Native American Quiz Topics
What is Manifest Destiny?
Americans believed that God wanted them to settle the entire continent.
What was the Chinese Exclusion Act?
A law that suspended the immigration of Chinese people for 10 years. It was the first in U.S. history to restrict a specific ethnic group.
Despite the fact that life expectancy and the birth rate were both falling in the U.S., the population kept growing. How was that possible?
Through increased immigration.
How was labor fill for the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad?
Chinese and Irish immigrants were brought in to do most of the work.
In employing the U.S. reservation policy, what land was given to the Native Americans?
Land the U.S. thought was useless.
How did the U.S. view Native Americans?
As uncivilized savages.
What reasons did White Americans use for hating Chinese immigrants?
They used immigrant stereotypes saying they were taking jobs, committing crime, and using drugs.
Why did the U.S. want the Black Hills territory of the Dakotas?
Gold was found there.
Why was immigrant labor used to build the railroads?
The work has hard and dangerous, plus immigrant laborers could be paid less than White, native-born, American laborers.
Why did the U.S. want to move Native Americans from the Great Plains?
To build a railroad through their land.
What was a result of Manifest Destiny?
Native Americans were removed or killed off their land so the U.S. could take it.
In what ways did White Americans believe that Chinese immigrants would "ruin" America?
They would lower the cultural and moral standards of American society.
They would lower the integrity of American racial composition.
What did the Dawes Act do?
It was a tactic to force the assimilation of Native Americans. It tried to do so by no longer recognizing any Native American government, taking Native American land, and forcing Native Americans to become subsistence farmers.
What did Chinese immigrants do with their money?
Most Chinese laborers sent money back home to their families. Many had to repay loans on their passage to the U.S..
Why did Col. Custer lose the Battle fo Little Bighorn?
He was severely outnumbered.
How did the U.S. respond to Native American governments and their pleas/concerns?
The U.S. ignored them.
How has the spirit of the Chinese Exclusion Act resurfaced today?
The Muslim Travel Ban and the border wall with Mexico.
How were the railroads paid for?
The government gave land away for free to railroad companies. Railroad companies would get more land than they needed, sell it for more than it was worth, and take bribes to build through towns that would pay for it.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was meant to be a temporary law. What happened?
Passed in 18882, it was renewed until it was made permanent and lasted until 1943. It was meant to last 10 years but ended up lasting 61 years.
What did it mean to "kill the Indian, save the Man"?
To destroy Native American culture, language, beliefs, and overall identity. To assimilate Native Americans to White American culture.
The U.S. would describe Native Americans as savage, uncivilized, and violent. In what ways is this description ironic?
The U.S. was brutal with the Native Americans (forcibly moving them off their land), they were uncivilized (breaking every treaty made), and were violent (massacred them for land).
In what ways are modern-day immigrants treated like Chinese immigrants of the late 1800s?
They are vilified, a target of violence, and there is a government effort to remove/barr them from the U.S..
What issued tied the Native American question to the immigration question during this time period?
Building the Transcontinental Railroad.
Why was the Chinese Exclusion Act finally lifted?
The U.S. allied with China during WWII to fight the Japanese. The U.S. was trying to boost the morale of a wartime ally.
What did Col. Custer's death do to U.S. attitude toward Native Americans?
It galvanized U.S. anger toward Native Americans. The U.S. wanted revenge for a wrong they believed was committed against them.