WorksheetsThe Struggle for the West
Total questions: 29
Worksheet time: 29mins
Name
Class
Date
1.
The Great Plains are in the Central Western portion of the U.S. described as vast grasslands.
a)
True
b)
False
2.
2) What resource made the state of Texas famous in the Old West?
a)
Gold
b)
Silver
c)
Longhorn Cattle
d)
Sodbusters
3.
3) What does assimilation of the Native Americans refer to?
a)
It refers to the process of losing land to the white settlers
b)
It describes the war strategy of the Plains Native Americans
c)
It refers to the process of adopting the white settlers' culture
d)
It is a linguistic technique that enabled whites to communicate with Native Americans
4.
4) The Homestead Act of 1862 offered settlers
a)
relief from their debts
b)
free public education
c)
loans to expand their farms
d)
160 acres of western public land
5.
5) Who lost the Battle of Little Big Horn?
a)
Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse
b)
Custer and his cavalry
c)
the Cheyenne of Colorado
d)
Colonel John Chivington
6.
6) Which of the following groups taught Americans cattle ranching techniques in the early 1800s?
a)
Native Americans
b)
African Americans
c)
settlers
d)
Mexicans
7.
7) What was a 'soddie'?
a)
a farmer who refused to work and relied on his neighbors
b)
a new type of plow that revolutionized western farming
c)
traditional lullaby sung by cattlemen along the Chisholm trail
d)
a small home on the plains, built out of blocks of turf
8.
8) Why did cowboys drive their herds of cattle north from Texas along the Chisholm and other trails?
a)
to get them to Kansas railway stations
b)
to move them to better grazing lands in Oklahoma
c)
to trade them with Native Americans in Indian Territory
d)
to escape Mexican ranchers moving into Texas from the south
9.
9) Which of the following is an accurate statement about the settling of the West?
a)
Settlers often struggled with Native Americans
b)
Settlers included many African and Australian immigrants
c)
Most settlers became rich miners or cattle ranchers
d)
Settlers were all adventurous white males
10.
10) This RR started in California and used Chinese immigrant workers, laid less track then other company because they had to pass through the Rocky Mountains.
a)
Union Pacific
b)
Central Pacific
c)
Norfolk Southern
d)
Amtrak
11.
11) The Ghost Dance stated which of the following if done correctly
a)
The buffalo would return to the plains
b)
The Whites will disappear
c)
The Native peoples and their ancestors will be resurrected and inherit the earth and live in paradise
d)
all of the above
12.
12) Which of the following would have most likely been a quote and mission statement from Richard Henry Pratt and his Carlisle Indian school in PA?
a)
¨“The only good Indian is a dead Indian”
b)
¨“Kill the Indian to Save the Man”
c)
¨“The American settler culture is superior to the heathen native way”
d)
¨“The buffalo are dead and gone, you must change”
13.
13) What was the primary goal of the Dawes Act in 1887?
a)
Natives no longer had to pay taxes
b)
Natives were given jobs with the RR
c)
Natives were free to travel anywhere in the United States and hunt any animal
d)
reservation land was divided up and redistributed to the heads of households and given 160 acre plots
14.
14) Which groups of immigrants were most likely to work on the Transcontinental RR?
a)
Irish and German
b)
German and Chinese
c)
Chinese and Irish
d)
Mexican and Irish
15.
15) Which battle was the last fought in North American between the U.S. gov’t and Native peoples?
a)
Wounded Knee
b)
Chivington Massacre
c)
Little Bighorn
d)
Fetterman Massacre
16.
16) Where was the Transcontinental RR finished ?
a)
Omaha, Nebraska
b)
Sacramento, California
c)
Abilene, Kansas
d)
Promontory Point, Utah
17.
17) What was the significance of the Battle at Wounded Knee Creek?
a)
Natives believed in the prophecy of the Ghost Dance Movement.
b)
It convinced Indians on the plains to give up resistance to white laws and the reservation system.
c)
It convinced White settlers that the Black Hills were sacred and leave the area.
d)
It was a great victory for Bigfoot and the Sioux Nation.
18.
18) What Negative impact did the Transcontinental RR have in the west during the late 19th century
a)
The Trans RR connected U.S. from coast to coast, meaning travel, trade, and communication all improved immediately
b)
The RR also helped formulate the cowboy culture bringing beef to markets back east
c)
Settlement and development brought whites into close contact and conflict with Native Americans
d)
Transportation allowed resources and raw materials to be shipped to manufacturing centers and develop industry
19.
19) What did Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce tribe attempt to do?
a)
They fought Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn
b)
They marched to Washington DC to protest for Native Civil Rights
c)
The Nez Perce successfully transitioned to farming on their reservation land
d)
They chose to flee rather than being forced to live on a reservation land
20.
a)
Goodnight-Loving Trail
b)
Western Trail
c)
Chisholm Trail
d)
Shawnee Trail
21.
Who would have most likely said this quote? "You certainly must discover that the United States do not wish to injure you, but, on the contrary, that they wish to make you a people like themselves."
a)
Geronimo, Apache
b)
Luther Standing Bear, Lakota Sioux
c)
U.S. Commissioner on Indian Affairs, American State Papers
d)
Colonel John Chivington, U.S. Army
22.
Which of the following events ultimately led to the displacement of Native Americans and the natural environment of the Great Plains?
a)
The discovery of Gold in California
b)
The building of the Transcontinental Railroad
c)
The Louisiana Purchase
d)
The Oregon Trail
23.
Who would have most likely said the following quote? "I was born on the prairies where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures."
a)
Geronimo, Apache
b)
Richard Henry Pratt, Carlisle Indian School
c)
Henry L. Dawes, U.S. Senator
24.
a)
Goodnight-Loving Trail
b)
Western Trail
c)
Chisholm Trail
d)
Shawnee Trail
25.
25) Which of the following was NOT a reason that the age of the cowboy came to an end?
a)
The invention of barbed wire
b)
Markets and cities back East no longer desired beef as a food source
c)
Rail lines were built into Texas
d)
Overproduction and falling cattle prices
26.
26) "Transfer the savage born infant to the surroundings of civilization, & he will grow to possess a civilized language and habit."-- Who would have most likely said this quote?
a)
Richard Henry Pratt
b)
Sitting Bull, Sioux
c)
Geronimo, Apache
d)
Colonel Nelson Miles, US Army
27.
27) "If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man, he would have made me so in the first place. He put certain desires in your heart & in my heart he put other desires. Each man is good in the sight of the great spirit. It is not necessary that eagles should be crows." -Sitting Bull who would NOT support which of the following?
a)
Nomadic Life and Hunting
b)
Indian Schools & Farming
c)
Practicing the Ghost Dance
28.
a)
It wanted to restore traditional hunting grounds to Native tribes
b)
It attempted to breakup tribal unity by making Natives individual landowners
c)
It made the assimilation process for many natives quick and easy
29.
29) Many American Indians resisted assimilation. Which of the following was NOT a way to resist this process?
a)
Converting and practicing christianity
b)
Fleeing from reservation land
c)
Refusing to send children to indian schools or plant crops
d)
Continuing the practice of tribal life and traditions
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