Question 1

Why did the Homestead Act of 1862 fail?

Accepted Answer

A)  It charged too much for government land. 
B)  The land allotments were insufficient for farming arid land. 
C)  It did not adequately convert Native Americans to farming. 
D)  Gold was discovered on land set aside for farming. 
E)  Too few settlers were willing to migrate to the West. 
A)  It charged too much for government land. 
B)  The land allotments were insufficient for farming arid land. 
C)  It did not adequately convert Native Americans to farming. 
D)  Gold was discovered on land set aside for farming. 
E)  Too few settlers were willing to migrate to the West.

Question 2

The final blow to Native American tribal life on the Plains was________	.

Accepted Answer

A)  the deaths of the major Native American leaders 
B)  the extermination of the buffalo herds 
C)  incessant tribal warfare 
D)  the reservation system 
E)  the introduction of crop farming 
A)  the deaths of the major Native American leaders 
B)  the extermination of the buffalo herds 
C)  incessant tribal warfare 
D)  the reservation system 
E)  the introduction of crop farming

Question 3

After the buffalo, the most important animal to the Plains Indians was the________	.

Accepted Answer

A)  dog 
B)  elk 
C)  deer 
D)  horse 
E)  jackrabbit 
A)  dog 
B)  elk 
C)  deer 
D)  horse 
E)  jackrabbit

Question 4

By 1880, there were approximately________	Native Americans in California.

Accepted Answer

A)  20,000 
B)  30,000 
C)  40,000 
D)  50,000 
E)  60,000 
A)  20,000 
B)  30,000 
C)  40,000 
D)  50,000 
E)  60,000

Question 5

The individual largely responsible for developing the "trail drive" was________	.

Accepted Answer

A)  William Hickok 
B)  Joseph G. McCoy 
C)  Charles Goodnight 
D)  Henry Comstock 
E)  Hank Chisolm 
A)  William Hickok 
B)  Joseph G. McCoy 
C)  Charles Goodnight 
D)  Henry Comstock 
E)  Hank Chisolm

Question 6

What was significant about the Big Bonanza?

Accepted Answer

A)  It made Henry Comstock the richest man in the world. 
B)  It was the largest wheat farm on the Great Plains. 
C)  It was discovered near Pike's Peak in California. 
D)  It was the richest discovery in the history of mining. 
E)  It indirectly led to an uprising of Sioux Indians. 
A)  It made Henry Comstock the richest man in the world. 
B)  It was the largest wheat farm on the Great Plains. 
C)  It was discovered near Pike's Peak in California. 
D)  It was the richest discovery in the history of mining. 
E)  It indirectly led to an uprising of Sioux Indians.

Question 7

How did barbed wire transform the lives of farmers on the Great Plains?

Accepted Answer

A)  It allowed farmers to establish the boundaries of their farms, which previously had not been possible. 
B)  It made it possible for farmers to leave their farms for extended periods of time. 
C)  It helped farmers get cattle to northern markets along the cattle trails. 
D)  It kept Native Americans away from their farms so that their land was protected. 
E)  It allowed farmers to pen their animals and keep other animals off their land. 
A)  It allowed farmers to establish the boundaries of their farms, which previously had not been possible. 
B)  It made it possible for farmers to leave their farms for extended periods of time. 
C)  It helped farmers get cattle to northern markets along the cattle trails. 
D)  It kept Native Americans away from their farms so that their land was protected. 
E)  It allowed farmers to pen their animals and keep other animals off their land.

Question 8

What does the following quotation mean with regard to western migration: "The quest for something new would take place in the context of the very familiar"?

Accepted Answer

A)  Families would only migrate to the West after they had sent an individual ahead who would report back to them. 
B)  People only migrated in family groups if they already had family established out West. 
C)  Families tended to travel back and forth between their old homes and their new homes until they felt entirely comfortable out West. 
D)  Most families who traveled to the West had experience with migration before, and thus the trip was nothing new to them. 
E)  People made every effort to keep their migration experience as familiar as possible, including traveling in family groups. 
A)  Families would only migrate to the West after they had sent an individual ahead who would report back to them. 
B)  People only migrated in family groups if they already had family established out West. 
C)  Families tended to travel back and forth between their old homes and their new homes until they felt entirely comfortable out West. 
D)  Most families who traveled to the West had experience with migration before, and thus the trip was nothing new to them. 
E)  People made every effort to keep their migration experience as familiar as possible, including traveling in family groups.

