Go West!
What law offered settlers 160 acres of western land if they lived on and improved it?
The Homestead Act
What material did many Great Plains settlers use to build homes because trees were scarce?
Sod
What were areas of land set aside by the U.S. government for Native Americans called?
Reservations
What valuable resource attracted white settlers and miners to the Black Hills?
Gold
What U.S. Army officer was famously defeated at the Battle of Little Bighorn?
George Armstrong Custer
What Native American religious movement spread among the Sioux during the late 1800s?
The Ghost Dance
What group of Black Americans migrated west after Reconstruction seeking greater freedom and opportunity?
Exodusters
What invention helped settlers pump water from underground on the Great Plains?
Windmill
What happened to Native American lands as western settlement increased?
Native Americans lost large amounts of land and were increasingly forced onto reservations
Why were the Black Hills important to the Sioux?
They were an important part of their homeland and held significant cultural and economic value.
Who won the Battle of Little Bighorn?
Native American forces
What did followers hope the Ghost Dance would help restore?
Their traditional way of life, Native lands, buffalo/horses, and deceased loved ones.
Name two reasons people chose to migrate West
Possible answers include land, jobs/economic opportunity, mining, farming, ranching, escaping discrimination, or seeking a better life
What invention allowed farmers and ranchers to fence large areas of land?
Barbed Wire
Why was the destruction of the buffalo especially harmful to Plains Native Americans?
Many depended on buffalo for food and other necessities/their way of life
What did the U.S. government do when Sioux leaders refused to give up the Black Hills?
It increased pressure on the Sioux, demanded they move onto reservations, and used the military against resisting groups
Name one Native American leader associated with resistance at Little Bighorn.
Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Gall, etc.
Why did U.S. officials view the Ghost Dance as a threat?
They believed it could lead to Native American resistance or war.
How did the Transcontinental Railroad encourage westward migration?
It made travel and transportation to the West faster and easier
Who developed the Frontier Thesis?
Frederick Jackson Turner
What was the main purpose of Native American boarding schools?
To assimilate Native American children into white American culture
Why did many Sioux resist U.S. government policies?
They wanted to protect their land, culture, freedom, and traditional way of life
What was one major cause of the Battle of Little Bighorn?
U.S. attempts to force Sioux people onto reservations after conflict over their lands, particularly the Black Hills.
Why is Wounded Knee referred to as a massacre rather than a battle?
The Sioux were largely disarmed and surrounded, and approximately 300 were killed, many of them women and children.
Explain how the U.S. government encouraged Americans to settle the West. Give two examples
Examples include the Homestead Act, land grants, and support for railroad construction
According to Turner, how did the frontier help shape the United States?
He argued that the frontier helped shape American democracy, independence, and national identity
Explain two ways westward expansion changed Native American life
Possible answers include loss of land, destruction of buffalo, forced relocation, reservations, assimilation, boarding schools, and loss of cultural practices.
What was one major reason treaties between the U.S. government and Native Americans contributed to conflict?
The U.S. government frequently broke or failed to honor agreements protecting Native American land.
Little Bighorn was a Native American victory. Why did it ultimately create greater problems for the Sioux?
The defeat angered the U.S. government and led to increased military efforts to force Native Americans onto reservations and take additional Sioux land.
Why are Little Bighorn and Wounded Knee often studied together?
Little Bighorn represented a high point of Native American armed resistance, while Wounded Knee represented the end of the Indian Wars and the violent suppression of that resistance.