Chapter 5
About this set
Created by:
Kevingeeza on January 15, 2012
Subjects:
Description:
Semester 1 final
Log in to favorite or report as inappropriate.
Order by
18 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Great Plains | vast grassland between the mississippi river and the rocky mountains |
| frontier | the free, open land in the American West that was available for settlement |
| Midwest | the north central region of the United States (sometimes called the heartland or the breadbasket of America) |
| Middle America | refers to Americans who live by the traditional middle:class values |
| Dawes 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 |
| End of the Indian Wars | over by 1890, last battle - Wounded Knee, Sioux left the reservation and when trying to discharge a fire arm went off and it was a massacre. Indians were given citizenship 1901-1924 |
| Chisholm Trail | the major long drive route north from Texas to Ablilene, Kansas, where cowboys drove herds of cattle to the railroads to be shipped back East for huge profits |
| Barbed Wire | Used to fence in land on the Great Plains, eventually leading to the end of the open frontier. |
| Transcontinental Railroad | Railroad that stretches across a continent from coast to coast |
| Homestead Act 1862 | this allowed a settler to acquire 160 acres by living on it for five years, improving it and paying about $30 |
| Oklahoma Land Rush | 1889; former Indian lands;opened up for settlement, resulting in a race to lay claim for a homestead (Boomers and Sooners) |
| Bonanza Farms | These were large farms on which single families could use newly developed machines to produce large profits. The bonanza farm era ended quickly, as the soil was depleted by 25 years of continuous wheat growing, prices changed, and huge farms proved too expensive to maintain. Never intendeded as long-term investments, but get-rich-quick schemes, the bonanza farms were doomed and ended by the Great Depression. |
| Monopoly of Railroads | The railroads had all the power, because they controlled all the prices. Since the new residents of the West could not survive without the use of the railroads, they were forced to pay whatever rates the raildroad companies set. With these huge stores of capital, the railroad companies were able to finance political campaigns through whatever and whomever was needed in government. With this control in Washington, there was no way to stop the overwhelming control of this industry over society. The entire nation was subject to the whims of this monopoly. Led to the creation of the interstate commerce commission. |
| interstate commerce commission | the 1st independent regulatory agency ; created in 1887 to bring order to the growing patchwork(granger laws) of state laws concerning railroads. marked a shift in the balence of power from states to fed. govt. |
| Cycle of debt of farmers | When wheat is cheap they have to grow A LOT to make money, they have to buy more and more land to compete with Bonanza Farms, they owe lots of money. |
| Grange | Social and educational organization through which farmers attempted to combat the power of the railroads in the late 19th century. |
| Populists Party | demanded that people have a greater voice in government and saught to advance the interests of farmers and laborers |
| Bimetallism | a monetary system in which the government would give citizens either gold or silver in exchange for paper currency or checks |
First Time Here?
Welcome to Quizlet, a fun, free place to study. Try these flashcards, find others to study, or make your own.