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Ch 14
Looking to the West
35
History
11th Grade
09/29/2011

Additional History Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Push-Pull Factors
Definition
events and conditions that either push people to move elsewhere or strongly pull them to do so
Term
Pacific Railways Act
Definition
in 1862 and 1864 the US government gave large grants of land to the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads
Term
Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862
Definition
gave state governments millions of acres of western lands which they could sell to raise money for the creation of land grant colleges specializing in agriculture and mechanical arts
Term
Land Speculators
Definition
people who bought up large areas of land in the hope of selling it later for a profit
Term
Homestead Act
Definition

Lincoln's plan to settle the west in 1862

receive a 160 acres of land if you were 21 years old, a citizen or filing to be one, built a home and lived there for 6 months and farmed it for 5 years

Term
Exoduster
Definition
a name given to African Americans who fled the Southern United States for Kansas in 1879 and 1880. After the end of Reconstruction, racial oppression and rumors of the reinstitution of slavery led many freedmen to seek a new place to live.
Term
Great Plains
Definition
the vast grassland between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains
Term
Nomad
Definition
people who travel from place to place, usually following a food source
Term
reservation
Definition
a tract of public land set apart for a special purpose, as for the use of an Indian tribe.
Term
Battle of Little Big Horn
Definition
also called Custer's Last Stand, was an engagement between the combined forces of the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne tribes against the 7th Cavalry of the United States Army. The most famous of all of the Indian Wars, the remarkable victory for the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne
Term
Ghost Dance
Definition
a native American ritual in which people joined hands and whirled in a circle
Term
Massacre at Wounded Knee
Definition
in 1890 the event that ended the last of the Indian wars in America. As the year came to a close, the Seventh Cavalry of the United States Army brought an horrific end to the century-long U.S. government-Indian armed conflicts.
Term
Dawes Act
Definition

adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and divide the land into allotments for individual Native Americans

The stated objective of the Dawes Act was to stimulate assimilation of Indians into American society. Individual ownership of land was seen as an essential step.

Term
Boomers
Definition
settlers who ran in land races to claim land upon the opening of Indian Territory for settlement
Term
Sooners
Definition
In 1889, people who illegally claimed land by sneaking past government officials before the land races began
Term
Assimilation
Definition
The process by which one society becomes a part of another, more dominant society by adopting its culture
Term
placer mining
Definition
a mining technique in which miners shovel loose dirt into boxes and then run water over the dirt to seperate it from the gold and silver particles
Term
long drive
Definition
moving cattle from distant ranches to busy railroad centers that shipped the cattle to market
Term
homesteader
Definition
one who farmed claims under the Homestead Act
Term
soddie
Definition
a sod home in which the walls and roof are made from blocks of sod
Term
dry farming
Definition
techniques used to raise crops in areas that received little rain
Term
bonanza farm
Definition
farms controlled by large businesses, managed by professionals, and raising massive quantities of  a single cash crop
Term
Turner thesis
Definition
1893 theory of Frederick Jackson Turner that claimed that the frontier had played a key role in forming the American character
Term
stereotype
Definition
an exaggerated or oversimplified description of reality held by a number of people
Term
money supply
Definition
the amount of money in the national economy
Term
deflation
Definition
a drop in the price of goods
Term
monetary policy
Definition
the federal government's plan for the make-up and quantity of the nation's money supply
Term
bimetallic standard
Definition
currency of the US prior to 1873 which consisted of gold or silver coins as well as treasury notes that could be traded in for gold or silver
Term
free silver
Definition
the unlimited coining of silver dollars
Term
Bland-Allison Act
Definition
1878 law that required the federal government to purchase and coin more silver, increasing the money supply and causing inflation
Term
Sherman Silver Purchase Act
Definition
law passed by Congress in 1890 to increase the amount of silver the government was required to purchase every month
Term
the Grange
Definition
an organization that helped farmers form cooperatives and pressured state legislators to regulate businesses on which farmers depended
Term
Interstate Commerce Act
Definition
1887 law passed to regulate railroad and other interstate businesses
Term
Populist
Definition
a follower of the the People's Party, or Populist party, formed in 1891 to advocate for a larger money supply and other economic reforms
Term
Cross of Gold speech
Definition

William Jennings Bryant's 1896 speech at the Democratic convention

one of the most famous speeches in US history

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