The promise of finding this metal had people moving west in the thousands in 1849.
What is gold?
100
Travelers west often took this winding path which took months to reach California.
What is the Oregon Trail?
100
The 11th president and a firm believer in Manifest Destiny.
Who was James Polk?
100
The first mass transportation system in the US.
What are trains or railroads?
100
Far sturdier than the wooden version, this one could easily plow through the hard packed sod in the praries.
What is the steel tipped plow?
200
Levi Strauss made a fortune developing this type of clothing for miners in California.
What are jeans?
200
A religious group called the Mormons found refuge here.
What is Utah?
200
This man invented a steel tipped plow and also became a major US manufacturer of agricultural equipment.
Who was John Deere?
200
Built in 1825 and intended to help transport goods from the Hudson River to the Great Lakes.
What was the Erie Canal?
200
Invented in 1846, it allowed fabrics to be produced on a large scale.
What is the sewing machine?
300
A place where many people worked together to produce one item. Often working under harsh conditions and for low pay, but very profitable for owners.
What are factories?
300
A natural barrier, running north to south, dividing the Eastern US and the West.
What is the Mississippi River?
300
As his name indicates, he developed a code for communicating via telegraph lines.
Who was Samuel Morse?
300
Deriving their name from the time saved on long journeys, could travel as fast as 300 miles per day.
What are clipper ships?
300
The year the first successful telegraph message was sent.
What is 1844?
400
Buying and selling goods from other countries.
What are exports and imports?
400
A traveler from Chicago to New Orleans might travel through these cities in 1860.
What are Cairo, Indianapolis, and Jackson?
400
A creative and ambitious entreprenuer who became a legend and a household name.
Who was Levi Strauss?
400
Introduced in 1807, these helped carry goods and passangers along inland waterways and canals. They spurred the growth of cities such as Cincinnati, Buffalo, and Chicago.
What are steamboats?
400
The Industrial Revolution in the North spurred the growth of these. Many revolving around factories and centers for import and export.
What are cities?
500
These helped advance the booming economy of the North. Some examples included clipper ships, the sewing machine, and the telegraph.
What are advances in transportation and technology?
500
Although farming continued to be difficult in the North East, innovations in agriculture boosted farming in this frontier region of the US. (Hint: not the South)
What is the Midwest?
500
Not actually a real person, but an invention that got off to a bad start, but became the main mode of mass transit in the US by the late 1800's.
What was Tom Thumb?
500
This region of the US saw the greatest expansion in railroad lines in the mid 1800's.
What is The Midwest?
500
The center of the Industrial Revolution in the US. This region used raw goods from the others to manufacture new wealth, technology, and communication.