US History Westward Expansion Practice Exam

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• How did buffalo decline relate to westward expansion and Native policy?
• In 1877, the Supreme Court case Munn v. Illinois upheld regulation of which industry?
• After surface metals were removed, miners pursued underground ore extraction, leading to heavy mining machinery and industry consolidation. What is this activity called?
• Why is the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 historically significant?
• What major impact did the Oregon Trail have on the settlement of the Pacific Northwest?
• What did the Pacific Railway Acts (1862-1869) authorize and achieve?
• In the 1896 election, which candidate carried the banner of free silver coinage?
• What were the main causes of the Texas Revolution (1835-1836)?
• What was the Dawes Act (General Allotment Act) of 1887 and its impact on Native Americans?
• Who led the Mormon migration to Utah?
• Which U.S. commander was nicknamed 'White Chief with Yellow Hair' by the Sioux?
• The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 opened land that had formerly been part of which territory?
• Promontory Point, Utah is famous for what event?
• In 1879, African Americans migrated to the Great Plains (Kansas and Oklahoma) to escape conditions in the South. What were these travelers called?
• How did the concept of a 'frontier' contribute to American identity and myth-making in the 19th century?
• Which treaty ended the Mexican-American War and led to the cession of a large portion of the Southwest to the United States?
• What was Bleeding Kansas, and why did it matter?
• The Kansas-Nebraska Act used popular sovereignty and repealed the Missouri Compromise’s 36°30' line. Which statement best describes this act?
• Which political party was formed in 1892 representing farmers and advocating free coinage of silver and government control of railroads and monopolies?
• Which railroad started in Sacramento and connected with the Union Pacific at Promontory Point, Utah to form the first transcontinental railroad?
• Which land purchase in 1803 doubled the size of the United States?
• Which monetary policy did the Populist Party oppose?
• The Union Pacific Railroad connected with which railroad at Promontory Point to complete the first transcontinental railroad?
• How many land-grant institutions were established as a result of the Morrill Act?
• What was the primary commercial purpose of the Santa Fe Trail?
• Sioux Wars lasted 1876-1877 and were spurred by what?
• According to the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, what became Texas's border?
• Where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met; joined the railroads to create America's first transcontinental railroad
• What geographic changes resulted from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?
• What were the goals and outcomes of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806)?
• The Comstock Lode is located in which state?
• What were the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)?
• What did the Wilmot Proviso attempt to ban?
• Following the Battle of Little Bighorn, what policy shift occurred in U.S. military actions toward Plains tribes?
• A town that grew because of the cattle trade; the Chisholm Trail ended here and the railroad began here, making it an important western town.
• What were the consequences of the California Gold Rush?
• Which group, including the leader Geronimo, avoided capture and ultimately surrendered to the U.S. government?
• Which Supreme Court case did President Andrew Jackson famously defy by stating that the state could not remove Native Americans from their lands?
• The mining technique that involves collecting gold-bearing gravel and washing it in a pan is called what?
• When did California gain admission to statehood?
• Which region is described as a vast grassland between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains?
• Which famous phrase did Chief Joseph reportedly utter upon surrender?
• Which city rapidly grew during the California Gold Rush?
• What were the terms and significance of the Louisiana Purchase (1803)?
• The Populist movement of the late 19th century was primarily composed of which group seeking economic reform?
• What term refers to land set aside by the U.S. government for Native American tribes?
• The Democratic candidate for president in 1896 who promoted free silver coinage and attracted Populist support was?
• Which act aimed to civilize Native Americans by distributing tribal lands to individuals?
• The mass migration of African Americans to the Great Plains in 1879 is known by which name?
• What was the combined effect of the Morrill Act and the Homestead Act?
• The Grange movement defended its members against which groups?
• Labor group of the Transcontinental Railroad who was treated poorly.
• The Oregon Trail contributed to U.S. expansion by extending presence in which region?
• The Ghost Dance movement was intended to be what kind of expression?
• Major railroad companies divided the nation into 4 different zones to divide time.
• During the Wounded Knee incident, many deaths were thought to be caused by what factor?
• The silver lode discovered in 1858 by Henry Comstock, which attracted many Californians to Nevada, is known as what?
• The 1889 land rush opened lands in which modern state?
• The 1858 gold discovery that triggered a rush to the Dakota Territory, Montana, and Colorado occurred at which location?
