Westward Expansion Quiz

Chose one gateway to Westward Expansion

• Continental Divide

• Mountains

• Rivers and canals

• Pacific Ocean

A barrier to westward expansion is an obstacle that settlers and frontiersmen had to overcome.

• True

• False

Which territory is highlighted in orange? Which country and leader did the US purchase this area of land from?

• Louisiana Territory

• Spain and Ponce de Leon

• France and Napolean Bonaparte

• Texas

Who were Merriweather Lewis and William Clark?

• They were presidents of the US

• They bought Florida from Spain

• They led the Corps of Discovery across the Louisiana Purchase to the Pacific Ocean

• They found a way to sail around the Gulf of Mexico

What nation owned Texas before Mexico? Why did the Texans declare independence from Santa Anna’s Mexico?

• Spain

• Portugal

• Santa Anna wanted Texas to be a slave state

• Santa Anna's government was too strict and took away people's rights

Why was the US reluctant to admit Texas from Mexico? Give two reasons.

• Texas was its own state and didn't want to be a state.

• They didn't want another slave state

• They didn't want another war with Mexico

• Texas still belonged to Mexico

What was the Oregon trail?

• It was a trail that went from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean.

• People followed it into California for the Gold Rush

• It was a trail that Lewis and Clark made.

• It was a barrier to westward expansion.

Why did Mexico and America go to war in 1846?

• Texas was allowed to become a state which angered Mexico

• Santa Anna was infringing on people's rights

• Spain sold Florida to America

• The Donner Party angered them

What was the California Gold Rush?

• A football team

• An expedition led by Lewis and Clark

• People moved out of California to mine gold elsewhere

• People from the East moved to California in search of gold