Civil War's Aftermath ð
The leader of the Confederate Army. His surrender on April 9th, 1865 pretty much ended the Civil War.
Who is General Robert E. Lee?
This massive project transformed the American economy and made travel much more efficient.
What is the Transcontinental Railroad?
The belief in the God-given right for Americans to acquire more of the continent.
What is Manifest Destiny?
This resource was heavily hunted (by Americans) in order to force the Native population off the land.
What is the American Bison (buffalo ðĶŽ)?
Name the Lie:
1. More travelers would use the railroad than the Oregon Trail to reach the West.
2. Most of the travelers on the Oregon Trail died before the journey's end.
3. Most travelers did not journey to Oregon when taking the Oregon Trail.
What is "2" ?
Fatality rates on the Oregon Trail reached estimates of 10% or less.
(Many travelers diverged to destinations like California and Utah.)
True or False: Secession was definitively deemed unconstitutional and illegal by the Supreme Court following the war.
What is "True" ?
This person invented the telephone in 1876, revolutionizing communication even further.
Who is Alexander Bell?
True or False: The Oregon Trail was the path most taken by travelers heading west (excluding railroads).
What is True?
This invention decreased the number of cattle drives and "ended open range."
What is barbed wire?
Name the Lie:
1. Transcontinental railroad workers generally received wages of $40/month.
2. Most railroad workers were Chinese and Irish immigrants.
3. While building the railroad, the record for tracks laid in a single day was over 10 miles.
What is "1" ?
White/Irish workers received ab. $35/month, while Chinese workers earned ab. $25-30/month.
Ratified in 1865, this constitutional amendment formally abolished slavery in the U.S.
What is the 13th Amendment?
True or False: A town could be established in the Wild West in just a matter of days or weeks.
What is "True" ?
(With the use of railroad shipments, many settlements could pop up in this time. In the coming months, they could become larger, full-fledged towns.)
Written by Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893, this theory proposed that the frontier was the main shaper of American identity.
What is the Frontier Thesis?
True or False: Cowboys sometimes referred to barbed wire as "the cursed cord."
What is False?
(Cowboys instead called it "the devil's rope.")
Name the Lie:
1. Feral camels roamed the 19th century Wild West.
2. Cowboys sometimes wrangled wild bison.
3. Many towns in the Wild West implemented strict gun-control laws.
What is "2" ?
While hunting bison was common, cowboys working for ranchers generally stuck to controlling cattle.
(The military introduced camels to the American West earlier in the 1800s. In these years after the Civil War, the population had grown greatly!)
In this system, freedmen and poor citizens worked on white plantations in exchange for some of the harvest. (It sort of "replaced" slavery in the South.)
What is sharecropping?
These were created to help create an efficient railroad schedule. (There are 4 in mainland U.S. today.)
What are time zones?
Passed in 1862, this allowed travelers to purchase up to 160 acres of land for a small fee (as long as they settled and improved the land for years after).
What is the Homestead Act?
This 1890 tragedy suppressed the Native American tribes' Ghost Dance movement.
What is the Wounded Knee Massacre?
Name the Lie:
1. Women in the Wild West generally had more opportunities and lenient rights than in the East.
2. Gambling was a common pastime in the west.
3. Saloons were known for their signature "batwing" doors that swung open from both sides.
What is "3" ?
Most saloons had solid doors to keep out weather elements. (Swinging doors became common in the movies.)
Laws passed by Southern states after the war to limit the new freedoms of African Americans.
What are the Black Codes (or Jim Crow Laws)?
This company used the railroad to ship goods (ex. watches) ordered through their mail-order catalogs across America.
(Hint: In the "Episode 6: Heartland" video.)
What is Sears, Roebuck and Company?
The name for African Americans who migrated west after the war (usually in search of new opportunities).
What is an Exoduster?
The goal behind the reservation system for Native Americans.
(What the U.S. was trying to accomplish by stripping away Native culture.)
What is "Kill the Indian, Save the Man" (or assimilation)?
Name the Lie:
1. A quarter of cowboys in the west were African American.
2. Most cowboys owned a six-shooter revolver for work and defense.
3. Bowler hats were more popular among cowboys than iconic cowboy hats.
What is "2" ?
Most cowboys did not own a revolver. Ammunition was expensive and guns were a bit of a luxury item.
(Around a quarter of cowboys were in fact African American!) (Bowler hats were cheaper at the time. The iconic cowboy hat did not gain as much popularity until the late 1880-90s.)