Question 9

The so-called "final fling" of settlement on the frontier occurred in________	.

Accepted Answer

A)  California 
B)  Oklahoma 
C)  Missouri 
D)  Oregon 
E)  Arizona 
A)  California 
B)  Oklahoma 
C)  Missouri 
D)  Oregon 
E)  Arizona

Question 10

________	 was the first major industry to attract large numbers of people to the West.

Accepted Answer

A)  Cattle ranching 
B)  Farming 
C)  Fur trapping 
D)  Herding 
E)  Mining 
A)  Cattle ranching 
B)  Farming 
C)  Fur trapping 
D)  Herding 
E)  Mining

Question 11

A dominant issue in the western Great Plains was control of________	.

Accepted Answer

A)  gold and silver mines 
B)  grazing rights 
C)  water 
D)  the land 
E)  the routes of the great cattle drives 
A)  gold and silver mines 
B)  grazing rights 
C)  water 
D)  the land 
E)  the routes of the great cattle drives

Question 12

Approximately 50 percent of cowboys driving the great herds from Texas to city markets in the 1870s were________	.

Accepted Answer

A)  Asian Americans 
B)  African Americans and Mexicans 
C)  Europeans 
D)  Native Americans 
E)  women 
A)  Asian Americans 
B)  African Americans and Mexicans 
C)  Europeans 
D)  Native Americans 
E)  women

Question 13

Why is it inaccurate to say that everyone who settled in the American West in the 1870s and 1880s traveled westward?

Accepted Answer

A)  Many people in the Northwest traveled southeast to the Great Plains. 
B)  Mexicans traveled north and Asians traveled east to settle in the West. 
C)  Mexicans traveled east from California to settle in the Great Plains. 
D)  Western Europeans traveled east in order to settle in the West. 
E)  Asians in the west traveled east to reach the Great Plains. 
A)  Many people in the Northwest traveled southeast to the Great Plains. 
B)  Mexicans traveled north and Asians traveled east to settle in the West. 
C)  Mexicans traveled east from California to settle in the Great Plains. 
D)  Western Europeans traveled east in order to settle in the West. 
E)  Asians in the west traveled east to reach the Great Plains.

Question 14

The Plains tribes were________	.

Accepted Answer

A)  sedentary and pacific 
B)  fishermen and farmers 
C)  nomadic and warlike 
D)  practitioners of human sacrifice 
E)  builders of great cities 
A)  sedentary and pacific 
B)  fishermen and farmers 
C)  nomadic and warlike 
D)  practitioners of human sacrifice 
E)  builders of great cities

Question 15

Frederick Jackson Turner was________	.

Accepted Answer

A)  founder of the National Grange 
B)  the historian who first developed the frontier thesis 
C)  the most notorious of the western badmen 
D)  the discoverer of the Comstock Lode 
E)  a famous wagon train boss 
A)  founder of the National Grange 
B)  the historian who first developed the frontier thesis 
C)  the most notorious of the western badmen 
D)  the discoverer of the Comstock Lode 
E)  a famous wagon train boss

Question 16

Why was the late-nineteenth-century southwestern frontier largely Spanish American?

Accepted Answer

A)  The heavy Spanish influence there was due to the original Spanish settlers. 
B)  There were very few Anglo Americans who wanted to settle the southwest. 
C)  It was originally part of Mexico, and many Mexicans still had communities there. 
D)  Mexico did not allow people from the eastern United States to settle there. 
E)  English settlers were reluctant to learn Spanish, so they settled elsewhere. 
A)  The heavy Spanish influence there was due to the original Spanish settlers. 
B)  There were very few Anglo Americans who wanted to settle the southwest. 
C)  It was originally part of Mexico, and many Mexicans still had communities there. 
D)  Mexico did not allow people from the eastern United States to settle there. 
E)  English settlers were reluctant to learn Spanish, so they settled elsewhere.

Question 17

By the late nineteenth century, ranching was changing as________	.

Accepted Answer

A)  ranchers were fencing off their lands 
B)  experienced cowboys abandoned ranches in favor of factory jobs 
C)  ranches were getting smaller 
D)  ranchers switched to farming corn 
E)  cattle shipped from Mexico became cheaper than American cattle 
A)  ranchers were fencing off their lands 
B)  experienced cowboys abandoned ranches in favor of factory jobs 
C)  ranches were getting smaller 
D)  ranchers switched to farming corn 
E)  cattle shipped from Mexico became cheaper than American cattle

Question 18

What was one of the results of the rapid increase in cultivated acreage during the latter half of the nineteenth century?

