Westward Expansion
What were TWO reasons that peopled moved West?
1. Gold in California / Alaska 2. Transcontinental Railroad made travel easier 3. Land from the Homestead Act 4. A national market
What does urban and rural mean? (Both answers to get points)
Urban means city and rural means countryside.
What was a negative of political machines?
1. They stole money from the government 2. They committed voter fraud
What does pull factor mean and what is an example?
1. A pull factor is a positive thing that pulls in immigrants. 2. Job opportunities / family / friends / good vibes
What does assimilate mean?
Native Americans were forced to become like white Americans by cutting their hair, changing their clothes, speaking English, and getting a white name.
What were two effects of the Transcontinental Railroad?
1. The East coast was connected to the West coast 2. Travel across the U.S. was faster 3. More people moved west 4. Cattle drives where cowboys herded cattle north to the lines to ship beef across the U.S.
What is one cause and one effect of urbanization in the Gilded Age? (Need a cause and effect for the points)
Cause: 1. Job opportunities 2. Immigration
Effect: 1. Overcrowding 2. Tenement housing 3. Pollution 4. Increased city populations
What is a positive of political machines?
1. They helped immigrants get jobs 2. They helped immigrants find housing 3. They helped with overwhelmed public services.
What does push factor mean AND what is an example?
1. A negative thing that pushes people to leave their country 2. War / poverty / famine / oppression / environmental problems
What is a tenement?
Crowded apartment that poor people and immigrants lived in.
What is the Homestead Act? What, where, for how long?
Americans got 160 acres of free land in the Great Plains if they farmed for 5 years.
What was an effect of technological changes during the Gilded Age?
1. Taller buildings because of the Bessemer Steel Process 2. More job opportunities 3. More immigration / migration of people 4. Pollution due to increased factory hours 5. Longer factory hours because of the light bulb
1. Political machines gave jobs to their supporters. 2. This led to incompetent people having jobs.
What was the Chinese Exclusion Act and who was AGAINST it?
1. Banned Chinese immigration 2. Factory owners / bosses because they wanted cheap labor
What does corrupt mean?
Dishonest and illegal behavior.
What is the Dawes Act?
Native Americans were forced onto reservations with the children sent to boarding schools where they assimilated.
What were two inventions created during the Gilded Age?
1. Bessemer Steel Process 2. Light bulb 3. Telegraph / early telephone
Who was Boss Tweed? What organization did he run?
He was the boss of the political machine called Tammany Hall in New York City.
What does nativism mean AND why were people nativist in the Gilded Age?
1. Anti immigrant 2. Nativists believed immigrants took job opportunities
What does depict mean?
To show something. "The tv show depicted the lives of American teenagers."
What is a national market AND why was it created?
People can buy and sell items across the entire country. It was created because of faster transportation due to the national market.
What was the Bessemer Steel Process AND what was one effect of it during the Gilded Age?
1. An easier / faster / cheaper way to make steel 2. It led to skyscrapers.
What is a political machine?
A political organization that uses corruption to stay in power.
What were TWO effects of immigration in the Gilded Age?
1. Overcrowded / overpopulated cities 2. More pollution 3. A rise in nativism 4. Ethnic ghettos / neighborhoods 5. Overwhelmed public services like police, trash, schools
What does political, social, and economic mean? (You must get all three right)
1. Political means government / laws 2. Social means people 3. Economic means money