Booklet 1 : American West Flashcards

1
Q

What year did America declare independence?

A

1776

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2
Q

How many states were in the original United States?

A

13

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3
Q

How many people did a territory need to join the union?

A

60,000

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4
Q

Name the two main mountain ranges in the American West?

A

Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada.

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5
Q

Which country did America defeat to win the South West in 1848?

A

Mexico.

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6
Q

Describe the terrain and climate of the Great Plains…

A

Flat ,dry hot grasslands in summer, cold ,windy and snow covered in winter.

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7
Q

What did many people refer to the Plains as?

A

The Great American Desert.

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8
Q

What is Manifest Destiny?

A

The American belief that it was God’s will that they inhabit the continent from east to west.

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9
Q

Define ‘pioneer’ in American history?

A

A person who travels to an area not yet settled with the intention of developing a new home.

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10
Q

Why did the Mountain Men go west in the late 1700s and early 1800s?

A

Hunt animals and bring back furs to trade.

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11
Q

How did Mountain men encourage future travellers to go west?

A

Told stories, developed trails, drew maps, had articles written about them etc.

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12
Q

When was the economic crisis in the eastern states that pushed a lot of people west?

A

1837+

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13
Q

Give 3 reasons why people wanted to leave the eastern states?

A

immigration, overcrowding, land prices up, crime (cities), poor living conditions (cities), unemployment.

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14
Q

Why was California a popular destination up to 1848? (Name 2 reasons)

A

nice climate, lots of space, cheap land, good agricultural land.

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15
Q

Describe two methods of transport most pioneers used to get across the 3500 miles to California?

A

Boats until Independence, Missouri then covered wagon pulled by oxen or horse across the plains.

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16
Q

Name the four main geographical obstacles that made the journey difficult?

A

Rocky Mountains, Nevada Desert, Salt Lake/Flats, Sierra Nevada Mountains.

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17
Q

Whose shortcut did the Donner Party follow?

A

Lansford Hastings.

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18
Q

Name one way the Donner Party and other pioneers encouraged further development?

A

Letters back to the east, stories covered in Dime novels, newspapers and journals.

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19
Q

What year did Joseph Smith start the Church of Latter Day Saints the Mormons?

A

1823

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20
Q

Who was the angel Moroni?

A

The angel that visited Smith and told him to go find the story of the Mormons.

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21
Q

What is the Book of Mormon based on?

A

Gold plates left by the first Israelites in America. Told the story of the Mormons.

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22
Q

Give four reasons why the Mormons were persecuted in the east?

A

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.

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23
Q

Why did the Donner Party get stuck in the Mountains in 1846?

A

Short cut took too long, got to the Mountains too late, snow.

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24
Q

What does polygamy mean and why did the Mormons practise it?

A

More than one wife, more women than men joined the Mormon religion in the 1840s.

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25
Q

Why was Joseph Smith murdered in 1845?

A

Wanted to run for American president. Murdered by an Anti-Mormon mob.

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26
Q

Who replaced Joseph Smith as leader of the Mormons and decided to take them out west?

A

Brigham Young.

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27
Q

Give two reasons why Young chose the Salt Lake for the new Mormon settlement?

A

Isolated and unsettled so that Mormons could practise their religion without persecution.

28
Q

How did Young solve the issue of having a reliable trail to follow out west?

A

Young sent a group of pioneers out first to make a clear trail to follow.

29
Q

Where did the Mormons get their resources?

A

Rest camps set up along the trail.

30
Q

How did the Mormons get 16,000 people out west safely?

A

Split them into teams, strict time frames, winter camps.

31
Q

How was Salt Lake land allocated?

A

Planned community, land allocated based on need (e.g. size of family or job).

32
Q

What is the type of community called, where jobs and resources are shared and organised for all?

A

Co-operative.

33
Q

What was the Perpetual Emigrating Fund?