Accepted Answer

A)  higher tariffs on farm products 
B)  lower prices for farm products 
C)  a decrease in demand for farm machinery 
D)  an increase in land values 
E)  a decrease in land values 
A)  higher tariffs on farm products 
B)  lower prices for farm products 
C)  a decrease in demand for farm machinery 
D)  an increase in land values 
E)  a decrease in land values

Question 19

The Plains Indians________	.

Accepted Answer

A)  were organized into one large and powerful tribal group 
B)  were an insignificant proportion of the total Native American population in the United States in 1870 
C)  were a complex of tribes, cultures, and bands that assigned most work on the basis of gender 
D)  were at a distinct disadvantage when fighting whites because of their weapons 
E)  had advanced farming techniques and complex building structures 
A)  were organized into one large and powerful tribal group 
B)  were an insignificant proportion of the total Native American population in the United States in 1870 
C)  were a complex of tribes, cultures, and bands that assigned most work on the basis of gender 
D)  were at a distinct disadvantage when fighting whites because of their weapons 
E)  had advanced farming techniques and complex building structures

Question 20

The socioeconomic life of the Plains tribes revolved around________	.

Accepted Answer

A)  the sun 
B)  grain cultivation 
C)  the buffalo 
D)  the elk 
E)  war 
A)  the sun 
B)  grain cultivation 
C)  the buffalo 
D)  the elk 
E)  war

Exam 17: The West: Exploiting an Empire, 1849-1902

Why did the Homestead Act of 1862 fail?

The final blow to Native American tribal life on the Plains was________ .

After the buffalo, the most important animal to the Plains Indians was the________ .

By 1880, there were approximately________ Native Americans in California.

The individual largely responsible for developing the "trail drive" was________ .

What was significant about the Big Bonanza?

How did barbed wire transform the lives of farmers on the Great Plains?

What does the following quotation mean with regard to western migration: "The quest for something new would take place in the context of the very familiar"?

The so-called "final fling" of settlement on the frontier occurred in________ .

________ was the first major industry to attract large numbers of people to the West.

A dominant issue in the western Great Plains was control of________ .

Approximately 50 percent of cowboys driving the great herds from Texas to city markets in the 1870s were________ .

Why is it inaccurate to say that everyone who settled in the American West in the 1870s and 1880s traveled westward?

The Plains tribes were________ .

Frederick Jackson Turner was________ .

Why was the late-nineteenth-century southwestern frontier largely Spanish American?

By the late nineteenth century, ranching was changing as________ .

What was one of the results of the rapid increase in cultivated acreage during the latter half of the nineteenth century?

The Plains Indians________ .

The socioeconomic life of the Plains tribes revolved around________ .

New World Encounters, Preconquest - 1608

Englands New World Experiments, 1607 - 1732

Putting Down Roots: Opportunity and Oppression in Colonial Society, 1619 - 1692

Experience of Empire: Eighteenth-Century America, 1680 - 1763

The American Revolution: From Elite Protest to Popular Revolt, 1763-1783

The Republican Experiment, 1783-1788

Democracy and Dissent: the Violence of Party Politics, 1788-1800

Republican Ascendancy: the Jeffersonian Vision, 1800-1814

Nation Building and Nationalism, 1815-1825

The Triumph of White Mens Democracy, 1824-1840

Slaves and Masters, 1793-1861

The Pursuit of Perfection, 1800-1861

An Age of Expansionism, 1830-1861

The Sectional Crisis, 1846-1861

Secession and the Civil War, 1860-1865

The Agony of Reconstruction, 1865-1877

The Industrial Society, 1850-1901

Toward an Urban Society, 1877-1900

Political Realignments, 1876-1901

Toward Empire, 1865-1902

The Progressive Era, 1895-1917

From Roosevelt to Wilson in the Age of Progressivism, 1900-1920

The Nation at War, 1901-1920

Transition to Modern America, 1919-1928

Franklin D Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1929-1939

America and the World, 1921-1945

The Onset of the Cold War, 1945-1960

Affluence and Anxiety, 1945-1960

The Turbulent Sixties, 1960-1968

To a New Conservatism, 1969-1988

Into the Twenty-First Century, 1989-2010

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