IB History Quiz 12 Flashcards for Key Terms and Definitions

Transcontinental Railroad

A railroad that connected the eastern and western U.S., completed in 1869, boosting westward expansion and economic growth.

Homestead Act (1862)

Gave 160 acres of land to settlers who farmed and improved it for at least five years.

Morrill Act (1862/1890)

Provided federal land to states to establish agricultural and mechanical colleges.

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show

A traveling show that romanticized the American West with performances of cowboys, Native Americans, and frontier life.

Safety Valve Theory

The belief that moving west was a safety option for people during tough economic times.

Granger Movement

A movement of farmers who fought against unfair railroad prices and monopolies.

Farmer Alliance

A political movement supporting farmers’ rights and economic reforms.

Wabash v. Illinois (1886)

The Supreme Court ruled that states could not regulate interstate commerce, leading to the Interstate Commerce Act.

Interstate Commerce Act (1887)

A federal law that regulated railroad rates to prevent unfair practices.

Concentration Act

A U.S. policy that confined Native Americans to specific reservations.

Carlisle Indian School

A boarding school designed to assimilate Native American children into white American culture.

Dawes Act (1887)

Broke up Native American tribal lands and gave individual plots to Native families, aiming to assimilate them.

Sitting Bull

A Lakota Sioux leader who resisted U.S. expansion and fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Battle of Little Bighorn (1876)

Native American forces led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse defeated General George Custer and his troops.

Ghost Dance Movement

A Native American spiritual movement that hoped to restore their way of life and remove white settlers.

Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)

The U.S. Army killed over 200 unarmed Lakota Sioux, marking the last major Native American resistance.

Helen Hunt Jackson

Author of A Century of Dishonor, which exposed the mistreatment of Native Americans.

Frontier Thesis

Historian Frederick Jackson Turner’s idea that the frontier was crucial in shaping American democracy and identity.