the tribe
• Changed the legal status of Native Americans from tribal members to individuals subject to federal laws
• Dissolved many tribal affiliations
• Main goal was to encourage NAs to integrate into American agrarian culture
• Assimilationist policy
• Huge blow to tribal sovereignty