A

All expenses paid journey for new recruits to the Mormon religion.

34
Q

When was Gold discovered in California?

A

24th January 1848.

35
Q

What nickname was given to the miners and why?

A

49ers, because they all went out in 1849.

36
Q

Name 5 different ethnic groups that went west for gold?

A

Chinese, eastern Anglo Americans, Mexicans, Europeans, freed slaves (African Americans).

37
Q

In what year did California become a state as a result of the Gold Rush immigration?

A

1850

38
Q

Give 5 different entrepreneurial jobs that developed as a result of the Gold Rush?

A

prostitution, gambling, tool shops, b and bs, saloons (pub), bridge tolls, ferries, food.

39
Q

How did the Gold Rush change America? (Name 2 things)

A

Took land from Native Americans, immigration and racial diversity, gold reserves made it an internationally wealthy country, California became a state.

40
Q

What Native American tribe lived on the plains?

A

Sioux (pronounced Soo).

41
Q

Why were the Sioux nomadic?

A

followed the buffalo.

42
Q

Name 3 ways the Sioux used the buffalo to overcome a lack of resources on the Plains?

A

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.

43
Q

What was considered wealth or currency to the Sioux?

A

Horses.

44
Q

Name 3 strategies the Sioux used to hunt the buffalo with horses?

A

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.

45
Q

What was a travois and how does it prove that the Sioux adapted to their life?

A

Tipi posts tied behind horse to transport goods whilst following the buffalo herd.

46
Q

Why was the tipi the perfect shelter for the Sioux?

A

Easy to take up and down quickly, easy to transport, used resources available (buffalo skin), cool in summer and warm in winter.

47
Q

Why did the Sioux practise polygamy?

A

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.

48
Q

What did the Sioux usually go to war over?

A

Horse theft.

49
Q

Name one Sioux weapon invented for warfare?

A

None, bow and arrow and tomahawk were invented as tools first then used for killing.

50
Q

How did the Sioux get guns?

A

Trade with Mountain Men.

51
Q

Describe what a coup stick was for. (pronounced coo)?

A

It was braver to sneak up and touch an enemy than it was to kill them. Enemy was dishonoured if snuck up on.

52
Q

Why did the Sioux scalp their enemies?

A

As trophies from battle, but mainly to ensure that their enemies soul escaped and did not go into the afterlife.

53
Q

What were feathers for?

A

A uniform. Like war medals, the feathers indicated military achievements.

54
Q

When did the Sioux fight?

A

Usually in the summer when supplies were plentiful.

55
Q

Did the Sioux own land?

A

No, they believed that the land and all of the world’s creatures belong to the Great Spirit.

56
Q

What was a ‘nation’?

A

The overall Sioux tribe which broke up into smaller bands to follow the buffalo.

57
Q

How did a chief get his position?

A

Chosen by the council, elders, warrior society and medicine men for bravery and wisdom. Not inherited (from their father) or elected.

58
Q

What was the purpose of the ceremonial pipe?

A

Smoked whilst the council discussed matters to inform the spirit world and guide the council to make a good decision.

59
Q

Why did the Sioux and American government find it difficult to negotiate who owned the Plains?

A

Americans believed in owning land, but the Sioux did not.

60
Q

What was the Bureau of Indian Affairs?

A

A government department with agents sent to learn about the Sioux and help make decisions regarding how to deal with the Indians.

61
Q

What year as the Indian Removal Act passed?

A

1830

62
Q

What did the Indian Removal Act do? (2 things)

A

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.

63
Q

Why did the government have to pass the Indian Appropriations Act in 1851?

A

More Americans were moving across the Plains in the 1850s. To protect the Sioux, the government created reservations (land reserved for tribes).

64
Q

What was a reservation?

A

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.

65
Q

Why would the reservations be difficult for the Sioux?

A

The Sioux cannot be nomadic and hunt effectively if they are kept in one place. Their entire way of life would be lost.