Natives
What was the forced movement called?
The Trail of Tears
What type of gun did Lawmen/Gunfighters use?
Colt .45
What event made San Francisco one of the major cities in the US
The gold rush
Who were the first people to reach the West?
Natives/mountain men
What was one of the downsides?
Locusts
What was "Manifest Destiny"?
The belief that the United States was destined by God to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent, which was used to justify the removal of Native Americans.
What was the main purpose of the Homestead Act in 1862?
It provided 160 acres of free public land to settlers who improved it, encouraging rapid western expansion
What were the town’s goals?
Become a city
Why did people move west?
cheap land, and the discovery of gold and silver
What was the point of Grange meetings?
To make life more bearable
How did westward expansion impact Native American life?
It fundamentally altered their way of life, forcing them off ancestral lands into reservations, reducing their population, destroying their economic base (buffalo), and eroding their culture through forced assimilation
What was the "Dawes Act"?
“Settlers established towns where _____ ___”
Trails Met
What was one of the possible difficulties of moving west?
harsh weather/ conflicts over land, natives, and animals.
Who were the most important for farms?
Woman and children
How did Native Americans respond to the loss of their lands?
armed resistance (e.g., Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse) and diplomatic negotiations to attempts to maintain their culture while living on government-mandated reservations
What was the impact of the California Gold Rush of 1849?
Caused a massive population surge
What was a name for the successful towns the miners made?
Boom towns
How long did it take for pioneers to reach the West?
4 to 6 months
What was the Homestead Act?
Get 160 acres of land for free if you live on the land for 5 years
Why was the Buffalo essential to Plains Indians?
Plains Indians (like the Sioux) relied on the buffalo for food, clothing, shelter, and tools, making the systematic destruction of the herds by settlers and the railroad a tool to drive them off the land.
What was the Oregon Trail?
A challenging 2,000-mile route used by pioneers to reach the Pacific Northwest
Who/what made up town? (list at least 3)
Newspaper publisher, hotelkeeper, saloonkeeper, blacksmith, general store merchant, preacher, teacher
What was the Homestead Act of 1862?
A law that allowed citizens to claim 160 acres of surveyed government land in the West for a small fee, promoting settlement.
What were farmers' houses made of?
sod (soddie)