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Westward Expansion

Total questions: 30

Worksheet time: 15mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

This main route to the West was opened by the early American frontiersman, Daniel Boone. This route was called what?

a)

Wilderness Road

b)

Kentucky Road

c)

Cumberland Trail

d)

Appalachian Trail

2.

Which men were sent to see if there was a river route that could be taken to the Pacific Ocean?

a)

Lewis and Clark

b)

Jefferson and Madison

c)

Boone and Crocket

d)

Pike and Profit

3.

Who joined Lewis and Clark on their journey as an interpreter who helped them build relationships and trade with the native peoples? 

a)

Sacagawea

b)

Susan B. Anthony

c)

York

d)

Harriet Tubman

4.

Which of the following was one of the primary goals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition?

a)

to escape religious persecution

b)

to explore land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase

c)

to help white settlers in the west

d)

to find gold in California

5.

Who explored in the Rocky Mountains and has a landform (Pikes Peak) named after them?

a)

Daniel Boone

b)

William Meriwether

c)

George Clark

d)

Zebulon Pike

6.

During the early years of the nation, many Americans believed it was their responsibility to encourage expansion across the continent and to spread their way of life. This belief was called what?

a)

Era of Good Feelings

b)

Homestead Act

c)

Manifest Destiny

d)

Monroe Doctrine

7.

The picture most accurately represents what?

a)

various types of transportation

b)

trails westward

c)

Manifest Destiny

d)

Monroe Doctrine

8.

Why were people moving west during this time in history?

a)

western lands represented new choices and were wide open

b)

looking for more fertile land (farmland)

c)

states on the East Coast were well-populated

d)

all of these answers are correct

9.

In 1803, the United States completed the Louisiana Purchase from what country?

a)

Spain

b)

France

c)

Russia

d)

Great Britain

10.

Which of the following explains why the United States gained Louisiana?

a)

The U.S. defeated France in the War of 1803.

b)

The U.S. purchased Louisiana from France in exchange for gold in California.

c)

The U.S. was given Louisiana from France by treaty to prevent war.

d)

The U.S. purchases Louisiana from France to gain access to the ports of New Orleans

11.

As a result of the Louisiana Purchase, the United States gained the area ____________.

a)

between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains

b)

east of the Mississippi River

c)

between the Ohio River and the Gulf of Mexico

d)

west of the Rocky Mountains

12.

What effect did the Louisiana Purchase have on the United States?

a)

Native Americans gave them land.

b)

The port at New Orleans was closed.

c)

A route to the Pacific Ocean was discovered.

d)

The size of the country doubled.

13.

Which tribe was forced off their lands when the United States acquired Florida during the Seminole Wars?

a)

the Seminole tribe

b)

the Cherokee tribe

c)

the Creek tribe

d)

the Choctaw tribe

14.

Which of the following was an effect of the Indian Removal Act?

a)

Many Native Americans in the South were forced off their lands.

b)

The Cherokee formed a constitutional government.

c)

Settlers and Indians lived together peacefully.

d)

Justice Marshall was elected to the Supreme Court.

15.

During the early 1800s, a person heading West on the Oregon Trail was most likely traveling in -

a)

a train

b)

a covered wagon

c)

an automobile

d)

a canoe

16.

How did the population of the United States change in the early and mid-1800s? 

a)

The population grew because people were immigrating from the United States.

b)

The population declined because new diseases that were spread between the settlers and native people.

c)

The population did not change during this time period.

d)

The population grew because immigrants came from all over the world, especially from Europe.

17.

Why did so many Europeans immigrate to the United States in the early to mid-1800s?

a)

available land

b)

new economic opportunities

c)

higher wages

d)

escape the turmoil in their home countries

e)

all of these answers are correct

18.

The invention of the cotton gin caused slavery to spread because cotton was cleaned much faster, which made cotton profitable and therefore, increased the demand for enslaved African Americans. 

a)

True

b)

False

19.

Name two new inventions that changed transportation in the United States during this time - 

a)

airplanes and tractor trailers

b)

railroads and automobiles

c)

canals and railroads

d)

covered wagons and automobiles

20.

How did improvements in technology and transportation change American businesses?

a)

Factories became a new way of work for many.

b)

all of these answers are correct

c)

Mass production was introduced.

d)

Goods were produced more quickly and moved faster and more cheaply.

21.

Which of the following were significant trails used to travel west during the 1840s?

a)

Mormon Trail

b)

Santa Fe Trail

c)

Old Spanish Trail and California Trail

d)

Oregon Trail

e)

all of these are correct

22.

Why were people traveling along the Mormon Trail? 

a)

They wanted to get away from crowded areas.

b)

They had been mistreated because of their religious beliefs.

c)

They were seeking jewels and fame.

d)

They were looking for a Northwest Passage.

23.

Texas became a part of the United States after they won their independence from which country?

a)

Great Britain

b)

Spain

c)

United States

d)

Mexico

24.

Which territory acquisition was established by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which gave the United States the territory that included California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. This treaty also identified the US/Mexico border at the Rio Grande?

a)

Louisiana Purchase

b)

Mexican Cession

c)

Texas Annexation

d)

Oregon Territory

25.

In the late 1840s, many settlers went to California to look for what?

a)

religious freedom

b)

gold

c)

new jobs

d)

good farmland

26.

This allowed a way for new states to join the United States.

a)

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

b)

Missouri Compromise

c)

Kansas-Nebraska Act

d)

Fugitive Slave Act

27.

This claimed California was a free state and the states from the Mexican Cession could choose whether they were going to be free or slave states.

a)

Compromise of 1850

b)

Northwest Ordinance

c)

Dred Scott Decision

d)

Missouri Compromise

28.

This kept the Senate equally divided between free and slave states. Missouri joined as a slave state, and Maine as a free state.

a)

Missouri Compromise

b)

Fugitive Slave Act

c)

Dred Scott Decision

d)

Northwest Ordinance

29.

This act let voters decide if these states would be free or slave states

a)

Kansas-Nebraska Act

b)

Missouri Compromise

c)

Compromise of 1850

d)

Dred Scott Decision

30.

A group of people who worked to promote the end of slavery.

a)

abolitionists

b)

Kansas-Nebraska Act

c)

Missouri Compromise

d)

Compromise of 1850