Prairie Madness

What did the Homestead Act offer?

• a new home for travelers

• a stop along the Oregon Trail

• free land after 5 years of living on it.

• free land after working on the transcontinental railroad

Summarize the main idea of the article?

• Americans believed that it was their destiny to acquire all the Western land.

• The US wanted all the land for themselves so they took it from the Indians.

• The Us government wanted to build a large empire and one day take over the world.

• The US government used the Homestead Act to encourage Western settlement, which many people were open to. But the task was not an easy one.

How many acres does a person receive with the homestead act?

• 200

• 150

• 160

• 140

How many years must a Homesteader farm before gaining ownership of the land?

• 1

• 5

• 10

• 3

The discovery of the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859 had the greatest impact on which industry? 

• ranching
• mining
• railroads
• fishing

Which invention helped settlers on the Great Plains protect their private property? 

• plantation system
• barbed wire
• steel plow
• water-pumping windmill 

As settlers moved onto the Great Plains in the 1800s, they needed to build shelters. One way that many settlers met this need was by building sod houses. Why did many settlers build houses made out of sod?

• Sod houses would typically last longer than houses made out of other materials.
• Sod houses cost little to build because sod was widely available.
• Sod houses were more fashionable than other types of buildings
• Sod houses were better suited for cold weather than other buildings.

Glidden invented

• the mechanical reaper

• the steel plow

• barbed wire

• rail road track

John Deere invented the

• mechanical reaper

• railroad track

• windmill

• steel tipped plow

Cyrus McCormick invented the

• steel tipped plow

• mechanical reaper

• windmills

• barbed wire