Chapter 16 Note Cards

Question 1

Buffalo (Economic Importance)

Answer 1

Who - Plains Indians
What - The basis for their economic way of life; used the whole animal
When - 1800s
Where - Western US
Why - Flesh for food, skin for clothing / other goods, bones / tendons for tools

Question 2

Plains Indians

Answer 2

Who - ex. Sioux
What - Most widespread native presence in the West; very diverse tribes; hunted buffalo; religions based on nature
When - 1800s
Where - Western US
Why - N/A

Question 3

Coolies

Answer 3

Who - Chinese immigrants
What - Indentured servants who were very close to slaves
When -mid to late 1800s
Where - Traveled to Hawaii, Australia, South & Central America, South Africa, Caribbean
Why - Immigrated b/c they wanted better lives than the poverty back in China

Question 4

Chinatowns

Answer 4

Who - Chinese; led by prominent merchants
What - Became employment brokers, defender of the community against persecution, unions, arbitrators of disputes, & dispensers of social services; had elaborate festivals of celebration
When - late 1800s on
Where - Western US
Why - To address social and financial issues as well as fill roles that political machines would fill in immigrant communities in the East

Question 5

Transcontinental Railroad

Answer 5

Who - Largely built by Chinese
What - Railroad that spanned across the US
When - 1865 to 1869
Where - US
Why - Increased ease of travel

Question 6

Chinese Exclusion Act

Answer 6

Who - Congress against Chinese immigrants
What - Banned Chinese immigration for ten years after & prevented Chinese immigrants already in the US from becoming citizens
When - 1882; renewed 1892 for another ten years
Where - US
Why - Response to political pressure & growing violence; nativism

Question 7

Homestead Act

Answer 7

Who - Affected settlers
What - Permitted settlers to by 160 acres for a small price as long as they occupied that land for five years and improved it
When - 1862
Where - US
Why - Encourage settlement; was supposed to be helpful, but rather rested on a number of misperceptions (therefore not particularly effective)

Question 8

Mining

Answer 8

Who - Settlers
What - First for gold / silver, then quartz (all three generally for personal gain), then commercial mining
When - About 1860 to 1890s
Where - Western US
Why - People wished to make quick fortunes

Question 9

Rocky Mountain School

Answer 9

Who - Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran
What - Group of artists who celebrated the new West (wilderness, ruggedness, nature) & attracted large crowds (on tours in the East); inspired tourism
When - Later 1800s
Where - West
Why - Romanticized the land

Question 10

Mark Twain

Answer 10

Who - Mark Twain
What - Great American writer of the time; romanticized the western frontier
When - Later 1800s
Where - US
Why - N/A

Question 11

Frederick Jackson Turner / “Passing of the Frontier”

Answer 11

Who - Frederick Jackson Turner
What - Historian who argued that the end of the “frontier” (passing of the frontier) was a very important event in the democratization of American society; found to be inaccurate and premature; emphasized ROMANTIC vision of the frontier
When - Late 1800s
Where - US
Why -Too much romanticization to be accurate

Question 12

Buffalo (Destruction)

Answer 12

Who - Gangs of professional hunters (white); Buffalo Bill!
What - Destroyed natives’ source of food & supplies as well as their ability to resist white advancement
When - 1850s to later 1875ish
Where - West
Why - Due to hunting as well as ecological changes b/c of white settlement; killed because they were a good resources & also because they were obstructing railroad traffic

Question 13

Concentration Policy

Answer 13

Who - Affected Native Americans
What - Assigned each tribe its own reservation; divided the tribes from each other, making them easier to control; greatly benefitted whites, did not benefit natives very much
When - 1851
Where - US
Why - White people wanted to colonize native lands

Question 14

George A. Custer

Answer 14

Who - Colonel George A. Custer
What - Caught Black Kettle & Cheyennes on the Washita River, TX border; slaughtered them; surprised at the battle of Little Bighorn
When - mid 1800s
Where - TX border
Why - N/A

Question 15

Sand Creek Massacre

Answer 15

Who - Arapaho & Cheyenne band under Chief Black Kettle; Colonel J. M. Chivington
What - Militia force (made largely of drunken unemployed miners) led against the natives to massacre 133 people
When - November 1864
Where - Sand Creek, Eastern Colorado
Why - Natives were struggling against the growing advancement of whites into their territory

Question 16

Chief Joseph

Answer 16

Who - Chief Joseph
What - Leader of Nez Perce; urged his followers to flee American troops and fled for 75 days; was finally caught close to the Canadian border, where he urged the troops to take his people back to their reservation (his plea was refused, and his people were moved from place to place for many years after)
When - 1850s to 1880s
Where - Idaho
Why - Colonization

Question 17

Little Bighorn

Answer 17

Who - Whites & natives (George A. Custer)
What - Most famous conflict between whites and natives; about 2500 tribal warriors surprised Custer, killing his regiment
When - Battle in 1876
Where - Little Bighorn, southern Montana
Why - Natives were upset that whites kept trying to usher them into reservations

Question 18

Geronimo

Answer 18

Who - Geronimo
What - Succeeded Cochise; fought for over a decade to establish bases; in 1886, he realized that his cause was hopeless (his numbers had decreased significantly) and surrendered, therefore ending formal warfare between natives and whites
When - Succeeded in 1874
Where - Mountains of Arizona & Mexico
Why - Did not want to surrender to white forces

Question 19

Ghost Dance Movement

Answer 19

Who - Wovoka, a Paiute prophet
What - Dances that inspired visions of a retreat of whites from native lands and the reestablishment of the buffalo population, among others
When - Later 1800s
Where - Began Nevada, spread throughout the plains
Why - Frightened white agents on the Sioux reservation

Question 20

Wounded Knee

Answer 20

Who - Seventh Cavalry, Sioux
What - Cavalry tried to round up Sioux on the reservation (who were starving and cold) and a fight broke out; turned into a one-sided massacre, decimating the natives
When - December 29, 1890
Where - Wounded Knee, South Dakota
Why - N/A

Question 21

Commercial Agriculture

Answer 21

Who - Commercial farmers
What - Primarily cash crops; farmers were NOT self-sufficient, but rather bought items they needed at a store; raised farmers’ living standards, but made them depend on bankers, foreign markets, and world supply and demand; couldn’t influence prices of their goods
When - Late 1800s on
Where - US
Why - Came along with modern forms of communication & transportation