• The event described as the last major armed conflict between the Lakota Sioux and the United States is known as which battle?
• Which act, passed in 1862, granted settlers 160 acres of public land if they improved it and lived on it for five years?
• Which of the following best describes the political realignments before the Civil War due to westward expansion?
• What term describes the process by which settlers raced to claim lands in 1889?
• How did the Transcontinental Railroad transform the movement of people and goods across the United States?
• Which sequence correctly lists the order of these events: California statehood, Morrill Act, Transcontinental Railroad, and the Wounded Knee Massacre?
• How did westward expansion contribute to the onset of the Civil War?
• The transcontinental railroad completed in 1869 connected which railroads?
• During the California Gold Rush, which immigrant group arrived in large numbers and contributed to the state’s population growth?
• Which outcome followed the Sand Creek Massacre in terms of military policy?
• How did the California Gold Rush affect urban development and the national economy?
• The Great Plains from Texas to Canada where many ranchers raised cattle in the late 1800s is known as what?
• What was the Trail of Tears and which policy did it reflect?
• What concept claimed the United States was destined to expand across North America to the Pacific Ocean?
• These nomadic tribes such as the Sioux, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Crow, and Comanche had given up farming in colonial times after the introduction of the horse by the Spanish. By the 1700s, they had become skillful horse riders and their lives centered on hunting buffalo. What is the collective name for these tribes?
• What was a key consequence of the Sand Creek Massacre for U.S. policy toward Plains tribes?
• What were the territorial consequences of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848)?
• Which treaty restricted Indians to specific areas away from major trails?
• Moving from place to place following herds and environmental conditions?
• Who were the chiefs of the Sioux tribe who defeated Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn?
• The Black Hills Gold Rush occurred during which years?
• How did Manifest Destiny influence U.S. policy toward Native Americans and immigrants?
• The Mexican Cession intensified debates over slavery because Northerners feared the expansion of slavery would deter what?
• Who commanded Mexican troops and was defeated at San Jacinto?
• Which Paiute Indian gave lectures on the problems of the reservations in the 1870s?
• How did the annexation of Texas in 1845 influence national politics and the slavery debate?
• What happened at the Battle of Little Bighorn (1876), and what did it reveal about U.S.-Plains Indian policy?
• A monetary system in which paper money and coins are equal in value to gold is called what?
• Identify two pivotal battles of the Texas Revolution and their outcomes.
• Where did the Wounded Knee Massacre take place?
• The Wounded Knee Massacre is best described as:
• What was the significance of the Morrill Act of 1862 in higher education and westward expansion?
• The Populist Party in the 1890s primarily represented which group?
• What territories were acquired in the Gadsden Purchase (1853) and why?
• A mounted herder hired by cattle owners to care for their stock, prominent in the post-Civil War era, is known as what?
• The last major armed conflict between the Lakota Sioux and the United States occurred in 1890 at which battle?
• In what ways did frontier life affect women's roles and rights?
• What was a major cause of the Sioux Wars according to the material?
• Which of the following was NOT a consequence of the Transcontinental Railroad?
• Approximately how many settlers competed in the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889?
• Nickname for African-American soldiers who fought in the wars against Native Americans living on the Great Plains during the 1870s?
• The 1889 land run that opened the former Indian Territory to white settlement, drawing about 50,000 settlers, is called what?
• Which event in 1849 brought tens of thousands to California and helped spur rapid growth there?
• In what year did the Battle of the Little Bighorn take place?
• What term refers to natural substances such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain?
• The 1892 political movement formed by farmers and others advocated which monetary policy?
• What was the political status of Texas before it joined the United States in 1845?
• What did the Adams-Onís Treaty (1819) accomplish regarding Florida and territorial borders?
• Which concept explains how price is determined by demand and supply?
• Which groups were among the supporters of the Free Silver Movement?
• Which railroad began in Omaha, Nebraska, and connected with the Central Pacific at Promontory Point, Utah?
• The National Grange Movement was organized by which individual?
• How many Lakota Sioux died at the Battle of Wounded Knee?
• What was the U.S. Army's stated objective when surrounding the Lakota encampment before transporting them to Omaha?
• Which animal did the Plains Indians rely on for food, shelter, and clothing?
• Westward expansion influenced political party development before the Civil War by intensifying debates over what issue?
