Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny

Question 1

What is Manifest Destiny in simple terms?

Answer 1

Image result for what is manifest destiny
Manifest Destiny, a phrase coined in 1845, is the idea that the United States is destined—by God, its advocates believed—to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent.

Question 2

What did the Homestead Act of 1862 do?

Answer 2

To help develop the American West and spur economic growth, Congress passed the Homestead Act of 1862, which provided 160 acres of federal land to anyone who agreed to farm the land. The act distributed millions of acres of western land to individual settlers.

Question 3

Why did people in the east move west during the mid 1800’s (causes)?

Answer 3

1. Manifest Destiny
2. Opportunity/adventure- Gold
3. No slavery/ spread slavery
4. Opportunity- Government offered Free Land [fertile land]
5. Cities in the east were crowded and expensive

Question 3

Why did people in the east move west during the mid 1800’s (causes)?

Answer 3

1. Manifest Destiny
2. Opportunity/adventure- Gold
3. No slavery/ spread slavery
4. Opportunity- Government offered Free Land [fertile land]
5. Cities in the east were crowded and expensive

Question 4

What is the Louisiana Purchase?

Answer 4

The acquisition of the Louisiana Territory by the U.S. (Thomas Jefferson) from France in 1803. The land stretched from Louisiana to Montana. It was 828,000 square miles and the U.S. paid $15 million (3 or 4 cents per acre.) France needed money because they were in a war.

Question 5

What does Lady Liberty mean?

Answer 5

The torch is a symbol of enlightenment. The Statue of Liberty’s torch lights the way to freedom showing us the path to Liberty. Even the Statue’s official name represents her most important symbol “Liberty Enlightening the World”.

Question 6

What is the American Progress about?

Answer 6

American Progress visually portrays the process of American westward expansion. The figure of Columbia is ushering in an era of modernization, development, and advancement to the West, which in the painting is portrayed as a dark and savage place, especially when compared to the eastern side of the painting.

Question 7

What was John O Sullivan’s idea of Manifest Destiny?

Answer 7

John Louis O’Sullivan, a popular editor and columnist , articulated the long-standing American belief in the God-given mission of the United States to lead the world in the transition to democracy. He called this America’s “manifest destiny.” This idea motivated wars of American expansion.

Question 8

How did the geographic features of the West impact westward expansion?

Answer 8

Mountains, rivers, plains made travel take longer. Native American attacks were a problem.

Question 9

Lewis and Clark

Answer 9

two explorers that led a group called Corps of Discovery to find a route to the Pacific Ocean thru the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. Sent by President Jefferson.

Question 10

Missionaries Blaze the Oregon Trail

Answer 10

By the 1840s, the Manifest Destiny had Americans in the East eager to expand their horizons. While Lewis and Clark had made their way west from 1804 to 1806, merchants, traders and trappers were also among the first people to forge a path across the Continental Divide.

Question 11

What was the Oregon Trail and why was it important?

Answer 11

The Oregon Trail, which stretched for about 2,000 miles (3,200 km), flourished as the main means for hundreds of thousands of emigrants to reach the Northwest from the early 1840s through the 1860s. It crossed varied and often difficult terrain that included large territories occupied by Native Americans.

Question 12

Why did they go to Oregon during Manifest Destiny?

Answer 12

There were many reasons for the westward movement to Oregon and California. Economic problems upset farmers and businessmen. Free land in Oregon and the possibility of finding gold in California lured them westward.

Question 13

What were the requirements of the Homestead Act?

Answer 13

• You had to be the head of your household or at least 21 years old.
• You had to live on the land for 5 years.
• You had to build a home on the land.
• You had to make improvements and farm the land.
• You had to pay an $18 filing fee.

Question 14

What is the Louisiana Purchase and why is it important?

Answer 14

The Louisiana Purchase was the purchase of imperial rights to the western half of the Mississippi River basin from France by the United States in 1803. The deal granted the United States the sole authority to obtain the land from its indigenous inhabitants, either by contract or by conquest.

Question 15

Why did Thomas Jefferson buy the Louisiana Purchase?

Answer 15

When France offered to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States in 1803, Jefferson wanted to seize the opportunity to double the size of the nation and to provide future generations with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of new farmland.

Question 16

The Northwest Ordinance

Answer 16

Land agreement that created the Northwest Territory, enabling the United States to expand into the Great Lakes area. States created from the Northwest Territory included Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The Ohio river would separate slave states from nonslave states. It was bad for native Americans in the area. Native Americans fought back. They were defeated. 1787.

Question 17

What was the Mexican-American War and why was it fought?

Answer 17

From 1846 to 1848, U.S. and Mexican troops fought against one another in the Mexican-American War. Ultimately, it was a battle for land where Mexico was fighting to keep what they thought was their property and the U.S. desired to retain the disputed land of Texas and obtain more of Mexico’s northern lands.

Question 18

What happened in the Mexican Cession?

Answer 18

Under the terms of the treaty negotiated by Trist, Mexico ceded to the United States Upper California and New Mexico. This was known as the Mexican Cession and included present-day Arizona and New Mexico and parts of Utah, Nevada, and Colorado (see Article V of the treaty).

Question 19

Why was Sitting Bull so important?

Answer 19

Sitting Bull was the political and spiritual leader of the Sioux warriors who destroyed General George Armstrong Custer’s force in the famous battle of Little Big Horn. Years later he joined Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show.

Question 20

battle of little bighorn

Answer 20

On June 25, 1876, Native American forces led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeat the U.S. Army troops of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer in the Battle of the Little Bighorn near southern Montana’s Little Bighorn River.

