WESTWARD EXPANSION

The Homestead Act promoted the development of western lands by -

• creating a system of dams for crop irrigation

• providing free land to settlers

• removing all restrictions on immigration

• moving Native Americans to reservations

Which statement accurately describes the development of the Great Plains in the late nineteenth century?

• Great profits were earned there in the steel industry.

• Railroads decreased in importance.

• Immigrants could not afford to farm these lands.

• Technological innovations made farming there possible.

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was primarily a response to

• increased U.S. presence in China

• competition for jobs on the West Coast

• rapid population growth in the Northeast

• China’s actions during the Boxer Rebellion

Which factor helped farmers on the Great Plains overcome opposition from cattle ranchers?

• The farmers allied with Native American Indians.

• Barbed wire allowed farmers to enclose their lands.

• Heavy rains made the Great Plains more suitable to planting than grazing.

• Ranchers refused to divide up the open range.

How did the passage of the Dawes Act affect Native American Indians?

• It supported their existing cultural traditions

• It started a series of Indian Wars on the Great Plains

• It attempted to assimilate them into mainstream American culture

• It forced their removal from areas east of the Mississippi River

Which of the following was the main reason for the rapid settlement of the Great Plains during the late 1800s?

• Congress passed a law requiring all public lands to be sold at auction.

• Congress passed a law allowing people to claim public land and convert it to private property through homesteading.

• Speculators bought large parcels of land and then built factory towns to attract new immigrants.

• Native Americans sold most of their tribal lands directly to railroad companies.

Nineteenth-century nativist organizations advocated

• limiting federal military power through the organization of local militias

• conserving natural resources through the creation of national parks

• globalizing the economy through participation in free-trade agreements

• promoting an ethnically homogeneous society through restrictions on immigration

Which of the following contributed most to increased settlement of the Great Plains?

• The availability of buffalo

• The discovery of precious metals

• A series of federal land grants

• A decrease in agricultural production

1) Escape from religious persecution

2) Hope for freedom and equality

3) Hope for better economic conditions

4) Escape from political turmoil and war

A high school teacher wrote these bullet points on the whiteboard. What was the most likely topic of discussion?

• Goals of U.S. assimilation policies

• Objectives of the Grange movement

• Reasons for immigration to the United States

• Principles of social Darwinism

How did the expansion of railroad transportation most benefit farmers in the United States?

• By raising the consumer price of agricultural products

• By increasing the variety of locally grown crops

• By providing farmers with affordable access to distant markets

• By encouraging farmers to form the first agricultural cooperatives