Westward Expansion Unit

Question 1

Manifest Destiny

Answer 1

Idea of a new life, new beginning, new land, and potential the potential to find gold.

Question 2

Mountain Men

Answer 2

western fur traders
and trappers

Question 3

Mormons

Answer 3

Religious group that translated a set of golden tablets containing religious teachings.

Question 4

Treaty of Fort Laramie

Answer 4

the first major treaty between the U.S. government and Plains Indians

Question 5

Reservations

Answer 5

areas of federal land set aside for Native Americans

Question 6

Massacre at Wounded Knee

Answer 6

Killing of about 150 Lakota prisoners of war by the U.S. Army on December 29, 1890

Question 7

Long Walk

Answer 7

on this 300-mile march Navajo were forced to walk across the desert to a reservation in New Mexico

Question 8

Dawes Act

Answer 8

Made private Native American land available to the public.

Question 9

Empresarsio

Answer 9

Agents that brought settlers to Texas in exchange for land

Question 10

Stephan F. Austin

Answer 10

started a Texas colony on the lower Colorado River

Question 11

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

Answer 11

Mexican general that suspended the republican constitution and gave himself more power

Question 12

Gadsden Purchase

Answer 12

Agreement w/ Mexico made by James Gadsden that gave the US parts of present-day New Mexico & Arizona in exchange for $10 million

Question 13

What were 2 reasons for people deciding to move west?

Answer 13

The idea of Manifest Destiny and to find gold.

Question 14

Buffalo Chips: what were they? What purpose did they serve?

Answer 14

They were used as landmarks and used to burn as fuel.

Question 15

Why do think most Indian groups eventually stopped resisting the U.S.?

Answer 15

There were too many confrontations and deaths (i.e. Massacre at Wounded Knee)

Question 16

What happened to Native American children following the Dawes Act?

Answer 16

They were sent to boarding schools in an effort to “Americanize” them. They forced them to learn and speak English, dress in European clothes, and discouraged them from doing anything from their own culture.

Question 17

Why did Americans begin to settle in the west?

Answer 17

They wanted to purchase cheap land, wait for Texas to become a state (which would raise its value), and eventually sell it. BUY LOW-SELL HIGH!

Question 18

Why were Americans banned from settling in Texas?

Answer 18

People weren’t following the laws of the Mexican government, including the ownership of slaves. They were worried about the American population in Texas becoming too large.

Question 19

What was the main issue that divided the U.S. on both the adding of Texas and any land that was won out west?

Answer 19

Slavery. They were afraid that people would try owning slaves (even though it was illigal), as well as bring them west. They didn’t want slavery to spread.

Question 20

Why did some Americans support the war with Mexico? Why did some oppose it?

Answer 20

Support-Continue the whole concept of Manifest Destiny.
Oppose-Slavery could spread, and they thought that it was unfair use of power and that American was way more equipped to win.

Question 21

What two problems did admitting Texas as a slave state cause?

Answer 21

1) The potential for the Mexican-American War to begin.
2) The spreading of slavery throughout the southwest and in California.

Question 22

What did Americans think about the war with Mexico?

Answer 22

Some were in favor (i.e. Abe Lincoln) and thought that a president has the right to declare war if he deems it necessary.

Others were opposed (i.e. General Ulysses S. Grant) he thought that it was an unfair use of power, as he thought that the U.S. was way more equipped to win.

Question 23

Main points of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo:

Answer 23

1.) Officially ended the war
2) Forced Mexico to turn over much of its land to the U.S.
3) U.S. paid 15 million to Mexico
4) Many Americans continued to settle in the Southwest
5) Mexican and American cultures shaped one another and were shared.

Question 24

What were 2 lasting impacts of the gold rush?

Answer 24

1) California’s yearly gold production peaked at more than 60 million.
2) Because of the high gold circulation, basic items sold for extremely high prices as inflation continued to increase. A loaf of bread that would sell for 5 cents in the east, sold for 50 to 75 cents in San Francisco.
3) Population continued to grow with the arrival of the 49ers. California was home to 100,000 people including slaves even though it had been outlawed in 1849. The population boost made California eligible to become a state in 1850.
4) The economy transformed, as new businesses continued to pop up and farming became an everyday lifestyle.
5) By 1869, the transcontinental railroad was complete which gave Californians the opportunity to grow a stronger economy.

Question 25

The United States aquired the majority of its land from the 1780’s-1850’s. What are two ways that they acquired land over that time? Do you feel that the ways that they acquired the land was fair or unfair? Explain.

Answer 25

-Answers will vary.
* President Polk ordered Stephen Kearny to attack New Mexico. Kearny took the capital city (Sante Fe) easily, and easily claimed all of New Mexico.
* Mexican- American War