Westward Expansion Flashcards
Chapter 17
Manifest Destiny
the phrase, coined by journalist John O’Sullivan, which came to stand for the idea that White Americans had a calling and a duty to seize and settle the American West with Protestant democratic values
Significance of Manifest Destiny
This encouraged people to move west. They want more resources and to establish their own boarders
Exodusters
a term used to describe African Americans who moved to Kansas from the Old South to escape the racism there
Exodusters significance
They were one of the groups who migrated West
Sod House
a frontier home constructed of dirt held together by thicker-rooted prairie grass that was prevalent in the Midwest; sod, cut into large rectangles, was stacked to make the walls of the structure, providing an inexpensive, yet damp, house for Western Settlers
Sod House significance
This gave cheap homes to people moving West
California Gold Rush
the period between 1848 and 1849 when prospectors found large strikes of gold in California, leading others to rush in and follow suit; this period let to a cycle of boom and bust through the area, as gold was discovered, mined, and stripped
California Gold Rush significance
This increased the amount of people who wanted to migrate West. Makes California ready for statehood in 1 year
Analyze the ways in which the federal government facilitated Americans’ Westward migration in the mid-nineteenth century
- Homestead Act of 1862
- Morrill Land Grants
- Railroads/transcontinental railroad
Americanization
the policy aimed at assimilating Native Americans into a middle class, Protestant version of the American Way of Life through boarding schools for Native American children and land allotment for Native American Households.
Americanization significance
This is to make the Native Americans like us. Dawes Severalty Act (1887) gave Native Americans 160 acres each, they did not like that