• A livestock owner who realized railroads could send meat to populated eastern cities by transporting longhorns and other bovines north through the railroad. He also built large cattle pens called stockyards.
• Which term describes the movement of people from rural areas into cities during the Industrial Revolution?
• What was a major national effect of the California Gold Rush era on urban development and immigration?
• Approximately how many U.S. Army officers and men were wiped out at the Battle of the Little Bighorn?
• Which statement about a westward expansion factor and its outcome is accurate?
• When did Texas gain independence and when did it join the United States?
• A town undergoing rapid growth due to sudden prosperity.
• Which was a primary purpose of the Gadsden Purchase?
• The Bear Flag Revolt occurred in 1846 in which region?
• How did land grants promote settlement and railroad construction in the West?
• Which battle became a symbol of Texan resistance during the Texas Revolution?
• When was Texas annexed by the United States?
• What did the Homestead Act (1862) promise to settlers?
• The concept of supply and demand describes how prices respond to which factors?
• The act that allowed settlers to acquire 160 acres by living on it for five years and paying about $30 is the:
• Which innovations helped make goods easier and cheaper to obtain during the Industrial Revolution?
• Gold was discovered in the Black Hills located in which state?
• The adoption of heavy mining machinery enabled which major corporate change in the mining industry?
• According to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which river became the boundary between Texas and Mexico?
• Inflation is defined as what?
• What slogan embodied the drive to expand into the Oregon country, and what treaty settled the boundary with Britain?
• What was a key outcome of the Bear Flag Revolt?
• Which mail service was created to carry mail from Missouri to California in about 10 days but ended after Morse's telegraph arrived?
• What did the Missouri Compromise propose and what line did it establish for future territories?
• Which treaty in 1868 guaranteed Indians' rights to the Black Hills for hunting and sacred purposes?
• Who commanded the U.S. cavalry during the Battle of the Little Bighorn?
• The Mexican Cession of 1848 included which of the following areas?
• Which statement accurately describes a provision of the Compromise of 1850?
• How did Spanish-Mexican missions influence California's development?
• The Free Silver Movement was supported by which groups?
• What overall effect did Manifest Destiny have on United States expansion and policy?
• The Populist platform called for government control of which sectors?
• Which war from 1846 to 1848 led to the United States acquiring about half of Mexico's territory?
• What roles did the Santa Fe Trail and Oregon Trail play in U.S. relations and expansion?
• What term described Great Plains farmers who had to break through thick soil to farm?
• Westward expansion helped shape national development in the 20th century by establishing what?
• What was one major impact of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad?
• Americans started to move from an agricultural society to one based on industry. This created a middle class; innovations such as textile mills and steam engines made goods easier and cheaper to get.
• What was the main goal of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851?
• The Morrill Land Grant Act established what kind of institutions?
• What term describes the social process of absorbing one cultural group into harmony with another?
• Which group did Chief Joseph lead on a trek to escape to Canada?
• Which law funded the creation of land-grant colleges in the western states?
• The annexation of which territory in 1845 integrated it into the United States, despite tensions with Mexico?
• Which act divided tribal lands into individual allotments and led to erosion of tribal sovereignty?
• Which candidate in 1896 carried the banner of free silver coinage and attracted Populist support?
• Which battle is also called Custer's Last Stand?
• The Ghost Dance movement was led by which figure?
• Which present-day states were part of the Mexican Cession following the Mexican-American War?
• The Battle of the Little Bighorn occurred near which river?
• The gold and silver booms in the West supplied metals essential to U.S. industrial growth and were sold into which markets?
• What was the central idea of Manifest Destiny and who popularized it?
• Which of the following groups contributed significantly to building the Transcontinental Railroad and faced harsh working conditions?
• How did mining booms shape the social and economic landscape of western towns?
• The Trail of Tears reflected which federal policy toward Native Americans?
• Who led Texan forces to victory at San Jacinto?
• Which party was associated with the 1890s movement advocating farmers' reforms and free silver coinage?
• Which law authorized the removal of Native Americans to lands west of the Mississippi River?
• What was completed in 1869 at Promontory, Utah, linking the eastern railroad with California's railroad and revolutionizing transportation in the West?
• Which tribe lived in plains near the Rockies; primary resource buffalo?
• Which event resulted in Spain ceding Florida to the United States?
• Who is credited with discovering the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1858?