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Westward Expansion-Tensions in the West

Total questions: 16

Worksheet time: 16mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Which group would disagree with the following statement?

"Owning a plot of land gives me freedom".

a)

Texas ranchers

b)

U.S. Government

c)

American Indians

2.

What was not an effect of the Homestead Act?

a)

Increase to U.S farms

b)

Increase in American railway lines

c)

Decrease of settlers moving west

3.

What contributed to the HUGE increase of settlers moving to the West?

a)

War in Europe

b)

Chance of better opportunities/jobs

c)

Fear of American Indian land

4.

What did the U.S. government promise railroad companies for building the railroad?

a)

paid for all supplies

b)

provided subsidies (in the form of land)

c)

provided all the laborers

5.

What group was most responsible for the completion of the transcontinental railroad?

a)

Chinese immigrants

b)

California miners

c)

Great Plains homesteaders

6.

Which group was negatively impacted by the Transcontinental Railroad?

a)

Plains Indians

b)

Cattle Ranchers

c)

Irish immigrants

7.

How did mining change the West?

a)

by improving the landscape

b)

opened areas to new settlement

c)

established law and order

8.

What caused the Plains people to finally move to reservations?

a)

Money

b)

opportunity to own their own land

c)

extermination of the buffalo

9.

Which of these describe the long drive?

a)

the movement of cattle to the railroad lines

b)

the path leading the Nez Perce to Canada

c)

the path followed by buffalo hunters in the Great Plains

10.

What was generally the last step in this sequence?


Gold discovered

mining camps

boomtowns

????

a)

gold rush

b)

ghost towns

c)

crime waves

11.

Which of these was a challenge for farmers on the Great Plains?

a)

unreliable rainfall

b)

conflict with ranchers

c)

miners intruding on land

12.

What material did homesteaders use to build their homes on the Great Plains?

a)

wood

b)

sod

c)

brick

13.

Under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, what was promised to the American Indians?

a)

land in the Great Plains

b)

protections of homelands

c)

homes on reservations in the east

14.

What changed federal policy (Indian Removal Act) toward American Indians?

a)

destruction of the buffalo

b)

development of the West

c)

popular belief that they had been mistreated

15.

After a successful 20 years, what caused the end of the long drive?

a)

growth of cities

b)

weather conditions

c)

government regulations

16.

What was the significance of the Battle of the Little Horn?

a)

It was a famous U.S. Army victory

b)

If forced Congress to honor treaties

c)

It was the last big battle between the army and American Indians