Westward Expansion & Native American Policy – Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key topics from the lecture notes on Westward Expansion, Native American policy, and related events.

Battle of Little Bighorn

1876 battle in which Sioux forces led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse defeated the U.S. Cavalry (led by George A. Custer); Sioux victory followed by forced reservation.

Sioux

Native American tribe in the Black Hills who resisted U.S. expansion and were later pushed onto reservations.

Sitting Bull

Spiritual and military leader of the Sioux who played a central role at Little Bighorn.

Crazy Horse

Sioux war leader who helped defeat the U.S. Cavalry at Little Bighorn.

U.S. Cavalry

Branch of the U.S. Army involved in conflicts with Native Americans during westward expansion.

Cattle Drives

Movements of cattle from Texas to northern railheads for shipment to meatpacking facilities and eastern markets.

California Gold Rush

Mass migration to California in search of gold and fortune.

Dawes Act of 1882

Law that divided tribal lands, allotted 160 acres to individuals who left their tribe, and sold remaining land to white settlers, aiming at assimilation.

Boarding Schools

System that sent Native American children to boarding schools to assimilate them into mainstream American culture.

Decimation of the Buffalo

Policy and campaigns that killed most buffalo, weakening Native American communities who relied on them for food.

Gold Rush

General term for migrations to frontier regions in hopes of finding gold and becoming rich.

Grange Movement

Farmers' organization that evolved from social to political activism, advocating government control of industries to keep prices low and supporting the Populist Party.

Great Plains

Region west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, characterized by plains and fertile farmland.

Homestead Act of 1862

Act granting 160 acres to settlers; ownership after 5 years of improvements, facilitating western settlement.

Indian Citizenship Act of 1924

Law granting Native Americans the right to vote while preserving cultural and religious practices.

Indian Wars

Series of armed conflicts between Native Americans and the U.S. Government over land in the Great Plains; ended with Native American removal to reservations.

Klondike Gold Rush

Gold rush to Alaska that attracted prospectors and boosted Alaska's prominence as a resource region.

Louisiana Purchase

1803 acquisition from France that doubled the size of the United States; territory west of the Mississippi.

Manifest Destiny

Belief that the United States would inevitably expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Massacre at Wounded Knee

Mass killing of about 300 unarmed Sioux by the U.S. Army on a reservation.

Populist

A third party movement during the Progressive era advocating farmer and worker interests.

Steel Plow

Iron-steel plow that enabled farmers to break tough prairie soil, increasing productivity.

Third Party

Political party not part of the two major parties.

Transcontinental Railroad

Railroad completed in 1869 that connected the eastern and western United States; built with immigrant labor (Irish and Chinese) and the use of steel from the Bessemer process.

Bessemer process

Industrial method for mass-producing steel by removing impurities from iron, enabling large-scale construction.

Irish and Chinese immigrants

Groups who contributed to building the Transcontinental Railroad.