Society and Culture on the Western Frontier

Flashcards about Society and Culture on the Western Frontier, including terms related to westward expansion, Native Americans, and government policies.

Sodbusters

Homesteaders who were among the first to cut through the soil with their plows.

Oklahoma Territory

Designated as Indian Territory after the Indian Removal Act in the 1830s.

Reservation System

Indian populations were assigned to live on tracts of land called reservations with strict boundaries.

Dawes Act

The federal government abandoned the reservation system and divided reservation lands into 160-acre plots to be farmed by the Indians.

Ghost Dance Movement

If Indians participated in this ritualistic dance, the ghosts of their ancestors would return and drive the white man from their lands.

Homesteaders

Also known as sodbusters, they played a role in ending the cowboy era by receiving free land from the government and using barbed wire fencing.

Turner's Thesis

Frederick Jackson Turner's argument that the closing of the frontier was concerning because westward expansion historically served as a release for American discontent and a democratizing force.

Reservation System

A system established by the federal government to address the "Indian problem" by assigning Native American populations to live on specifically designated tracts of land with strict boundaries called reservations.

Dawes Act of 1887

A key legislative act where the federal government abandoned the reservation system and divided reservation lands into 160-acre plots for Indians to farm. Indians could become American citizens by settling on the land and assimilating.

Ghost Dance Movement

A movement developed by an Indian prophet named Wavoka, where participating in this ritualistic dance would bring back the ghosts of their ancestors and drive the white man from their lands.