Chapter 2 - New and Old Frontiers: The West, Midwest, South, and Cities (1870-1900) Flashcards
Define Manifest Destiny.
The belief that God had ordained that Americans settle the entire North American Continent.
What issue put a brake on early westward expansion?
Slavery. Congress was hesitant to admit new states in order to avoid inflaming the debate over slavery. Likewise, people didn’t know what the status would be in the new territories.
What was the biggest threat early Western Settlers faced?
Lawless pro and anti-slavery men
Where did the first transcontinental railroad link?
Promontory Point, Utah.
What four different settler cultures occurred in the Western Frontier?
1) Midwest
2) California, Nevada, and South Dakota
3) Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado
4) Railroads
What states were a part of the Midwest Settler Culture?
1) Iowa
2) Kansas,
3) Nebraska
4) Western Minnesota
Describe the Midwest Settler Culture.
1) Farmers of Corn and Wheat
2) Whole Families Moved
3) 300 Acre Family Farms Were the Norm
Describe the Settler Culture in California, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, Montana, and South Dakota?
1) Rough Mining Communities
2) Mostly Asian Immigrants Working Dangerous Mining Jobs
When did the Gold Rush in California Begin?
1849
What mining state profited off of copper and not gold?
Montana.
Describe the Settler Culture in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado.
1) Cowboys who drove longhorn cattle to railways so they could be sold.
2) Ended By 1880 Due to the Rise of Barbed Wire
How much land was given to railroad companies by the federal government?
200 Million Acres Free of Charge
How much land did the Homestead Act give to private individuals?
274 Million Acres.
What was the majority of the land used for?
Creating Frontier Towns By Selling the Land to Investors and Settlers.
Describe the population that moved Westward?
1) Males
2) Not Poor But Mostly Likely Middle Class
3) Immigrants Who Took The Worst Jobs
4) Exodusters - Black Tennant Farmers Who Were Later Cut Off By The Southern States
What race made up about 20% of cowboys?
African-Americans
What was the predomination view Americans had of Indians in the colonial period til 1770?
That Indians were savages who did not possess the same rights that whites possessed.
What policy did the United States adopt towards Native Americans in the Colonial Period?
Eviction and Annihilation
What movement caused Americans to reassess their policy towards the Native Americans?
The Enlightenment and its focus on natural rights.
What Indian strategy did the United States switch to in the mid-1700s?
Uneasy Coexistence which involved negotiating with them and signing treaties.
What President changed the Indian Policy of the United States in 1830?
Andrew Jackson.
What was the policy the United States had towards Indians in the 1830s?
Removal of Native Americans on to reservations.
Where were Native Americans removed to?
The Land West of the Mississippi Which is What Some Called the Great American Desert
What did Native Americans on Reservations rely on?
Hunting Buffalo.
How many settlers did Native Americans on reservations kill?
Less than 400.
How did settlers treat the native Americans?
The settlers took land from the Native Americans and killed them.
Approximately how many settlers moved into Native American Territory in 1850 Alone?
150,000.
What new Native American policy took root in the 1840’s?
Concentration of Native Americans on a smaller and smaller plane of land.
What did the Dawes Act do?
Provided the male head of an Indian household with a specific plot of land provided he agreed to farm and improve it.
What happened to the land given to Native Americans in the Dawes Act?
It ended up being sold to land speculators and diminished further the size of the reservations. From 130 million to 44 million acres.
How did Settlers attempt to confine the Indians?
By killing thousands of buffalo and trying to assimilate the Native Americans into Anglo-Saxon culture through schools such as the Carlisle Indian School.