Ch 17-19 Flashcards
This helped the US conquer and settle the west more than anything else
Transcontinental railroad
What was the Great Plains once known as?
The great american desert
What was Americas first big business?
Railroads
This act established funding for the transcontinental railroad
Pacific Railroad Act
Who signed the Pacific Railroad Act?
Lincoln
Why was the north able to pass the Pacific Railroad Act?
The outbreak of war meant that there were no southern reps in congress
What two companies took on the job of building the transcontinental railroad?
Union Pacific and Central Pacific
Which railroad company started building out east and built west?
Union Pacific
Which railroad company started building out west and built eastward?
Central pacific
Where was the starting point of the Union Pacific Company?
Omaha Nebraska
Where was the starting point of the Central Pacific Company?
Sacramento, California
Where did the two railroad companies meet?
Promontory Point, Utah
What railroad company hired Chinese workers?
Central Pacific
What mountains did the central pacific railroad company have to cut through?
Sierra Nevadas
Where was the biggest railroad boom in the 1860’s?
Midwest
These were people of great importance and influence in the railroad industry. Charles crocket and Leyland Stanford were examples of this.
Railroad magnates
How much land did magnates get for every 1 mile of track they laid?
10 sq miles
This was Americas first major industry to draw people west
Mining
This was the name for a cycle that started when people rushed into an area as soon as they heard of a strike
Boom to bust cycle
This was a cheap and easy to to look for gold though it only scratches the surface by looking in rivers
Plaquer mining
These new mining techniques were used more as mining was industrialized.
Hydrolic mining
This was a huge load of silver ore found in Nevada
Comstock lode
This was the largest strike of the Comstock lode
Big bonanza
Who was the Irishmen who stroke the Comstock lode?
John Mackey
Although most Hollywood cowboys are white, in reality half were _____ or _____
Mexican or black
This was the most famous black cowboy
Nat love
These people influenced american cowboys and taught them how to dress and handle cattle
Mexican vaqueros
Who built the first cattle shipping yard?
Joseph G McCoy
Where did McCoy build his shipping yard?
Abilene Kansas
These became popular cattle to use
Texas longhorns
Why were Texas longhorns good cattle?
Sturdy, strong, could withstand disease like Texas fever
Why did cowboys sing to their Texas longhorns?
To soothe them, so they wouldn’t be spooked into stampeding
This invention ended the cowboy way of life
Barbed wire
Who invented barbed wire
Joseph Glidden
Where did the majority of the white population live?
North
Where did the large majority of the Chinese, Japanese, and Natives live?
West
What were Natives dependent on?
Horse and Buffalo
Why did many African Americans migrate west?
To escape racism and live out the American dream
What act did the African Americans move west under?
Homestead act
This is the name for the African Americans who fled to Kansas, mostly from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas
Exodusters
What was the name for when Exodusters fled to Kansas?
The great Exodust of 1879
What did the great Exodust coincide with?
The end of reconstruction
What was the name given for the African Americans who joined the US army?
Buffalo soldiers
Why were buffalo soldiers sent to Texas in 1870?
To protect civilians and fight natives
This granted 160 acres to anyone who would make improvements on the land and live on it for 5 years
Homestead act of 1862
This invention was very helpful because many western areas lacked streams and rivers
Wind powered water pump
Who invented the steel plow?
John Deer
Why was barbed wire a useful invention?
There was not enough wood around for fences
Why did many homesteaders head back east?
Land too small to be profitable, not enough rainfall; irrigation too expensive
This was the name for houses Mande out of strips of sod
Soddies
Homes built on the side of hills
Dugouts
Who was famous for his thesis discussing the importance of the west?
Frederick Jackson Turner
This was when brave Natives would sneak up on an enemy, touch them, and escape with their lives. Showed bravery and brought great honor
Counting Coup
Who resorted to killing buffalo to protect their interests?
Train companies
Why did the US Government kill buffalo ?
To control the Native population.
What did the extinction of buffalo force Natives to do?
Give up their nomadic way of life, rely on government, sign treaties, go on reservations
What was the name of the massacre that occurred when Natives killed and stole goods from settlers, resulting in the US army attacking 700 sleeping native men, women, and children
Chivingtons Massacre
Where did Chivingtons Massacre happen?
San Creek Colorado
Who order the attack on the sleeping Natives?
Colonel Chivington
This was the greatest Native victory against the Us gov
Little Big Horn
What Indian tribe fought in little big horn?
Souix
Who led the Souix in the battle of little big horn?
Sitting bull
What did sitting bull see before battle that was seen as destiny to have a good victory?
Visions of US soldiers falling from the sky
Who was the US colonel in Little Big Horn?
George Custer
What sparked the battle of little big horn?
Gold was discovers in the sacred black hills, the us tried to move natives out of area
Where did sitting bull and others eventually flee?
Canada
Who led the Nez Pierce tribe on their fight against the US?
Chief Joseph
Why did the Us try to force the Nez Pierce off of their land?
They wanted the land back after the gold rush
Where did the Nez Pierce try to flee to?
Canada
Who was one of the first people to speak out against the treatment of Natives?
Helen Hunt Jackson
What was Helen Jackson’s famous book titled?
A century of dishonor
What act attempted to assimilate Natives into the American way of life and laid groundwork for them to become citizens and own land?
Dawes Act of 1887
What did the Dawes act promise natives?
160 acres to families and 80 acres to a single man who would settle and farm the land
Who did the Dawes act take power away from?
The chiefs
This was when leaders encourages Natives to stop dressing like whites, trading with them, and to dance.
Ghost dance
What did leaders tell their tribes would happen of they participated in ghost dance?
The great spirit would bring more buffalo and wipe out the whites
What happened as the natives stopped trading with whites?
The government feared an attack, military involved, sitting bull killed
Over 200 men, women, and children gunned down by the US, this was the end of tensions between US and the Great Plains Indians
Massacre of Wounded Knee
What were the names of the four time zones adopted by congress?
Eastern,central, mountain, pacific
This was the new process of making steel, it was created by Englishman Henry Bessemer
The Bessemer process
Who tried to perfect the Bessemer process in the US?
William Relly
What did the Bessemer process entail?
Took iron air and pumped air into it to make steel
Who was one of the most famous inventors of all time?
Thomas Edison
What was Thomas Edison’s nickname?
The Wizard of Menlo Park
Where was Thomas Edison’s lab?
New Jersey
What was Thomas Edison’s most famous inventions?
Lightbulb
What was the name of Edison’s company?
General Electric
Who financially supported Edison to build power stations around the US?
JP Morgan
Who invented the telephone?
Alexander Graham Bell
What was the name of the company Alexander Graham Bell Created?
AT&T
What type of current did Thomas Edison work with?
Direct current
Who created the usage of alternate current?
George Westinghouse
