Facts 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 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

Manifest Destiny

A

The American belief that it was God’s will that they inhabit

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9
Q

pioneer

A

A person who travels to an area not yet settled with the intention

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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

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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

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

18
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.

19
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.

20
Q

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

A

1823

21
Q

Who was the angel Moroni?

A

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

22
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.

23
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.

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.

25
Q

Why was Joseph Smith murdered in 1845?

A

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

26
Q

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

A

Brigham Young

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 Deseret?

A

The state that Brigham Young wanted entered into the Union in the 1850s

34
Q

What was the Perpetual Emigrating Fund?

A

All expenses paid journey for new recruits to the Mormon religion

35
Q

When was Gold discovered in California?

A

24th January 1848

36
Q

What nickname was given to the miners and why?

A

49ers, because they all went out in 1849

37
Q

Name 5 different ethnic groups that went west for gold?

A

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

38
Q

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

A

1850

39
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, Levis jeans

40
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,