The Transcontinental Railroad
What transportation system was completed on May 10, 1869, connecting the country from coast to coast?
The Transcontinental Railroad
What do we call a reason that causes someone to leave a place?
Push factor
What explosion in Havana helped cause Americans to demand that the United States fight Spain?
the explosion of the USS Maine
What happened to many Native Americans as railroads, farms, ranches, and towns expanded West?
they were pushed off their ancestral lands
What word means the movement of people from one place to another?
migration
Before the railroad, what made traveling West difficult and slow?
Wagons and difficult travel conditions
What do we call a reason that attracts someone to a new place?
Pull factor
Before becoming more involved in expansion, the United States generally followed this policy of avoiding involvement in foreign conflicts.
isolationism
What law divided reservation land into individual allotments and opened remaining reservation land to non-Native settlers?
the Dawes Act
What word describes a person who moved West and settled on land, often to farm?
homesteader
Name one way building the railroad changed the physical landscape.
cutting down forests, mining coal, tunneling through mountains, or building bridges over rivers and ravines
A person moves West because they want land to farm. Is this a push factor or a pull factor?
Pull factor
After winning the Spanish-American War, the United States gained new territories, including Guam and this island nation in Southeast Asia.
Philippines
Name one way Native American children were forced to give up parts of their culture in boarding schools.
being forced to use English, having their hair cut, changing their names, being prevented from speaking Native languages, or being separated from cultural traditions
What word means changing someone's culture or way of life so that they adopt another culture?
assimilate
Workers from which three broad areas helped build the Transcontinental Railroad?
Europe, Asia, and different parts of the United States
What 1862 law offered up to 160 acres of land to people who met certain requirements?
The Homestead Act
After the Spanish-American War, the United States began expanding its power and creating what?
a new empire
What was one challenge many immigrants faced when they came to the United States?
discrimination, low wages, dangerous work, or language barriers
Why was the Transcontinental Railroad considered a turning point in U.S. history?
it connected the country and changed the movement of people, goods, ideas, and culture
Transcontinental Railroad → easier transportation → __________ → more towns and businesses.
Migration/ People Moving West
Give two reasons why people moved West during this period.
Opportunities for land, jobs, businesses, farming, mining, or a better life
Put these events in the correct order: U.S. gains territories → USS Maine explodes → U.S. fights Spain → Americans demand action.
USS Maine explodes → Americans demand action → U.S. fights Spain → U.S. gains territories
Name three things immigrants brought to American communities that helped shape American cultural identity.
languages, foods, religions, traditions, skills, or cultures
How did westward expansion and immigration both contribute to changes in American communities?
they brought more people together and contributed new languages, foods, religions, traditions, skills, businesses, and cultures