The West Flashcards
Define subsidy.
Government provided financial aid and land grants.
Define transcontinental railroad.
One that would connect the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
What was a boomtown?
Towns that seemed to pop up almost overnight near mining sites.
How did the government encourage railroads to expand to the West?
The government gave railroad companies large subsidies.
If the building of the first transcontinental railroad started in 1862, which President would have authorized its construction?
Abraham Lincoln
How did mining and railroads draw people to the West?
Mining attracted people to move West because it offered them the chance to “strike it rich.” Railroads made the movement of people to the West easier and allowed supplies to be moved back and forth with greater ease.
How did the expansion of railroads to the west change the United States?
The population in the West grew, which allowed states to develop and the country to expand.Towns sprang up, the time zones changed, and resources were gained.
Who was Fred Harvey?
He was a man who came up with the idea to put restaurants in or near train depots.
Define cattle drive.
Cattle drives were the movement of herds of cattle on trails over great distances.
Define cowtown.
Railroad towns that sprouted at the end of cattle trails. Ranchers sold their cattle there and after workers loaded the animals onto trains to ship to other places.
How did the expansion of railroads help to create a successful cattle industry?
Cattle could be sent to markets where people were willing to pay up to 10x more for beef.
What contributed to the end of the cattle drives?
Cattle drives ended due to small farms using barbed wire to fence of their land, herds became infected with Texas fever and quarantine lines prevented cattle from entering communities, and railroads extended into Texas.
Define homestead.
A house and other buildings set on acreage that often includes farmed land.
Define sodbusters.
plains farmer
Define sooners.
People who settled in Oklahoma and claimed the best of the land before the homesteaders.
List at least 3 difficulties faced by Kansas farmers in the late 1800s.
The expansion of farming on the Great Plains was a major cause. The supply of crops kept increasing, but the demand didn’t. Without enough buyers, farmers had to lower their prices to attract more.
What was the Homestead Act?
It stated that any U.S. citizen over the age of 21 that lived in Kansas could claim up to 160 acres of public land for 10$. After 5 years they show improvements so they can keep it. It helped with land ownership and motivated thousands of people to move to Kansas.
What was the Oklahoma Land Rush?
A competition for free land in Oklahoma in 1889.
national organization of farmers
the grange
the cattle industry began when
new railroads allowed ranchers to ship beef to the east
