The primary goal of Manifest Destiny was

expansion westward to the Pacific Ocean

End slavery in the new territories

removal of European influence from South America

secession of southern states from the nation

What was the effect of the Transcontinental Railroad?

Became a more efficient form of transportation for settlers

Increased trade between the east and west and boosted the economy

Polluted the air and the natural environment

What was the government policy that divided tribal land among Native Americans for farming?

Declaration of Independence 1776

What was the main purpose of the Homestead Act?

to encourage settlement on the Great Plains

to bring an end to cattle drives

to build the Transcontinental Railroad

to provide a market for steel plows

The reason why raw and manufactured goods could be transported more easily

the trails that people followed across the country

people delivered products on their wagons

stores popped up in the Great Plains

Westward Expansion

Quiz

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History

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11th Grade

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Practice Problem

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Medium

Savanna Jones

Used 56+ times

FREE Resource

About this resource

This quiz comprehensively covers Westward Expansion in 19th century American history, designed for 11th grade students studying this pivotal period of national growth. The questions assess students' understanding of key concepts including Manifest Destiny as the ideological foundation for expansion, the practical challenges of settlement on the Great Plains, and the profound impact on Native American populations. Students must demonstrate knowledge of crucial legislation like the Homestead Act and Dawes Severalty Act, technological innovations such as barbed wire and the Transcontinental Railroad, and the cultural process of assimilation. The quiz requires students to connect cause-and-effect relationships between government policies, technological advances, and social changes, while understanding how these elements worked together to transform the American West and displace indigenous peoples. Created by Savanna Jones, a History teacher in the US who teaches grade 11. This assessment serves as an excellent tool for evaluating student comprehension of westward expansion before moving into more complex topics like the Civil War era or Gilded Age industrialization. Teachers can deploy this quiz as a unit review to identify knowledge gaps, assign it as homework to reinforce classroom learning, or use it as a formative assessment to gauge readiness for summative evaluation. The varied question formats help students practice both factual recall and conceptual understanding essential for success on standardized assessments. This quiz aligns with NCSS standards for historical thinking and supports CCSS literacy standards by requiring students to analyze historical concepts and make connections between events, policies, and their consequences during this transformative period in American history.

Westward Expansion

13 questions

What is the name given to the belief that the United States had the right and duty to expand across the North American continent?

The primary goal of Manifest Destiny was

What was the effect of the Transcontinental Railroad?

The belief that the US had a right and duty to expand across the North American contitent was known as

What invention helped prevent cattle from wandering into private lands?

What was the government policy that divided tribal land among Native Americans for farming?

Which of the following was widely used in the Great Plains to build houses for the settlers?

Land set aside by the US government for the relocation of Native Americans are called _______________.

Which invention would probably be most useful for a cattle rancher during the late 1800s?

Those people and families who took advantage of the Homestead Act were nicknamed:

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