Chapter 16: Conquering a Continent

Question 1

transcontinental railroad

Answer 1

A railway system that spanned the continent, connecting the East and West coasts of the United States and facilitating westward expansion.

Question 2

protective tariff

Answer 2

A tax on imported goods designed to protect domestic industries by making foreign products more expensive.

Question 3

Treaty of Kanagawa

Answer 3

A treaty signed in 1854 between the United States and Japan, opening Japanese ports to American ships and establishing diplomatic relations.

Question 4

Burlingame Treaty

Answer 4

An 1868 treaty between the United States and China that promoted Chinese immigration to the U.S. and guaranteed the rights of Chinese immigrants.

Question 5

Munn v. Illinois

Answer 5

A Supreme Court case in 1877 that upheld the regulation of grain elevator rates by the state of Illinois, supporting state regulation of private industry.

Question 6

gold standard

Answer 6

A monetary system in which the value of a country’s currency is directly tied to a specific amount of gold.

Question 7

Crime of 1873

Answer 7

A term used to criticize the Coinage Act of 1873, which demonetized silver and led to economic and political controversy.

Question 8

Homestead Act

Answer 8

An 1862 law that provided 160 acres of public land to settlers in exchange for a small fee and a commitment to improve the land.

Question 9

Morril Act

Answer 9

An 1862 law that provided federal land grants to states for the establishment of agricultural and mechanical colleges, known as land-grant colleges.

Question 10

land-grant colleges

Answer 10

Institutions of higher education established under the Morrill Act with a focus on agriculture, science, and engineering.

Question 11

Comstock Lode

Answer 11

A rich deposit of silver ore discovered in Nevada in the 1850s, leading to a mining boom in the region.

Question 12

Long Drive

Answer 12

The cattle herding and trading journey from Texas to railheads in Kansas during the late 19th century.

Question 13

“rain follows the plow”

Answer 13

A belief in the 19th century that increased settlement and cultivation of land would lead to more rainfall in previously arid regions.

Question 14

Exodusters

Answer 14

African American migrants who left the South for the Great Plains in the late 19th century seeking economic opportunity and freedom from racial oppression.

Question 15

Yellowstone National Park

Answer 15

The first national park in the United States, established in 1872 to protect its unique natural features.

Question 16

U.S. Fisheries Commision

Answer 16

A federal agency established in 1871 to study and manage fisheries resources in the United States.

Question 17

Sand Creek massacre

Answer 17

A brutal attack on a Cheyenne and Arapaho encampment in Colorado in 1864 by U.S. forces, resulting in the deaths of many Native American civilians.

Question 18

Fetterman massacre

Answer 18

A battle in 1866 during Red Cloud’s War in which a U.S. Army detachment was ambushed and defeated by Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors.

Question 19

Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock

Answer 19

A Supreme Court case in 1903 that upheld the federal government’s authority to unilaterally abrogate treaties with Native American tribes.

Question 20

Dawes Severalty Act

Answer 20

A law passed in 1887 that authorized the break-up of tribal lands and the allocation of individual land parcels to Native American families.

Question 21

Battle of Little Big Horn

Answer 21

A battle in 1876 in which Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse defeated General George Custer’s U.S. Army detachment.

Question 22

Ghost Dance movement

Answer 22

A spiritual and cultural revival movement among Native American tribes in the late 19th century, seeking to restore traditional ways of life.

Question 23

Wounded Knee

Answer 23

The site of a tragic confrontation between the U.S. Army and Lakota Sioux in 1890, marking the end of armed Native American resistance in the West.