Question 21

What was Buffalo Bill most famous for?

Answer 21

But he is probably best known as the man who gave the Wild West its name. He produced a colorful show called Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World, which had an international reputation and helped create a lasting image of the American West.

Question 22

indian removal act

Answer 22

The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830, authorizing the president to grant lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. A few tribes went peacefully, but many resisted the relocation policy.

Question 23

What is the main purpose of the Indian Removal Act?

Answer 23

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was approved and enforced by President Andrew Jackson. This act enabled the forced removal of Native American Tribes from their already claimed lands to land west of the Mississippi River. The reason for this forced removal was to make westward expansion for Americans easier.

Question 24

What was the Trail of Tears and why did it happen?

Answer 24

The Trail of Tears. In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson’s Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the “Trail of Tears,” because of its devastating effects.

Question 25

What role did religion play in westward expansion?

Answer 25

Religion had a significant impact on the settling of the West. Religious beliefs shaped how many Americans thought about the frontier and its possibilities. Some believed their religion would “civilize” the West, saving it from evil forces, and they ventured out into unknown areas to save souls.

Question 26

What do you mean by acculturation?

Answer 26

Acculturation can be defined as the ‘process of learning and incorporating the values, beliefs, language, customs and mannerisms of the new country immigrants and their families are living in, including behaviors that affect health such as dietary habits, activity levels and substance use.

Question 27

What is mean assimilation?

Answer 27

Assimilation refers to the process through which individuals and groups of differing heritages acquire the basic habits, attitudes, and mode of life of an embracing culture.

Question 28

What was Tecumseh resistance?

Answer 28

He firmly believed that all Indian tribes must settle their differences and unite to retain their lands, culture and freedom. Tecumseh led his followers against the United States in many battles and supported the British during the War of 1812.

Question 29

How did Tecumseh resist American settlers?

Answer 29

He planned to meet the British officers and negotiate an alliance against the Americans. By continuing to expand onto their lands, repeatedly revising treaty boundaries, and finally by attacking them outright, white Americans had driven the native confederacy to ally with the British.

Question 30

What was the great Cherokee experiment?

Answer 30

The Treaty of 1817 also contained a proposal for an experiment in Cherokee citizenship. Cherokees who wished to remain on ceded land in the East could apply for a 640-acre reserve and legal rights as American citizens.

Question 31

What countries did the US gain land from?

Answer 31

Louisiana purchase, Florida acquisition, Oregon territory and Gadsden.

Question 32

Why did the Cherokee resist removal?

Answer 32

Many Cherokee wanted to stay on their land and spoke openly at their Council meetings about resisting the U.S. government and the Americans. Other Cherokee felt that it was futile to fight any longer. Pressure grew as other American Indian societies moved west under the Indian Removal Act.

Question 33

Seminole Trail of Tears

Answer 33

It came at a time when Indians were being deported to the West in what became known as the Trail of Tears. Florida’s Seminoles call themselves the “unconquered people” because, through three wars with federal troops, they resisted deportation to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi

Question 34

How did western expansion affect the buffalo?

Answer 34

They used almost every part of the animal, including horns, meat and tail hairs. By the 1800s, Native Americans learned to use horses to chase bison, dramatically expanding their hunting range. But then white trappers and traders introduced guns in the West, killing millions more buffalo for their hides.

Question 34

How did western expansion affect the buffalo?

Answer 34

They used almost every part of the animal, including horns, meat and tail hairs. By the 1800s, Native Americans learned to use horses to chase bison, dramatically expanding their hunting range. But then white trappers and traders introduced guns in the West, killing millions more buffalo for their hides.

Question 35

Why did people migrate during the westward expansion?

Answer 35

Gold rush and mining opportunities (silver in Nevada) The opportunity to work in the cattle industry; to be a “cowboy” Faster travel to the West by railroad; availability of supplies due to the railroad. The opportunity to own land cheaply under the Homestead Act.

Question 36

Why did the immigrants start to migrate westward in the 1800s

Answer 36

In the late 1800s, people in many parts of the world decided to leave their homes and immigrate to the United States. Fleeing crop failure, land and job shortages, rising taxes, and famine, many came to the U. S. because it was perceived as the land of economic opportunity.

Question 37

How did the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo impact America’s westward expansion?

Answer 37

The treaty added an additional 525,000 square miles to United States territory, including the land that makes up all or parts of present-day Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Mexico also gave up all claims to Texas and recognized the Rio Grande as America’s southern boundary.

Question 38

What was the Oregon Trail and why was it important?

Answer 38

The Oregon Trail, which stretched for about 2,000 miles (3,200 km), flourished as the main means for hundreds of thousands of emigrants to reach the Northwest from the early 1840s through the 1860s. It crossed varied and often difficult terrain that included large territories occupied by Native Americans.

Question 39

What was the Monroe Doctrine and what did it do

Answer 39

Although initially disregarded by the great powers of Europe, the Monroe Doctrine became a mainstay of U.S. foreign policy. In 1823 U.S. President James Monroe proclaimed the U.S. protector of the Western Hemisphere by forbidding European powers from colonizing additional territories in the Americas.

Question 40

What did Pacific Railway Act do?

Answer 40

The Pacific Railway Act, which became law on July 1, 1862, offered government incentives to assist “men of talent, men of character, men who are willing to invest” in developing the nation’s first transcontinental rail line.

Question 41

How long did wagon trains take to get to Oregon?

Answer 41

Initially, the journey from Independence to the Willamette valley had taken five to six months. As the trail became more heavily used, however, ferries and bridges sprang up at river crossings, and more trading posts and forts were built.