USHH Western Expansion

Question 1

Who wrote ‘Significance of the Frontier on American History’?

Answer 1

Frederick Jackson Turner.

Question 2

What does the ‘safety valve’ thesis propose?

Answer 2

The idea that if you don’t make it in the city, you can always migrate west by buying cheap land.

Question 3

How did Plains Indians live?

Answer 3

They lived based on following the buffalo.

Question 4

What happened to Plains Indians when the government discovered raw materials?

Answer 4

They continued to get removed from their land.

Question 5

Who were the ‘Exodusters’?

Answer 5

African Americans who migrated from the South to the Great Plains to escape racism.

Question 6

What did miners find on Sioux land in South Dakota?

Answer 6

Gold.

Question 7

What was the outcome of the Battle of Little Bighorn?

Answer 7

It was a Sioux victory.

Question 8

Who perished at the Battle of Little Bighorn?

Answer 8

General George Custer.

Question 9

Who led the Sioux at the Battle of Little Bighorn?

Answer 9

Crazy Horse alongside Sitting Bull.

Question 10

What marked the end of armed conflict with the Native population?

Answer 10

The Wounded Knee massacre in 1890.

Question 11

What was Helen Hunt Jackson’s ‘A Century of Dishonor’ about?

Answer 11

It was considered the Indians’ ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ and believed that the solution was assimilation.

Question 12

What did the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 do?

Answer 12

It broke up land of tribes into small sections for Indians while the rest were auctioned off.

Question 13

What were the three western frontiers?

Answer 13

Mining, farming, and ranching.

Question 14

What caused the mining boom?

Answer 14

The California Gold Rush.

Question 15

What is placer mining?

Answer 15

The search for traces of gold in mountain streams.

Question 16

What is a boom town?

Answer 16

A town that experiences rapid population growth due to gold discovery.

Question 17

What is a ghost town?

Answer 17

A town that is abandoned after the gold or silver runs out.

Question 18

What did ranching involve?

Answer 18

Raising new breeds of cattle.

Question 19

What was the impact of new farming equipment?

Answer 19

It was more efficient but more expensive, leading small farmers to take out loans.

Question 20

What is the crop-lien system?

Answer 20

Taking out loans based on next year’s crops to get through the current year.

Question 21

What led to deflation in agriculture?

Answer 21

Increased production of crops led to surplus and a decrease in price.

Question 22

What did farmers want regarding inflation and deflation?

Answer 22

Farmers wanted inflation to reduce their debts, while business owners preferred deflation.

Question 23

What is the Comstock Lode?

Answer 23

A silver ore depository in Virginia, an example of a boom town.

Question 24

What was the ‘long drive’?

Answer 24

Moving cattle long distances to the railroad.

Question 25

Who were cowboys?

Answer 25

Skilled horsemen who herded cattle out west.

Question 26

What did barbed wire do?

Answer 26

Closed the cattle frontier and was used as fencing for the formerly open range.

Question 27

What was the Homestead Act of 1862?

Answer 27

It encouraged farming on the Great Plains by offering free land to families that settled on it for 5 years.

Question 28

What was the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889?

Answer 28

People raced to claim land.

Question 29

What did the 1890 census announce?

Answer 29

The closing of the western frontier.

Question 30

What caused the Panic of 1873?

Answer 30

Overinvestment in railroads led to bank failures.

Question 31

What was The Grange?

Answer 31

An association of farmers that sought to give farmers representation and advice.

Question 32

What did Granger Laws do?

Answer 32

Made it illegal for railroads to fix prices or give rebates to privileged customers.

Question 33

What was the outcome of Munn v. Illinois (1877)?

Answer 33

It upheld the right of a state to regulate businesses of a public nature such as railroads.

Question 34

What did the Wabash Case (1886) state?

Answer 34

Individuals could not regulate interstate commerce; only the federal government could.

Question 35

What was the Greenback Labor Party?

Answer 35

A national political movement calling for an increase in the money supply to assist borrowers.

Question 36

What did Farmers' Alliances attempt to do?

Answer 36

Improve rural conditions and create an independent national political party.

Question 37

What was the Subtreasury Plan?

Answer 37

Proposed to establish warehouses for farmers to store crops until sold and issue loans at low interest rates.

Question 38

What was the People's Party (Populist Party)?

Answer 38

Formed from the Farmers' Alliances and won support from miners and industrial workers.

Question 39

What was the Omaha Platform?

Answer 39

A statement by the populists to restore democracy and economic opportunity.

Question 40

What is a graduated income tax?

Answer 40

Tax brackets that increase with income, targeting robber barons.

Question 41

What did government ownership of railroads aim to achieve?

Answer 41

Prevent corrupt tactics from being used.

Question 42

What are initiative, referendum, and recall?

Answer 42

Initiative allows citizens to propose laws; referendum allows voting on proposed laws; recall enables removal of corrupt politicians.

Question 43

What did the 17th Amendment establish?

Answer 43

Direct election of senators, giving more power to the people.

Question 44

What were postal savings banks?

Answer 44

Post offices acted as banks, allowing people in rural areas to access banking services.

Question 45

Who was Ignatius Donnelly?

Answer 45

A member of the Populist Party who advocated for the Omaha Platform.

Question 46

Who ran for the Populists in the election of 1892?

Answer 46

James Weaver.

Question 47

Who won the election of 1892?

Answer 47

Democrat Grover Cleveland.

Question 48

What was Grover Cleveland's stance on imperialism?

Answer 48

He was anti-imperialism and refused to annex Hawaii and Cuba.

Question 49

What caused the Panic of 1893?

Answer 49

Bank failures, high unemployment, and declines in industrial output.

Question 50

What was Coxey's Army?

Answer 50

A band of unemployed men marching to Washington demanding economic relief.

Question 51

What was the Pullman Strike of 1894 about?

Answer 51

Workers went on strike due to low wages and high rent, blocking tracks.

Question 52

Who won the election of 1896?

Answer 52

William McKinley.

Question 53

What were William McKinley's policies?

Answer 53

Pro-business, pro-tariff, pro-imperialism, and pro-gold standard.

Question 54

Who managed McKinley's campaign?

Answer 54

Marcus Hanna.

Question 55

What is bimetallism?

Answer 55

Backing money with gold and silver to allow for more money printing, causing inflation.

Question 56

Who was William Jennings Bryan?

Answer 56

A Democrat running on the Omaha Platform who wanted to get off the gold standard.

Question 57

What was the 'Cross of Gold' speech?

Answer 57

A speech by Jennings Bryan advocating for bimetallism.