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GCSE History (America) > America: Expansion > Flashcards

America: Expansion Flashcards

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1
Q

How many American states were there originally?

A

13

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2
Q

What year did Christopher Columbus arrive in America?

A

1492

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3
Q

When was the first British colony set up in America?

A

1607

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4
Q

Where was the first British colony set up in America?

A

Jamestown, Virginia

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5
Q

When did America declare independence from Britain?

A

4th July 1776

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6
Q

Why did early settlers come to America?

A

Most came to make money, others came to seek power or to escape religious persecution

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7
Q

How much land were you given from 1616 if you came to America?

A

50 acres

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8
Q

When did the first African slaves arrive in America?

A

1619

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9
Q

Why did America want independence from Britain?

A

High taxes, no representation in the British parliament

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10
Q

What do the stars represent on the American flag?

A

The 50 current states

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11
Q

What do the stripes represent on the American flag?

A

The 13 original states

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12
Q

How many people did a territory need to become a state?

A

60,000

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13
Q

What is a federal system?

A

Where there is one overruling constitution but each state can decide some if their own laws

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14
Q

Name 2 of the original American colonies

A

Virginia, New York

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15
Q

What geographical problems did pioneers face when travelling across the USA?

A
  • Distance (3500 miles)
  • Topography eg. Mountains, marshlands, rocky ground
  • Climate - very hot
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16
Q

When was the Mexican-American war?

A

1846-1848

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17
Q

What are the 3 mountain ranges that pioneers struggles to cross?

A

Rocky Mountains
Appellations
Sierra Nevada

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18
Q

What was manifest destiny?

A

Manifest destiny is the idea that it was God’s will that white Americans needed to spread Christianity, freedom and democracy across the entire continent.

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19
Q

What did Major Stephen Long say about the Great Plains?

A

That it was unfit for cultivation and uninhabitable

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20
Q

What did the mountain men do?

A

Hunt and act as guides for other people travelling west. They also spread the news of fertile land in the west.

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21
Q

When did the tragedy of the Donner party happen?

A

1846

22
Q

When did the gold rush begin?

A

1848 but most arrived in 1849

23
Q

What was the name of the financial crisis that lead to many Americans travel group west?

A

The Panic of 1837

24
Q

What were the push factors for people to leave the east?

A
  • Pollution
  • Financial crisis
  • Overcrowded
  • Poverty
25
Q

Why did mountain men initially travel west?

A

For hunting animals like moose and beavers and selling furs to settlers in the east

26
Q

How did the mountain men encourage future settlement?

A
  • Told people in the east about the fertile land beyond the Sierra Nevada
  • Found routes through the mountains
  • Brought people through the mountains for money
27
Q

What were the pull factors for Americans travelling west?

A
  • Fertile soil
  • Lots of space
  • Less disease
  • No pollution
  • People were successfully living there
28
Q

When was gold discovered in California?

A

24th January 1848

29
Q

When did the first Gold Rush take place?

A

1848-1856

30
Q

What percentage of miners that travelled to California were men?

A

95%

31
Q

What impact did the Gold Rush have on California?

A
  • Economy and population grew
  • Became a state
  • Native Americans driven out or killed
  • San Francisco became a large and wealthy city
  • Had the most immigrants in the country
32
Q

How many settlers travelled west in 1844?

A

1,500

33
Q

How many miners had arrived in California by spring 1849?

A

40,000

34
Q

What was the Great Plains also known as?

A

The great American Desert

35
Q

Name some characteristics of the Great Plains

A
  • No trees
  • Little water
  • Extremely cold winters and hot summers
  • Ferocious winds
  • Mostly flat
36
Q

What percentage of miners were in their 20s?

A

Over 50%

37
Q

What proportion of miners that travelled to California were not Americans?

A

1/3

38
Q

How many miners had died of cholera in the Gold Rush by May 1849?

A

1,500

39
Q

What was life like for most miners in the Californian Gold Rush?

A
  • Most made no money
  • Gambling - to try to make up for failed mining
  • Lived in log cabins
40
Q

What year did California become a state?

A

1850

41
Q

Apart from miners who else travelled to California during the Gold Rush

A

Traders, who charged high prices for goods which lead to many miners becoming bankrupt

42
Q

What happened to most of the miners that failed in the California Gold Rush?

A

Settled and became farmers

43
Q

Which 2 American civilisations practiced polygamy?

A

Mormons and Native Americans

44
Q

What did misjudgement did early settlers make about the plains? When was this realised?

A

That it was uninhabitable and could not be farmed on they realised they were wrong in the 1860s

45
Q

Where was gold first discovered in the USA?

A

Sutters Mill, California

46
Q

When did the construction of the transcontinental railroad begin?

A

1863

47
Q

When was the transcontinental railroad finished?

A

May 10th 1869

48
Q

What impact did the transcontinental railroad have on America?

A
  • More Native American deaths
  • America was united from east to west
  • More settlers on the plains
  • Took 7 days to travel across America, it used to take 6 months
49
Q

How many people dies building the transcontinental railroad?

A

2,000 people

50
Q

When was the Pacific Railway Act introduced?

A

1862

51
Q

Which US president wanted a transcontinental railroad?

A

Abraham Lincoln

52
Q

What did the Pacific Railway Act include?

A

The government would give $16,000 and 6,400 acres of land for every mile of track laid

GCSE History (America) (7 decks)

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