The making of America: homesteaders; surviving and thriving on the plains.

Question 1

when was the homestead act?

Answer 1

1862.

Question 2

what did the homestead act outline?

Answer 2

americans could claim 160 acres of land if they paid a small fee and improved the land via homebuilding and farming. after living there for at least 5 years the land would become there’s.

Question 3

what were people who took advantage of the homestead act called?

Answer 3

homesteaders.

Question 4

by 1870 how many people had moved west?

Answer 4

100,000.

Question 5

who were the first people to open up the west?

Answer 5

miners.

Question 6

what type of people took up the homestead act?

Answer 6

poor/ immigrant/ freed slaves.

Question 7

which mountain range were many ranchers near?

Answer 7

rocky mountains.

Question 8

why was it difficult for the homesteaders to farm the land?

Answer 8

can’t afford the equipment, assistance. no modern support, isolated.

Question 9

what natural resources did homesteaders lack?

Answer 9

animals, trees and water.

Question 10

what kind of weather was a problem for homesteaders?

Answer 10

dry and hot.

Question 11

who were the homesteaders afraid of?

Answer 11

native americans and cattle thieves.

Question 12

what fraction of homesteaders abandoned their land?

Answer 12

3/5.

Question 13

why did many african americans take up the homestead act after the civil war?

Answer 13

start over, escape the racism.

Question 14

how did the railroads help the homesteaders?

Answer 14

easier to transport things.

Question 15

subtitles for why people moved west?

Answer 15

the american dream, homestead act, railway companies.

Question 16

american dream: what was the dream?

Answer 16

owning property and getting rich.

Question 17

american dream: what did many american and European immigrants dream of doing?

Answer 17

becoming independent farmers with their own land.

Question 18

american dream: what drew immigrants to the plains?

Answer 18

high price of land in eastern states, californaia and Oregon in the west drew them to cheaper alternatives in the plains.

Question 19

homestead act: what did it help encourage people to do?

Answer 19

go out onto the plains.

Question 20

homestead act: what were people promised?

Answer 20

160 acres of plains land if the farmer farmed the land for 5 years and paid a small fee.

Question 21

homestead act: who was allowed to apply with what conditions?
what percentage of homesteaders were owned by women?

Answer 21

women and men .
as long as women were single.
5-15%.

Question 22

railway companies: how did railroad companies create demand for their railroads and land?

Answer 22

promoting the west as a land of great opportunity.

Question 23

railway companies: what did they produce?

Answer 23

a huge advertising campaign in american and Europe.

Question 24

living on the plains: why was living on the plains difficult?

Answer 24

few building materials for housing, not much water and threats from increasingly angry native americans.

Question 25

living on the plains: how did the government intervene?

Answer 25

timber culture act and desert land act.

Question 26

living on the plains: when was the timber culture act and the desert land act?

Answer 26

1873 and 1877.

Question 27

living on the plains: what was the timber culture act?

Answer 27

additional 160 acres of free land if homesteaders planted trees on 40 acres of it.

Question 28

living on the plains: what was the desert land act?

Answer 28

settlers could purchase 640 acres of land cheaply where rainfall was a problem.

Question 29

what problems did homesteaders face?

Answer 29

keeping healthy, lack of water, isolation, ploughing the land, building houses, keeping warm, fencing the land, hazards.

Question 30

problems faced- keeping healthy: how were most houses built?

Answer 30

earth floor, sod walls and grass roof.

Question 31

problems faced- keeping healthy: was were a constant problem?

Answer 31

mice, fleas, bed bugs.

Question 32

problems faced- keeping healthy: what disease, conditions or illnesses were common?

Answer 32

cholera, typhoid, scarlet fever, pneumonia, small pox.

Question 33

problems faced- keeping healthy: when a child died how did families feel and what did a lack of water cause?

Answer 33

devastated.
couldn’t keep clean.

Question 34

problems faced- lack of water: what did they need water for?

Answer 34

regular supply for drinking and for crops.

Question 35

problems faced- isolation: how far would families live from each other and how was contact with wider family?

Answer 35

many miles from each other and long journey into town.
limited.

Question 36

problems faced- ploughing the land: what did a shortage of labour mean?

Answer 36

they had to do it themselves.

Question 37

problems faced- ploughing the land: the plains hadn’t been ploughed before. what did this mean when homesteaders were trying to plough the land?

Answer 37

grasses which grew there had tough roots, formed dense, tangled mat. ploughs brought often broke and had to be repaired.

Question 38

problems faced- building houses: what did a lack of trees mean?

Answer 38

houses built from sod.

Question 39

problems faced- building houses: what was used to make the houses watertight?

Answer 39

grass roof and walls covered in mud.

Question 40

problems faced- building houses: why weren’t they very useful?

Answer 40

many leaked or collapsed during storms.

Question 41

problems faced- keeping warm: what didn’t they have so what did they use instead?

Answer 41

no wood to burn.
burn dried buffalo and cow droppings or ‘chips.’

Question 42

problems faced- fencing the land: what did they have a lack of and what did that mean for the land?

Answer 42

timber.
plants could be eaten and land gone on.

Question 43

problems faced- hazards: why were there a high chance of fires?

Answer 43

in summer grasslands would become dry.

Question 44

problems faced- hazards: what would fires destroy and what would the impact on the family be?

Answer 44

destroy homesteaders and families be forced to give up holdings.

Question 45

problems faced- hazards: when did locust swarm the plains?

Answer 45

1874-77.

Question 46

problems faced- hazards: what affect did the locusts have?

Answer 46

ate crops, leather boots, clothes and wooden window frames.

Question 47

problems faced- hazards: what affect could the locusts have on families?

Answer 47

devastate them and leave them with no crops.

Question 48

solutions for problems- keeping healthy.

Answer 48

non.

Question 49

solutions for problems- lack of water: where could they drill, what type of framing could they do and what type of wheat could they use instead?

Answer 49

drill deep holes into the ground and build a wind pump to bring the water to the surface.
dry farming- ploughing the land when heavy rain- left thin layer of fine soil on the top to trap water.
turkey red wheat- from russsia. could withstand frost and grow in winter and spring when more moisture in the soil.

Question 50

solutions for problems- isolation: as more people arrived what was made?

Answer 50

churches and schools.

Question 51

solutions for problems- ploughing the land.

Answer 51

non.

Question 52

solutions for problems- building a house: in the 1860 and 70’s what were added to the infrastructure of the houses?

Answer 52

holes for windows with simple shutters.

Question 53

solutions for problems- fencing the land: what had been invented?

Answer 53

1874- joseph Glidden made barbed wire. cheap and easy.

Question 54

solutions for problems- hazards.

Answer 54

non.

Question 55

solutions for problems- keeping warm: what did they use instead?

Answer 55

dried buffalo and cow droppings.