Westward Expansion
Transcontinental RR
Trains
Great Plains Life
People
100
Who encouraged settlers to move west?
The government
100
How long did it take to travel by train? East to West
6 days
100
What powered the trains in the 1800s?
Steam
100
What extremely important natural resource (from nature) for building, were not easily found in the Great Plains?
TREES!
100
Who was the president of the USA during the Westward expansion?
Abraham Lincoln
200
Who was forced out of their lands?
Native Americans
200
What years was the TCRR being built?
What year did it start and end?
The Transcontinental Railroad was built between 1863 and 1869
200
How much did it cost to take a train from the East Coast to the West?
$150
200
On the Great Plains _________ were used to collect water from underground springs.
Windmills
200
Who built most of the Central Pacific Railroad?
Chinese immigrants
300
Why did settlers want to start a new life in the west?
They wanted a new adventure, an opportunity to make money, and an opportunity to own their own land.
Any 1 of these answers will work!
300
The railroad took how much money to build?
50 million dollars
300
How many miles long was the TCRR?
1912 miles
300
The soil was _____ in the Great Plains? This made it difficult to farm.
Dry
300
Which man surveyed the land for the railroad?
Theodore Judah
400
The Great Plains has little amounts of trees so settlers used _________ to build their houses.
sod
Primarily used at first for animal shelters, corrals, and fences, if the prairie lacked standard building materials such as wood or stone, sod from thickly-rooted prairie grass was abundant, free, and could be used for house construction.
400
The Native Americans gave the railroad trains what nickname?
Iron Horse
400
The railroad replaced what 3 ways of transportation?
Pony Express, wagon trains, and stagecoach lines
400
What major river runs through the Great Plains?
Mississippi River
400
Who successfully campaigned for the railroad?
1 person
Asa Whitney
500
The government sent in __________ soldiers to fight for the settlers to keep their land. Native Americans gave them this nickname.
Buffalo
500
What type of material was used to make the final spike used on the railroad?
Gold!!
500
What two railroad companies helped build the TCRR?
Union Pacific Railroad
and
Central Pacific Railroad
500
How many acres of land were settlers able to claim for free?
160 acres
500
What group of people had a negative impact on their lives when the TCRR was built?
Native Americans