Westward Expansion Quiz review

“By the 1840’s, Americans envisioned a nation that spread from “sea to shining sea.” They felt that it was their duty to spread across the land. The belief in young democracy was so strong that Americans wanted to spread it across the entire continent.” This passage describes what belief?

• Louisiana Purchase

• Manifest Destiny

• Wounded Knee

• Great Plains

What is the name that is given to a person that is the first to discover or explore an unknown place?

• Pioneer

• Homesteader

• Manifest Destiny

• Explorer

What animal did Native Americans depend on for survival?

• Deer

• Pig

• Buffalo

• Horse

What led to the near extinction of the Buffalo?

• A drought caused them to starve to death

• The building of the Transcontinental Railroad

• Native Americans hunted and killed them all

• Natural disasters

How long did it take to get to the West before the Transcontinental Railroad was built?

• 1 year

• 4-6 months

• 1-3 months

• 2 years

Settlers to the west were able to claim free land thanks to a law passed in 1862. What was the name of this law?

• The Homestead Act

• The Free Land Giveaway

• The New Land Act

• The California Act

Farmers and Cowboys had conflict with each other over what invention?

• Steel Plow

• Barbed Wire

• Windmill

• Guns

Which group in the West was discriminated against because of their clothing and culture?

• European Immigrants

• Asian Immigrants

• African Americans

• Native Americans

In order to connect the country east to west, the government hired two companies to build railroads that would start in California and Nebraska. These two railroads were to meet in the middle and create one long railroad that would essentially provide the means to travel from one side of the country to the other by railway. What was the name of this railroad?

• Transcontinental Railroad

• Transatlantic Railroad

• Transpacific Railroad

• Sacramento Railroad

Which was not a reason that people moved West?

• Free land

• To find gold

• Overpopulation

• To find jobs