AH Vocab List #5

Westward Expansion

Assimilation

The historical process by which the United States government forcibly attempted to integrate Native American tribes into mainstream white American culture

Manifest Destiny

A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent, from the Atlantic the Pacific.

Americanization

Belief that assimilating immigrants into American society would make them more loyal citizens

Reservation

land set aside by the United States government for Native Americans

Homestead Act

Passed in 1862, it gave 160 acres of public land to any settler who would farm the land for five years. The settler would only have to pay a registration fee of $25.

Dawes Act

An act that removed Indian land from tribal possesion, redivided it, and distributed it among individual Indian families. Designed to break tribal mentalities and promote individualism.

Trail of Tears

The forced removal of Cherokees and their transportation to Oklahoma

Indian Removal Act

(1830) a congressional act that authorized the removal of Native Americans who lived east of the Mississippi River