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WorksheetsWestward Expansion
Total questions: 25
Worksheet time: 30mins
What geographical obstacles did pioneers face while moving west?
Mountain ranges, rivers, and deserts
Sickness or disease
Fighting with Native Americans
Bad weather or storms
How did most people travel to the west?
Boat
Horseback
Car
Covered Wagon
What animal impacted the building of the railroads, and was also essential to the Native Americans way of life?
Snakes
Mountain lions
Bison
Locusts
How did the transcontinental railroad change the economy of the United States?
It transported agricultural products to processing centers and helped major industries such as flour milling and meat processing develop in cities like Chicago.
It transported people to the cities to work in factories.
It transported Native Americans to the west.
It transported raw materials to build factories in the west.
What were Boom Towns?
Towns that were developed when gold and silver was found in a particular place.
Towns that were abandoned after the gold and silver mines were depleted.
Towns where dynamite was found
Towns where loud sounds were often heard.
What invention changed farming and cattle drives during Westward Expansion?
Steel plow
Windmills
Mechanical reaper
Barbed wire
What two ethnic groups helped to build the transcontinental railroad?
Mexican Americans and Native Americans
Irish immigrants and Chinese immigrants
African Americans and European immigrants
Scottish immigrants and Japanese immigrants
Which of these was an effect of mining in the West?
The female population grew as women were recruited to run businesses.
The population increased greatly as people came hoping to get rich.
Large mining companies invested in safer mining equipment.
Large permanent cities developed around the mining camps.
What were serious challenges for the companies building the transcontinental railroad? Select THREE correct answers.
crossing mountain ranges
facing snowstorms
having enough land upon which to lay the tracks
getting enough funds to pay for construction costs
getting food and supplies to remote areas
Why do you think people from other countries came to America to work the mines? Check THREE correct answers.
liked the color of silver
needed jobs
thought they could get rich by mining
to escape poor conditions in their old countries
What risks did miners face? Check ALL that apply.
injury or death from unsafe machinery
explosions
fires
cave-ins
lung-disease from poor air quality
Public land, once occupied by Plains Indians and buffalo herds, and used by ranchers for their cattle was called. . . . .
the Wild West
the open range
the cattle drive
the Chisholm Trail
The workers who took care of the ranchers' cattle were known as cowhands or cowboys. They adopted many techniques and tools from vaqueros, Mexican ranch hands who cared for cattle and horses. What is a vaquero?
cattle
a cowhand or cowboy
a horse
a tool
Why did the Cattle Kingdom come to an end? Check THREE correct answers.
no more cowboys to take care of the cattle
range wars
cattle had eaten most of the prairie grass
cowboys went on strike
really harsh winters in 1885 and 1886
According to the map, what was the westernmost city on the transcontinental railroad?
REMEMBER N / S / E / W (Use the compass rose!)
Omaha
Cheyenne
Chicago
New York
Sacramento
One result of the transcontinental railroad was the setting up of standard time, creating four time zones. If it WAS 3:00 in San Francisco, California, what time WAS it in Chicago, Illinois?
2:00
3:00
4:00
5:00
Where did the Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines meet?
Salt Lake City, Utah
Omaha, Nebraska
Sacramento, California
Promontory, Utah
How did the railroad affect the development of the West? Check FOUR correct answers.
transported people and goods
shortened travel times
encouraged settlement - the growth of towns
allowed people to have a greater availability of goods from different parts of the country
it was slower and a lot more dangerous
Which of these laws helped promote western settlement following the Civil War?
Dawes General Allotment Act
Homestead Act
Sherman Silver Purchase Act
Interstate Commerce Act
Which of these events is considered the last major incident between the U.S. Army and Native Americans on the Great Plains?
Long Walk
Battle of the Little Bighorn
Treaty at Fort Laramie
Wounded Knee Massacre
How did the US government attempt to "Americanize" Native American children in the late 1800s?
by sending them to boarding schools and having them give up traditional customs
by allowing them to farm on their own reservations and speak their own language
by breaking up their reservations lands and selling individual farm plots
by promoting their education in traditional crafts and customs
What was the federal policy towards the Plains Indians in the 1860s and 1870s?
forced Native Americans to assimilate and "Americanize"
acceptance of the Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887 - encouraging private land ownership
new treaties moved Native Americans off their lands and onto reservations
What event did NOT lead to the Battle of the Little Bighorn?
gold discovered on the Black Hills reservation
Lakota Sioux refused to give up land
Custer attacked and was massacred
the completion of the transcontinental railroad
How did the Dawes General Allotment Act attempt to end traditional influences on Native American society?
by turning reservation land into publicly held farms
by dividing reservation lands into individually owned plots - ultimately taking away 2/3 of their land
by requiring Native Americans to become US citizens
Which of these groups settled on the Great Plains during the late 1800s? Select four correct answers.
Carpetbaggers
Exodusters
Russians
Scandinavians
Germans
