APUSH the West Quiz

Sitting Bull

Sioux medicine man, chief, and political leader of his tribe at the time of the Custer massacre during the Sioux War

Geronimo

Apache chief who raided white settlers in the Southwest as resistance to being confined to a reservation

Chief Joesph

Leader of Nez Perce. Fled with his tribe to Canada instead of reservations but US troops came and forced them back to reservations

Red Cloud

Lakota leader who successfully waged war against U.S. forces in the 1860s → Forced the U.S. to sign the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) supposedly protecting Sioux rights to Black Hills, South Dakota

A century of dishonor (1881)

Helen Hunt Jackson recounts abuse, broken promises by the government, forced removals and massacres

Dawes severalty act (1887)

designed to promote assimilation: dissolved tribes as legal entities & eliminated tribal ownership of land, promoted ideas of "rugged individualism" by granting individual heads of family 160 acres of land to farm (abandoning nomadic lifestyle) & promised Indians U.S. citizenship... in 25 years. Humanitarians disrespected native culture: "kill the indian; save the man"

government

After Civil War, Plains Indians surrendered land when _____ promised* they would be left alone and provided with supplies

the settlement out west, especially started with the transcontinental railroad which allowed many to travel west and sell back and forth

which led to the destruction of the buffalo

battle for whites, massacre for natives

Cruelties on both sides: "____" = a white victory but "___" = Native victory

Custer's Last Stand/Battle of Little Big Horn

Custer's 400 soldiers decimated by Crazy Horse & Sitting Bull's 2500 warriors

Battle of Wounded Knee

Battle of _____ to stamp out the Ghost Dance adopted by the Dakota Sioux

Buffalo soldiers

______ (⅕ of frontier troops were black)

Plains Indians forced to surrender due to near extermination of the buffalo & railroad allowing easy transport of troops & settlers

Why were Plains Indians forced to surrender?

African American regiments formed after the Civil War (1866). Nicknamed "Buffalo Soldiers" by Native Americans (possibly for their hair or fierce fighting style).

Who were the Buffalo soldiers

Symbolized both the opportunities and limits of freedom for African Americans after the Civil War:

→Faced harsh conditions, poor supplies, and racial discrimination from white settlers and army officers.

→Earned a reputation for discipline and bravery.

What was the significance of the Buffalo soldiers

Guarded settlers, built forts, strung telegraph lines, & escorted wagon trains. Protected railroads & stagecoaches

→ Fought in the Indian Wars against Plains tribes

What did the Buffalo soldiers do?

Grange Movement

_______- initial goal was to enhance farmers' isolated lives by organizing social activities. Shifted goals to improvement of the farmers' collective plight.

Farmers Alliance

________

GOAL: break the strangling grip of the railroads and manufacturers through cooperative buying & selling

opposed monopolies & supported relief for debtors (prelude to Populism)

weakened itself by ignoring the plight of landless tenant farmers, sharecroppers, and farmworkers & excluding blacks

James B Weaver (1892)

1892 - Populists won congressional seats & over 1 million votes for presidential candidate, ________. Racial divisions limited success in the South, but electoral success in the West.

SUPPORTERS: frustrated farmers fed up with Wall Street (debts) & industrialists (monopolies) who seemed to control the government

Called for nationalizing railroads, telephones, & telegraph; a graduated income tax; free and unlimited coinage of silver (to answer debtors' demands for inflationary policies)

Who were the supporters of the populists

Republicans, industrialists, "Gold Bugs"

Who were the opponents of the populists

Comstock Lode (1859)

1859 - _____ Lode in Nevada led to boom & a quick path to statehood (& 3 votes for Lincoln)

Boomtowns

________, known as "Helldorados," sprouted from the desert sands → lawlessness → often turned into ghost towns

EFFECTS: wealth helped finance the Civil War & build railroads. The silver and gold enabled the Treasury to resume specie payments (metal coinage vs. paper) and injected the divisive silver issue into American politics.

Effects of the mining industry

specie payments

metal coinage vs paper

Homestead act

CONTEXT TO MINING: DEVELOPMENT OF THE WEST due to the building of railroads, discovery of mineral resources & government policies

Homestead Act of 1862

_______) - up to 160 acres of land for $30 for living on it for five years & "improving" it

Before: public land was sold primarily for revenue

Now: it was given away to encourage a rapid filling of empty spaces and to provide a stimulus to the family farm—"the backbone of democracy"

sodbusters

"_____" use heavy iron plows & barbed wire

bonanza farms

mechanization led to _____ (large farms of over 15,000 acres) that drove smaller farmers out of business

Sooners and Boomers

889 Oklahoma opened for settlement: "_______ and _________" → 60,000 inhabitants by the end of the year

Federally financed irrigation projects helped develop agriculture

Economic Growth

Expansion of railroads tied the West to national markets.

Mining, ranching, and farming opportunities attracted settlers.

Homestead Act (1862) encouraged migration by offering cheap/free land.

What is the economic growth legacy of the west

Native American Displacement

Indian Wars and forced relocation to reservations → land further encroached upon by "boomers" and "sooners"

Buffalo nearly driven to extinction.

what is the significance of the native American displacement

Cultural Diversity & National Identity

Growth of cowboy culture, Mexican vaqueros, Chinese immigrants/railroad workers, and African American Buffalo Soldiers.

The frontier became a symbol of American opportunity, democracy, and "rugged individualism."

what is the legacy of cultural diversity and national identity