Westward Expansion And Its Impact 1865-1890

Question 1

What are the debates on reason for westward expansion

Answer 1

1. There was on overriding motive and that it just happened
   2.it was the result of demography, once the first settlers arrived, millions more immigrants followed and reproduced at a high rate.
2. Deliberate policy by the federal government and was very much imperialist and aggressive
3. Part of a special mission to bring the benefits of American way of life as well as democracy and freedom

Question 2

Why was federal territories a reason for westward expansion

Answer 2

During the civil war the federal government wanted to control lands west of missipi. This was done by the creation of federal territories and by populating the vast open spaces with settlers. When the population reached 60,000 they could apply to become a state

Question 3

When was the homestead act

Answer 3

1862

Question 4

What did the homestead act include

Answer 4

It encourage settlement in the west by releasing land in 160 acre plots, available to farmers for free on the basis they would farm the land for 5 years

Question 5

When was the first claim to the homestead act

Answer 5

1st January 1863

Question 6

What impact had the homestead act had by 1865

Answer 6

20,000 homesteaders had settled on the plains. However, this expansion was at the expense of the Native American tribes who lived on the plains.

Question 7

What was the timber and culture act of 1873

Answer 7

Gave homesteaders an additional 160 acres provided 40 acres were planted with trees

Question 8

What was the desert and land act of 1877

Answer 8

It offered a further 640 acres at $1.25 an acre provided some of it was irrigated

Question 9

What were bonanza farms

Answer 9

Very large farms in the United States mostly growing and harvesting wheat by the 1880 there were nearly 3,000 of these large farms of more than 1,000 acres

Question 10

How did railroads encourage westward expansion

Answer 10

The government realised this would lead to even more migration to the area

Question 11

What act encouraged westward expansion by railroad

Answer 11

In 1862 Lincoln signed the pacific railroad act authorising two companies to build a transcontinental railroad.

Question 12

What two railroad lines were built

Answer 12

The central pacific was to build eastwards from Sacramento
The union pacfic would build westwards from Omaha, Nebraska.

Question 13

Where did the two railroad lines meet

Answer 13

Utah in may 1869

Question 14

What where the buy now pay later schemes

Answer 14

The railroad companies allocated land by the government to cover the cost of the enterprise this lured settlers onto the plains with buy now pay later schemes

Question 15

What happened in the second gold rush

Answer 15

Thousands of gold seekers flocked to the new Town of deadwood in 1875

Question 16

What was the treaty of Laramie

Answer 16

This agreement was made in Wyoming territory in April 1868 between the United States and the chiefs of Lakota Sioux. This included exclusive native Americans rights over black hills region

Question 17

What was westward expansion like before the civil war

Answer 17

Many settlers begun to move to the west in 1840s. This was partly due with regard to the Mormons trying to escape persecution in the east as well as high taxes and over population. The west offered a possibility of starting a new and better life with cheap and fertile land.

Question 18

What was the belief of manifest destiny

Answer 18

God had chosen them to populate the lands from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

Question 19

What was the Devine right

Answer 19

Gave white Americans the right to populate the whole North American continent and to spread its Christian and republican views

Question 20

What was manifest destiny used for

Answer 20

Used as a key slogan to justify the expansion of the USA in the 1840s and 1850s especially into Texas and California.

Question 21

How many new railways were there by 1890

Answer 21

There were four other transcontinental lines: the northern pacific, the southern pacific, the atchinson, the great northern.

Question 22

What benefits did railroad bring

Answer 22

-The new west of cattlemen and farmers was largely the product of railroads
-The railroads greatly stimulated the growth of the iron steel lumber and other capital goods industries
-revolutionised the west ensuring that a flood of people moved in and an abundance of raw materials moved out
-the land it retained along the track fetched twice the normal price

Question 23

What was the turner thesis

Answer 23

The idea that American democracy had been snapped by the attitudes and values associated with the frontier. He emphasised lasseiz faire as American and clearly rejected European ideas that had influenced critics

Question 24

What is the frontier

Answer 24

The advancing border that marked the lands that had been settled in

Question 25

What was the end of the frontier

Answer 25

America had now become a nation from sea to sea so officially there was no longer a frontier

Question 26

What criticism was there of the turner thesis

Answer 26

-professor George Wilson said other factors should be considered in aknowledging development
-Allen billington said that turner never actually defines the frontier and the frontier wasn’t a safety valve
-flenda riley argued turners thesis ignored women
- some agreed it ignored the role of Imigrants

Question 27

What caused the 1876 Sioux war

Answer 27

The discovery of gold in the black hills of south dokata

Question 28

What proposal did the government make to the Native Americans during the Sioux war

Answer 28

$6 million

Question 29

What was the result of the Sioux war

Answer 29

Due to popular and political pressure by the white American majority, the decision was taken to remove the Native Americans from the black hills.

Question 30

What setbacks were there to removing the Native Americans from the black hills

Answer 30

The battle of Little Bighorn, a large and well equipped us army wiped out the native Americans

Question 31

What was the reservation policy

Answer 31

It entailed locating native Americans on government controlled reservations. This would enable the government to Americanise the natives this resulted in conversion to Christianity and training to become farmers

Question 32

What was the reservation policy

Answer 32

It entailed locating native Americans on government controlled reservations. This would enable the government to Americanise the natives this resulted in conversion to Christianity and training to become farmers

Question 33

What was Americanisation

Answer 33

Getting them to learn english Christianity and teach farming

Question 34

When was the Dawes act introduced

Answer 34

1887

Question 35

What was the Dawes act

Answer 35

It broke up reservations of land into small units held by individuals or families. Each head of family could receive 160 acres of farmland or 320 acres of grazing land. Native Americans who accepted the allotments were to be granted us citizenship after 25 years

Question 36

When was the battle of wounded knee

Answer 36

1890

Question 37

What challenges did the plains present to new settlers

Answer 37

-The nearest neighbourhoods were often miles away a problem for women who were about to give birth
-pioneer family’s fort a constant battle with the elements
-freight charges and interest rates on loans were often crippinhly high

Question 38

What new farming machinery was made

Answer 38

Reapers, threshing machines, binders and combine harvesters

Question 39

What did Joseph glidden produce in 1873

Answer 39

Barbed wire making it possible to fence land cheaply

Question 40

What results were there due to agriculture improvement

Answer 40

Wheat increased from 211 million in 1867 To 599 million in 1900
Department of labour calculated that it took 35 hours in 1840 to produce 15 buzhells it took only 15 hours in 1900

Question 41

What happeneded to farmers in 1873

Answer 41

They went bankrupt due to a drop in corn from 78 cents in 1867 to 31 cents kn 1873
Farmers who had borrowed heavily struggled to pay back

Question 42

Who devised a root for cattle from north to south

Answer 42

1867 Joseph McCoy
5.71 million cattle took this route between 1866 and 1886

Question 43

How many Cowboys roamed the plain after the civil war

Answer 43

40,000
Some were ex confederate soldiers
Low pay of 25-30 a month

Question 44

Why were ranches established

Answer 44

Cattleman realised they could best function by etsablishing cattle ranches on the plain.

Question 45

How were ranches established

Answer 45

They took land rarely bothering to agree a legal title they maintained position by fraud

Question 46

What resulted in the end of the open range

Answer 46

Two exceptionally severe winters between 1885 and 1887 resulted in deaths of millions of western cattle. They had to close off land they actually owned in order to scientifically breed by 1890 the days of open range were over