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Unit 4 - The Great West

Key Concepts:

Terms in this set (13)

Pacific Railway Act (1862)
A series of laws that promoted the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad authorizing the issuance of government bonds and the grants of land to railroad companies.
Transcontinental Railroad
Railroad line that linked the eastern railroad system with California's railroad system; constructed by the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads; completed in 1869 at Promontory, Utah.
Historical Significance:
Established a mechanized transcontinental transportation network that revolutionized the population and economy of the American West.
Homestead Act (1862)
Encouraged westward expansion by allowing a settler to acquire as much as 160 acres of land by living on it for 5 years, improving it, and paying a nominal fee of about $30.
Bonanza Farms
Large, 15,000-50,000 acre, single crop farms; came to dominate agricultural life in much of the West in the late 1800s.
Exodusters
Name given to the former slaves who migrated from the South to the West following the Civil War.
Buffalo Soldiers
Name given to African American soldiers who served in the U.S. Army on the western frontier and fought in the Indian Wars (1854-1890).
Sand Creek Massacre (1864)
Event at which Colonel John Chivington and his troops attacked and destroyed a village of friendly Cheyenne and Arapaho encamped in southeastern Colorado Territory; killed over 150 inhabitants, about two-thirds of whom were women and children.
Battle of Little Big Horn (1876)
Battle at which Colonel George Custer's forces clashed with nearly 4000 well armed Sioux warriors led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull; Custer and more than 250 of his men were killed; U.S. reinforcements chased Sitting Bull to Canada where he received political asylum until hunger forced him to return.
A Century of Dishonor (1881)
A non-fiction book by Helen Hunt Jackson that chronicles the experiences of Native Americans in the U.S.
Historical Significance:
Led to the passage of the Dawes Act in 1887.
Dawes Severalty Act (1887)
Legislation that allotted each head of household 160 acres of land; land deemed to be "surplus" beyond what was needed for allotment was opened to white settlers with the proceeds invested in education programs; designed to encourage the breakup of the tribes and promote the assimilation of Native Americans into American society.
Historical Significance:
Native Americans lost about 90 million acres of treaty land.
Ghost Dance
A ritual dance performed by some members of the Sioux tribe in an effort bring back the buffalo and return the Native American tribes to their land.
Historical Significance:
Contributed to the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890.
Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)
The last major encounter between Native Americans and the U.S. Army.
Historical Significance:
Remembered today as one of the great injustices perpetrated against Native Americans by the U.S. government.
Frederick Jackson Turner
American historian in the early 20th century best known for his essay "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" in which he argued that the spirit and success of the United States was directly tied to the country's westward expansion.
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