Acts and Other Laws
This act was passed in 1862, and it allowed the heads of households who were citizens to claim 160 acres of free land--as long as they lived on it for at least five years AND used it for farming.
What is the Homestead Act?
This paperwork, or agreement, was usually negotiated under duress.
What is a treaty?
This was built across the United States from East Coast to West Coast, and made it easier for people to travel from East to West. More importantly, it allowed crops, raw materials, and finished goods to be easily transported across the country.
What is the Transcontinental Railroad?
This group of people often went to the West to work as teachers. They would seek adventure, as well as social freedom.
What were women?
The 19th Century philosophy that God intended for the U.S. to expand across North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
What is Manifest Destiny?
The U.S. government gave thousands of acres to these companies to assist in creating better transportation from the East to the West.
What are Railroad Land Grants?
This particular Native American wrote a book that mentioned that the Native American deity, Usen, meant for land to be shared by a community.
Who is Geronimo?
Owning land was a part of this mindset. Keep in mind that everyone's mindset is going to be different.
What is the American Dream?
The people who were involved in the movement of Black citizens from the South to Kansas during the period known as the "Great Exodus."
What were the Exodusters?
A vast, treeless area within the Great Plains.
What are prairies?
This act granted federal land to states. The states would use this land to build colleges and universities.
What is the Morrill Land Grant Act?
This particular animal faced overhunting by settlers--even going as far as hunting them from a moving train.
What are the buffalo?
This adventurous person captured the imagination of the American public. Americans would read about this kind of person in books or in the newspaper, and the public had this idea of freedom and adventure.
What is the cowboy?
This person would perform shows at fairs, and his acts would involved showing how to sharpshoot.
Who is Buffalo Bill?
To overcome the lack of wood, pioneers would build these to live in.
What are sod houses?
This act declared that tribes were no longer to be considered independent legal entities.
What is the Indian Appropriations Act?
The government set up these pieces of land specifically for Native American tribes to live on.
What are reservations?
This activity links to the California Gold Rush. People would partake in this activity to make fortunes in the silver or gold mines. They would also work on finding copper, lead, and other valuable metals.
What is mining?
This group of people worked with the government to convert the Native Americans' religious beliefs.
What are the Christian missionaries?
What are buffalo droppings?
This law started the process of dividing land on reservations into private property tracts held by individual Native Americans. It pushed for the belief in private land instead of community land.
What is the Dawes Act?
Native American children were sent to these locations to become "civilized." Often, the children had to have their hair cut. They also had to wear Native American clothing, as well as strictly speak only English.
What are boarding schools?
What is the frontier?
Some groups went to the west to hunt for these animals...just for fun.
What are the buffalo?
Farmers had to build these to help pull water up from underground.
What are windmills?