Booklet 1 : American West Flashcards
What year did America declare independence?
1776
How many states were in the original United States?
13
How many people did a territory need to join the union?
60,000
Name the two main mountain ranges in the American West?
Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada.
Which country did America defeat to win the South West in 1848?
Mexico.
Describe the terrain and climate of the Great Plains…
Flat ,dry hot grasslands in summer, cold ,windy and snow covered in winter.
What did many people refer to the Plains as?
The Great American Desert.
What is Manifest Destiny?
The American belief that it was God’s will that they inhabit the continent from east to west.
Define ‘pioneer’ in American history?
A person who travels to an area not yet settled with the intention of developing a new home.
Why did the Mountain Men go west in the late 1700s and early 1800s?
Hunt animals and bring back furs to trade.
How did Mountain men encourage future travellers to go west?
Told stories, developed trails, drew maps, had articles written about them etc.
When was the economic crisis in the eastern states that pushed a lot of people west?
1837+
Give 3 reasons why people wanted to leave the eastern states?
immigration, overcrowding, land prices up, crime (cities), poor living conditions (cities), unemployment.
Why was California a popular destination up to 1848? (Name 2 reasons)
nice climate, lots of space, cheap land, good agricultural land.
Describe two methods of transport most pioneers used to get across the 3500 miles to California?
Boats until Independence, Missouri then covered wagon pulled by oxen or horse across the plains.
Name the four main geographical obstacles that made the journey difficult?
Rocky Mountains, Nevada Desert, Salt Lake/Flats, Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Whose shortcut did the Donner Party follow?
Lansford Hastings.
Name one way the Donner Party and other pioneers encouraged further development?
Letters back to the east, stories covered in Dime novels, newspapers and journals.
What year did Joseph Smith start the Church of Latter Day Saints the Mormons?
1823
Who was the angel Moroni?
The angel that visited Smith and told him to go find the story of the Mormons.
What is the Book of Mormon based on?
Gold plates left by the first Israelites in America. Told the story of the Mormons.
Give four reasons why the Mormons were persecuted in the east?
Religious beliefs such as polygamy, economic success such as buying up land and setting up banks, blamed for 1837 economic crisis, anti-slavery, Joseph Smith wanting to become president, growing numbers.
Why did the Donner Party get stuck in the Mountains in 1846?
Short cut took too long, got to the Mountains too late, snow.
What does polygamy mean and why did the Mormons practise it?
More than one wife, more women than men joined the Mormon religion in the 1840s.
Why was Joseph Smith murdered in 1845?
Wanted to run for American president. Murdered by an Anti-Mormon mob.
Who replaced Joseph Smith as leader of the Mormons and decided to take them out west?
Brigham Young.
Give two reasons why Young chose the Salt Lake for the new Mormon settlement?
Isolated and unsettled so that Mormons could practise their religion without persecution.
How did Young solve the issue of having a reliable trail to follow out west?
Young sent a group of pioneers out first to make a clear trail to follow.
Where did the Mormons get their resources?
Rest camps set up along the trail.
How did the Mormons get 16,000 people out west safely?
Split them into teams, strict time frames, winter camps.
How was Salt Lake land allocated?
Planned community, land allocated based on need (e.g. size of family or job).
What is the type of community called, where jobs and resources are shared and organised for all?
Co-operative.
What was the Perpetual Emigrating Fund?
All expenses paid journey for new recruits to the Mormon religion.
When was Gold discovered in California?
24th January 1848.
What nickname was given to the miners and why?
49ers, because they all went out in 1849.
Name 5 different ethnic groups that went west for gold?
Chinese, eastern Anglo Americans, Mexicans, Europeans, freed slaves (African Americans).
In what year did California become a state as a result of the Gold Rush immigration?
1850
Give 5 different entrepreneurial jobs that developed as a result of the Gold Rush?
prostitution, gambling, tool shops, b and bs, saloons (pub), bridge tolls, ferries, food.
How did the Gold Rush change America? (Name 2 things)
Took land from Native Americans, immigration and racial diversity, gold reserves made it an internationally wealthy country, California became a state.
What Native American tribe lived on the plains?
Sioux (pronounced Soo).
Why were the Sioux nomadic?
followed the buffalo.
Name 3 ways the Sioux used the buffalo to overcome a lack of resources on the Plains?
Food, skin for clothes, tipi etc., stomach for cooking pot, tail for fly swatter, horns for cups, sinew for bows, hooves boiled for glue etc.
What was considered wealth or currency to the Sioux?
Horses.
Name 3 strategies the Sioux used to hunt the buffalo with horses?
Scouted and planned, buffalo hunt dance, war paint, split the herd, caused a stampede, picked out older/slower buffalo, women dismantled buffalo at the hunt, young braves trained.
What was a travois and how does it prove that the Sioux adapted to their life?
Tipi posts tied behind horse to transport goods whilst following the buffalo herd.
Why was the tipi the perfect shelter for the Sioux?
Easy to take up and down quickly, easy to transport, used resources available (buffalo skin), cool in summer and warm in winter.
Why did the Sioux practise polygamy?
Braves lost in hunting/war. Distinct gender roles (e.g. men hunted) meant that women and children of dead braves/warriors would be looked after.
What did the Sioux usually go to war over?
Horse theft.
Name one Sioux weapon invented for warfare?
None, bow and arrow and tomahawk were invented as tools first then used for killing.
How did the Sioux get guns?
Trade with Mountain Men.
Describe what a coup stick was for. (pronounced coo)?
It was braver to sneak up and touch an enemy than it was to kill them. Enemy was dishonoured if snuck up on.
Why did the Sioux scalp their enemies?
As trophies from battle, but mainly to ensure that their enemies soul escaped and did not go into the afterlife.
What were feathers for?
A uniform. Like war medals, the feathers indicated military achievements.
When did the Sioux fight?
Usually in the summer when supplies were plentiful.
Did the Sioux own land?
No, they believed that the land and all of the world’s creatures belong to the Great Spirit.
What was a ‘nation’?
The overall Sioux tribe which broke up into smaller bands to follow the buffalo.
How did a chief get his position?
Chosen by the council, elders, warrior society and medicine men for bravery and wisdom. Not inherited (from their father) or elected.
What was the purpose of the ceremonial pipe?
Smoked whilst the council discussed matters to inform the spirit world and guide the council to make a good decision.
Why did the Sioux and American government find it difficult to negotiate who owned the Plains?
Americans believed in owning land, but the Sioux did not.
What was the Bureau of Indian Affairs?
A government department with agents sent to learn about the Sioux and help make decisions regarding how to deal with the Indians.
What year as the Indian Removal Act passed?
1830
What did the Indian Removal Act do? (2 things)
The Plains, west of the Mississippi River, would be Indian land and tribes from the agriculturally valuable south east (cotton and tobacco plantations) were moved there.
Why did the government have to pass the Indian Appropriations Act in 1851?
More Americans were moving across the Plains in the 1850s. To protect the Sioux, the government created reservations (land reserved for tribes).
What was a reservation?
An area of land set up for the tribe to live on. There were attempts to teach the Sioux farming, Christianity and educate their children to read and write English.
Why would the reservations be difficult for the Sioux?
The Sioux cannot be nomadic and hunt effectively if they are kept in one place. Their entire way of life would be lost.
