Chapter 3: Crossing the Continent: Lesson 2 flash cards

Set: Chapter 3: Crossing the Continent: Lesson 2

Term	Definition
Great Plains	Region in central North America, east of the Rocky Mountains and extending from Canada to Texas.
Nicodemus	Town in Kansas that was founded by African American pioneers.
Willa Cather	Novelist who moved to the Great Plains as a child in the 1800's. Her writing was strongly influenced by Nebraska's immigrant settlers.
Benjamin Singleton	Leader of African American pioneers known as exodusters, who moved to the Great Plains after the Civil War.
George Shima	Immigrant farmer from Japan who produced 80 percent of California's potato crop, becoming known as the "Potato King."
pioneer	Early settler of a region.
Homestead Act	Law signed in 1862 offering free land to people willing to start new farms on the Great Plains.
homesteaders	Settlers who claimed land on the Great Plains under the Homestead Act.
sodbuster	Great Plains farmer of the late 1800's who had to cut through sod, or thick grass, before planting crops.
exoduster	Name for African American pioneers who moved to the Great Plains after the Civil War.
technology	Use of new ideas to make tools that improve people's lives.