American West

Question 1

When was the Indian removal act

Answer 1

1830

Question 2

What was the intention of the Indian removal act

Answer 2

-native Americans would live on the plains and settlers would farm lands in the east
- boundary between know as the permanent Indian frontier

Question 3

Why was the journey west dangerous

Answer 3

• had to cross mountains and rivers
• food and water shortages - Donnor party
• accidents common - many died
• sickness and storms at sea

Question 4

What were the problems in the East that made people want to move west

Answer 4

• economic - recession in 1837 - high unemployment

Question 5

What were the problems in the East that made people want to move west

Answer 5

• economic - recession in 1837 - high unemployment
• overpopulation
• diseases such as cholera - overcrowding and poor sanitation

Question 6

What was the attraction to the west

Answer 6

• New start - fertile, cheap land
• discovery of gold - california gold rush
• government encouragement

Question 7

What was manifest destiny

Answer 7

The belief that it was the white Americans God given right to move west

Question 8

What were the difficulties with settling on the plains

Answer 8

• lack of wood
• lack of water
  -fertile soil was covered in sod that made ot hard to plough
• extreme climates and wind
• grasshopper plagues and prairie fires killing crops

Question 9

When did the government open up kansas and nebraska for settlement

Answer 9

1854

Question 10

Who was the leader of the Mormons

Answer 10

Brigham young

Question 11

Why did the Mormons move to Salt Lake Valley

Answer 11

• they were facing religious persecution in the east - many disagreed with their beliefs e.g polygamy
• conditions in salt lake were harsh so they thought nobody else would want to live there

Question 12

When did the Mormons originally set off

Answer 12

February 1846

Question 13

Why did the Mormons leaving early cause them problems

Answer 13

• disorganised, left supplies behind, cold winter
  -had to stay in winter quarters

Question 14

Why was reservation system viewed as necessary

Answer 14

White settlers moving past the frontier meant that settlers and Indians increasingly came into contact - settlers disrupted Buffalo herds and brought diseases, Plains Indians became more hostile

Question 15

When was the Indian appropriation act

Answer 15

1851

Question 16

What did the Indian appropriation act do

Answer 16

• allocated funds to allow reservations
• tribes agreed to remain in their territory, received compensation

Question 17

What was the impacts of the Indian appropriations act

Answer 17

• neither sides stuck to terms - broken promises created distrust and tension
• end of permanent Indian frontier - settlement increased
• restricting Native Americans and building roads etc threatened thier way of life

Question 18

Why was their problems with law and order in californial after the gold rush

Answer 18

-rapid migration meant towns were unstructured and there were little stable families and communities
- high tensions - racial conflict, rivers and streams crowded
- crimianals also attracted to gold
- poor living and working conditions

Question 19

Why was keeping order in mining towns hard

Answer 19

• often remote areas
• Congress didn’t establish government in california until 1850
• law enforcement officials couldn’t cope with lawlessness
• relied on vigilante justice - often unfair

Question 20

What impact did the North winning the civil war have on westward expansion

Answer 20

• able to pass 2 acts
• homestead act - gave settlers free land - open to everyone
• Pacific railroad act - construction of the transcontinental railroad - increased settlement

Question 21

When were the homestead and Pacific railroad act passed

Answer 21

1862

Question 22

What new technology was created to improve life out west

Answer 22

• windmills
• New ploughs
• Turkey red wheat
• barbed wire

Question 23

When was the timber culture act

Answer 23

1873

Question 24

When was the goodnight - loving trail established

Answer 24

1866

Question 25

What was Charles Goodnights increase in cattle during the civil war

Answer 25

• left behind 180, returned to 5000

Question 26

What was the “beef bonanza”

Answer 26

A time where beef became profitable and popular

Question 27

Why were cattle trails established

Answer 27

There was an excess of cattle in the south and large demand on the north

Question 28

What did John Lliff do

Answer 28

• Set up open range rancing in Wyoming (1867)
• won a government contract to supply the sioux reservation with beef

Question 29

Why were cow towns set up

Answer 29

Homesteaders objected to cattle so Joseph McCoy created a cow town away from homesteads were cattle could be driven, others followed

Question 30

When was abeline set up

Answer 30

1867

Question 31

Why was there rivalry between cowboys and homsteaders

Answer 31

• longhorns carry disease
• clashes about land ownership
• lack of wood for fences meant cattle disrupted crops (stopped by barbed wire)

Question 32

Why was the cowboys job hard

Answer 32

• storms, floods, stampedes
• low pay
• conflict with other people in the plains

Question 33

How did the cowboys job change when ranches developed

Answer 33

Shorter journeys

Question 34

Why was the west hard to police (c1862 - c1876)

Answer 34

• slow transport
• large area
  -lack of formal law enforcement meant they relied on vigilantes
• sheriffs poorly paid - lack of money for training
• law officers sometimes criminal