Heading West
What railroad connected the eastern and western United States, making cross-country travel and trade faster?
The Transcontinental Railroad
What term describes a business that controls an entire industry and greatly reduces competition?
Monopoly or trust
What organizations did workers form to demand better wages, shorter hours, and safer working conditions?
Labor unions
What term means extending a nation’s power by gaining control over other territories?
Imperialism
What were German submarines called during World War I?
U-boats
What were African Americans called who moved west, especially to Kansas, seeking land and freedom from oppression after Reconstruction?
Exodusters
From which two regions of Europe did many “new immigrants” arrive between approximately 1880 and 1920?
1. Southern Europe
2. Eastern Europe
What political movement of the 1890s represented struggling farmers and supported reforms such as railroad regulation and an income tax?
Populist Movement or People's Party
What kind of journalism used exaggerated or sensational headlines to sell newspapers and stir public emotions before the Spanish-American War?
Yellow journalism
What secret German message proposed an alliance with Mexico if the United States entered the war against Germany?
Zimmermann Telegram
Identify one push factor and one pull factor that encouraged people to move west. Explain which is which.
Push: Poverty or crowded conditions in eastern cities; racial oppression in the South.
Pull: Free or inexpensive western land, jobs, or the hope of greater freedom. Push factors drive people away; pull factors attract them to a destination. Require one correctly explained example of each.
Identify two problems factory workers faced and one problem families faced in crowded urban housing.
Factory problems: Low pay, long hours, dangerous machinery, unhealthy conditions, or child labor.
Housing problems: Overcrowding, poor sanitation, inadequate ventilation, or disease. Require two workplace problems and one housing problem.
How did Jacob Riis use photography to encourage reform? Identify the problem he exposed and explain how his photographs could influence the public.
Riis exposed poverty and overcrowded, unhealthy tenement housing. His photographs made these conditions visible to people who might otherwise ignore them, helping build support for housing and sanitation reforms.
Name two territories that came under U.S. control as a result of the Spanish-American War.
1. Philippines
2. Guam
3. Puerto Rico
Note: Hawaii was annexed by the U.S. in 1898 but it was NOT acquired by the Spanish-American War.
Identify two ways Americans on the home front supported the war effort. Explain how each helped.
1. Buying war bonds helped finance the war; conserving food helped supply troops and allies;
2. growing food increased available supplies; working in factories increased production of weapons and equipment.
How did boarding schools such as the Carlisle Indian Industrial School support the federal government’s policy of assimilation toward Native Americans?
The schools sought to replace Native American cultures with dominant white American customs. Separating children from their communities and suppressing Native languages and traditions weakened cultural ties and promoted assimilation.
Explain how industrialization could create both opportunities and obstacles for immigrants. Include one example of each.
Industrialization created factory jobs and opportunities to earn income. However, immigrants often faced low wages, dangerous work, discrimination, and crowded housing. Require an opportunity and an obstacle connected to industrialization.
Why did strikes often increase conflict between workers and employers? Explain what workers wanted and why business owners resisted.
Workers sought better pay, shorter hours, and safer conditions. Owners often resisted the increased costs and loss of control over their businesses. Strikes interrupted production and profits; efforts to break them could lead to confrontations and violence.
Explain how acquiring islands and naval bases in the Pacific could help the United States expand trade with China.
Pacific islands provided places for ships to refuel (called coaling stations), repair, and obtain supplies during long voyages. Naval bases also helped protect shipping and project U.S. power along trade routes to Asian markets.
How did World War I threaten civil liberties and increase discrimination within the United States? Include one government action and one example involving German Americans.
The Espionage and Sedition Acts restricted wartime dissent and punished certain speech or activities opposing the war effort. German Americans faced suspicion, harassment, vandalism, or violence because of their ancestry. Require both a government action and an example of discrimination.
A railroad owner and a Native American community might describe westward expansion very differently. Explain one benefit the railroad owner could identify and two harmful effects the Native American community could identify.
Railroad owner: Greater profits from transporting settlers, raw materials, and goods.
Native American community: Loss of land, forced displacement, destruction of resources such as buffalo, or attacks on cultural traditions. Require one benefit and two distinct harms.
Why is “Gilded Age” an appropriate name for the late 1800s? Explain the contrast between the era’s appearance of progress and its underlying problems, using two specific historical examples.
“Gilded” suggests a thin gold coating over a less attractive surface. Industrial growth and the fortunes of wealthy business owners made the period look prosperous, while poverty, unsafe labor, crowded tenements, and corruption persisted underneath. Require two specific examples that demonstrate the contrast.
A student argues, “The Populist movement was a complete failure because it did not achieve all its goals immediately.” Explain why this conclusion is incomplete. Include both a limitation and a lasting influence of the movement.
The movement had limited immediate success and did not become a lasting major political party. However, it brought national attention to farmers’ problems and promoted ideas, such as an income tax and stronger regulation, that influenced later Progressive reforms.
An imperialist argues that controlling the Philippines would strengthen the United States. An anti-imperialist argues that it would contradict American principles. Explain each position using one specific reason.
Imperialist: Control could provide naval bases, access to markets, or greater international power.
Anti-imperialist: Ruling people without their consent contradicted self-government and the democratic principles the United States claimed to support. Require a clear explanation of both positions.
President Wilson supported the League of Nations, but Senator Henry Cabot Lodge feared that it would entangle the United States in other nations’ disputes. Explain how these positions reflected different views about protecting American peace and security.
Wilson believed international cooperation through the League could prevent future wars and protect peace.
Lodge feared that League commitments could draw the United States into foreign conflicts and reduce its freedom to decide when to act.
Both perspectives sought security but disagreed about whether international commitments would strengthen or endanger it.