Westward Expansion
This 1862 law gave settlers 160 acres of land for free if they farmed it for five years.
What is the Homestead Act?
This famous 1876 battle saw Sioux and Cheyenne warriors defeat General Custer and his troops.
This famous cattle trail ran from Texas to Kansas railroads, where cattle were shipped east.
This railroad, completed in 1869, connected the East and West Coasts of the U.S.
This Apache leader resisted U.S. forces in the Southwest until his capture in 1886.
The discovery of this precious metal in Nevada led to a rush of settlers moving west.
The forced relocation of Native Americans onto these areas often resulted in starvation and poor living conditions.
Cowboys drove cattle from Texas to railheads in this Great Plains state.
The eastern portion of the Transcontinental Railroad was built by this company.
This U.S. general was defeated and killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn.
The mass migration of African Americans from the South to Kansas in the late 1870s was known as this.
what is the exoduster movement?
This 1890 massacre marked the end of major armed resistance by Native Americans against U.S. forces.
The introduction of this invention led to the decline of open-range cattle drives.
$300: Many workers building the western portion of the Transcontinental Railroad were immigrants from this country.
This inventor’s mechanical reaper helped make farming the Great Plains more efficient.
(Who is Cyrus McCormick?)
These temporary towns popped up quickly near mines and were often abandoned just as fast.
(What are boomtowns?)
$400: The U.S. government outlawed this religious movement, fearing it would lead to an uprising among Native American tribes.
The demand for beef in this part of the country fueled the cattle boom.
$400: The U.S. government encouraged railroad construction by giving companies these large land grants.
This railroad tycoon was responsible for much of the expansion of railroads in the West.
The severe drought of the 1880s forced many homesteaders to abandon their farms and move back east. This event was known as the ____.
This Lakota leader, who resisted U.S. expansion into the Black Hills, was later killed while being arrested in 1890.
This Spanish-influenced breed of cattle was well adapted to long cattle drives in the West.
(What is the Texas Longhorn?)
This act, passed in 1887, was the first federal law attempting to regulate railroad rates.
This former enslaved man led the Exodusters to Kansas in search of a better life.