Westward expansion & the California Gold Rush Era TEST REVIEW

California Gold Rush Timeline

1848-1855

John D. Rockefeller

Built Standard Oil Company; used trusts to gain financial advantage and control the oil industry.

J.P. Morgan

Made fortune in financing and railroads; later owned a huge steel company.

Andrew Carnegie

Made fortune in steel industry using the Bessemer Process; practiced philanthropy by giving away most of his wealth.

Thomas Edison

Inventor who established research laboratory at Menlo Park; created numerous inventions including the light bulb and phonograph.

Chivington & Fetterman

Names associated with conflicts between Americans and Native Americans.

George Custer

Led US forces at Battle of Little Big Horn, which resulted in his defeat.

Homestead Act of 1862

Encouraged settlement of the West by offering free land to pioneers and immigrants; led to replacement of bonanza farms with smaller family farms.

Dawes Severalty Act

Aimed to assimilate Native Americans by making them give up their traditional way of life and become US citizens.

National Reclamation Act of 1902

Provided water for Western farms and ranches.

Exodusters

African Americans who migrated west.

Buffalo Soldiers

African American soldiers who fought Native Americans in the West.

Chinese Exclusion

Chinese workers were banned from entering the US during late 1800s industrialization.

Battle of Little Big Horn

Symbolized US Army overconfidence and resulted in embarrassing defeat; showed Native American resistance.

Battle of Wounded Knee

Final major conflict; made Native Americans realize they could not defeat US troops.

Sand Creek Massacre

Another significant conflict in Native American wars.

Bessemer Process

Revolutionary method for steel production.

Barbed Wire

Greatest direct impact was ending the open range for cattle ranchers.

Transcontinental Railroad

Completed at Promontory, Utah; railroad companies received land grants.

Menlo Park

Edison's research facility where major technological advances and new product research occurred.

Vertical Integration

Allowed business owners more quality control by controlling all aspects of production.

Trusts

Used by companies like Standard Oil to gain financial advantages.

Common Language of Consumption

Americans were united by their ability to make money and buy the same kinds of goods.

The Grange

Organization that helped American farmers.

Hatch Act

Also served to help American farmers.

Frederick Turner's Frontier Thesis

Key traits developed from frontier life include strength combined with curiosity, restless energy, inventiveness, individualism, and joy from freedom.

Manifest Destiny

The belief that the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable.

Industrialization

The development of industries in a country or region on a wide scale.

Westward Expansion

The movement of settlers and immigrants from the eastern United States to the west.

Northeast

Main industrial center of the US in late 1800s/ early 1900s

- America got a late start in industrialization compared to Great Britain due to political issues that needed resolution first

Key traits developed from frontier life

Strength combined with curiosity, Restless, nervous energy, Inventiveness, Individualism, Joy from freedom

Manifest Destiny

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

Industrialization

The development of industries for the machine production of goods.

westward expansion

territorial acquisitions as settlers began moving westward beyond the Appalachian Mountains

Vertical Integration

Practice where a single entity controls the entire process of a product, from the raw materials to distribution

Transcontinental Railroad

Railroad connecting the west and east coasts of the continental US

Homestead Act

1862 - Provided free land in the West to anyone willing to settle there and develop it. Encouraged westward migration.

Dawes Severalty Act

Bill that promised Indians tracts of land to farm in order to assimilate them into white culture. The bill was resisted, uneffective, and disastrous to Indian tribes

Andrew Carnegie

This Scottish immigrant built the largest steel company using the Bessemer Process.

John D. Rockefeller

This oil tycoon used trusts and believed 'competition is a sin.'

J.P. Morgan

This financier bought Carnegie's company to form U.S. Steel Corporation.

Vertical integration

This business practice let Carnegie control all aspects of steel production.

Common Language of Consumption

This concept united Americans through their ability to buy the same goods.

Battle of Wounded Knee

This 1890 South Dakota battle was the last major Native American conflict.

Battle of Little Bighorn

This 1876 Montana battle resulted in Custer's death with 265 men.

Sand Creek Massacre

This 1864 massacre was led by Colonel Chivington.

Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse

These two chiefs led Sioux forces at Little Bighorn.

Buffalo Soldiers

These African American cavalry units earned Native American respect.

Homestead Act

This 1862 act offered 160 acres for $10 and 5 years residence.

Exodusters

These African Americans migrated west escaping Southern oppression.

Chisholm Trail

This trail drove cattle from Texas to Kansas City railroad hubs.

Barbed wire

This 1874 invention ended the Open Range cattle system.

Comstock Lode

This huge Nevada silver discovery attracted thousands of miners.

Thomas Edison

This inventor established the research laboratory at Menlo Park.

Bessemer Process

This process made steel uniform and durable.

Transcontinental Railroad

This railroad was completed at Promontory, Utah in 1869.

Northeast

This region became America's main industrial center.

Industrialization

America started this late due to unresolved political issues.

Dawes Severalty Act

This 1887 act aimed to assimilate Native Americans as citizens.

National Reclamation Act

This 1902 act provided Western irrigation systems.

Hatch Act

This 1887 act encouraged scientific farming research.

Chinese Exclusion Act

This 1882 law banned Chinese workers from entering the US.

Grange

This organization provided social activities for farm families.

Homestead Act

1862, Encouraged westward settlement

Sand Creek Massacre

1864, Chivington's brutal attack on peaceful village

Transcontinental Railroad Completed

1869, Connected East and West at Promontory, Utah

Battle of Little Bighorn

1876, Custer's defeat, worst US Army loss to Native Americans

Dawes Severalty Act

1887, Attempted Native American assimilation

Hatch Act

1887, Promoted scientific farming research

Battle of Wounded Knee

1890, Last major Native American conflict

National Reclamation Act

1902, Provided Western irrigation infrastructure