Period 6: Westward Expansion: Crash Course Flashcards
How is the West depicted in “American mythology”?
It was seen as wild and free from government interference.
Explain the ideas put forth in Frederick Jackson Turner’s Lecture
-The west was responsible for key characteristics of American culture, such as individualism, political democracy, and economic mobility.
-The western frontier was the ability to start over and get rich by individual effort.
-Restless young men went to unoccupied land to seek their fortune.
What was the reality of life on the frontier?
-Most settlers went as members of a family/part of an immigrant group and not just alone.
-The land in the west wasn’t really unoccupied because most of the land was home to American indians.
What was the role of the government in developing the West?
The government made laws to clear out american indians living there, they also sponsored railroads that allowed the West to grow.
Explain the significance of railroads & explain how they developed.
-It allowed crops and other goods to be brought to market.
-It made life in the west profitable and liveable because they bought the goods that people needed.
-It allowed them to stay connected to modern things happening in the industrial world.
Explain how westward expansion led to conflicts with Native Americans
-For economic needs, like railroad tracks and farming, white people wanted the removal of natives.
-It was forced even more with the need for gold and irons that makes industry work.
Explain how how natives responded to westward expansion.
-Indians used spiritual movements to try to preserve their traditional way of life.
The ghost dance movement
-Eventually some turned to violent resistance.
How did government legislation toward Native Americans change in the latter half of the 19th century?
The government ended the treaty system that treated native land as if they were nations with the Dawes Act.
Why was the Dawes Act a turning point?
The Dawes act allowed the land of the natives to be used to individual farmers.
The protection of citizenship granted to natives was now destroyed and their adaptation to a civilized life was
Gone.
