Deck 13: The Way West

Question 1

Which statement about population growth in the period of 1800-1850 is NOT true?

A) The national base population increased by almost five times.
B) The percentage of Americans living in the West grew slowly.
C) Through purchase and conquest, the land area of the nation more than tripled.
D) Large families became the norm in rural society.

Answer 1

The percentage of Americans living in the West grew slowly.

Question 2

During the years of the Jeffersonian Republicans, the government's land policies:

A) focused mainly on the commercial farmers of the mid-Atlantic region.
B) attempted to aid Americans who wished to become freeholders.
C) made it more difficult for small farmers to purchase land in the West.
D) guaranteed that a migrant farmer in the West would become wealthy.

Answer 2

attempted to aid Americans who wished to become freeholders.

Question 3

Migration into the Old Northwest was characterized by:

A) a rapid period of movement that slowed after the War of 1812.
B) the dominant spread of commercial farming in the region.
C) not enough land in the East.
D) the spreading of the many folkways of migrants from the East.

Answer 3

the spreading of the many folkways of migrants from the East.

Question 4

A consistent pattern of movement into the Old Northwest was:

A) the tendency of northerners and southerners to settle, respectively, in northern and southern sections of the Old Northwest.
B) the loss of northern and southern cultural practices and identities as migrants settled without considering regional concerns.
C) less antagonism regarding the issue of slavery because virtually all migrants to the Old Northwest were members of the Whig Party.
D) to bypass attempts to become a small freeholder, and buy large amounts of cheap land in the attempt to establish a commercial farm.

Question 5

Local associations known as claims clubs:

A) worked to stop slavery from spreading to the West.
B) promoted an increase in profits for speculators.
C) enforced extralegal property rights for squatters.
D) showed the national government's commitment to promoting slavery.

Question 6

Which product became the Old Northwest's major cash crop for the northern market?

A) corn
B) hogs
C) soybeans
D) wheat

Question 7

Westerners promoted industrialization in the East:

A) by providing food for the growing workforce of the East.
B) by demonstrating methods of industrial success in western iron mills.
C) by sending many young people to work in eastern factories.
D) by investing large amounts of capital in eastern manufacturing.

Question 8

Which state was the last one to gain statehood in the Old Northwest?

A) Ohio
B) Indiana
C) Illinois
D) Wisconsin

Question 9

What pattern in the location of slavery occurred in the period of 1790-1860?

A) an increase in the overall percentage of slavery located in the South Atlantic region
B) a decrease in the use of slaves in both the South Atlantic and Old Southwest regions
C) a rejection of the use of slavery in the Old Southwest while it increased elsewhere
D) a large movement of slavery from the South Atlantic to the Old Southwest

Question 10

Which of the following was NOT a territory in 1850?

A) New Mexico
B) Minnesota
C) Oregon
D) Wisconsin

Question 11

Short-staple cotton became a major profit-maker for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:

A) Eli Whitney's cotton gin made it easier to remove its abundant amount of sticky seeds.
B) the majority of settlers in the Old Southwest owned large plantations that grew it.
C) it could be grown easily in various growing conditions.
D) England was a major market for the product.

Question 12

By the 1840s, over half the value of American exports was derived from:

A) corn.
B) wheat.
C) rice.
D) cotton.

Question 13

Keys to the wealth of the Old Southwest included all of the following EXCEPT:

A) abundant, fertile land.
B) the use of slave labor.
C) the growth of nonagricultural pursuits.
D) the successful growth of cotton as an export.

Question 14

The Southwest Ordinance allowed slavery in all territories south of the ______ River.

A) Platte
B) Ohio
C) Colorado
D) Missouri

Question 15

Whites had originally been reluctant to settle on the western plains because:

A) they had no desire to see the spread of freehold farming.
B) they felt guilty about displacing eastern Indians into that region.
C) they believed the region had little potential for agriculture.
D) land on the western plains was extraordinarily expensive.

Question 16

All of the following were hunting and raiding tribes which lived on the open plains EXCEPT the:

A) Hidatsas.
B) Crows.
C) Arapahos.
D) western Sioux.

Question 17

Which two tribes were defeated by whites in Black Hawk's War?

A) the Sioux and the Cheyennes
B) the Pawnees and the Chippewas
C) the Cherokees and the Creeks
D) the Sauks and the Foxes

Question 18

Before 1850, which of the following was the dominant power in the north and central Great Plains?

A) whites who had migrated from the South
B) the Cherokees who had been removed from their homeland
C) the United States cavalry
D) the warrior-hunters of the Sioux tribe

Question 19

What differences in the fighting of war existed between whites and the Plains Indians?

A) The Plains Indians rejected the white man's use of horses in battle.
B) The Plains Indians fought to show honor rather than killing many enemies.
C) Whites often engaged in war while the Plains Indians were pacifists.
D) Whites fought for moral reasons and never for the control of land.

Question 20

What were the two products traded by branches of the Sioux tribe at the yearly trade fair?

A) buffalo robes and corn
B) beaver pelts and buffalo robes
C) horses and beaver pelts
D) corn and rifles

Question 21

Even under ideal conditions, the journey on the Oregon Trail took about:

A) two weeks.
B) two months.
C) six months.
D) one year.

Question 22

A treaty signed in 1818 created joint control of the Oregon Territory by the United States and:

A) Great Britain.
B) the Nez-Perces Indians.
C) the Sioux Indians.
D) France.

Question 23

White settlement in Oregon had all of the following effects on the Cayuses Indians EXCEPT:

A) the spread of a virulent measles epidemic.
B) the use of the Cayuses as farm laborers for whites.
C) the rejection of Christianity by the Cayuses.
D) the eventual extermination of the Cayuses.

Question 24

Overland immigration to the trans-Mississippi West was highest in:

A) 1840.
B) 1844.
C) 1847.
D) 1852.

Question 25

Which town was a starting point on the Oregon Trail in 1842?

A) Milwaukee, Wisconsin
B) Terre Haute, Indiana
C) Independence, Missouri
D) Amarillo, Texas

Question 26

The greatest cause of the 5,000 deaths that occurred on the Oregon Trail was:

A) lack of water.
B) starvation.
C) disease.
D) Indian raids.

Question 27

The results of the Fort Laramie Treaty included:

A) only a brief standoff between the Sioux and the U.S. government.
B) a thirty-year period of peace between the Sioux and whites.
C) more respect for the religion of the Sioux by whites.
D) the purchase of the entire Great Plains by the U.S. government.

Question 28

Mestizos were usually a mixture of:

A) African-American and European-American.
B) Indian and African-American.
C) Indian and Spanish.
D) Spanish and English.

Question 29

In the early part of the nineteenth century, the largest concentration of Indians in the Southwest region was in:

A) New Mexico.
B) Utah.
C) Arizona.
D) California.

Question 30

In California in the 1760s, full-scale agriculture was practiced only by:

A) the Yumans along the Colorado River.
B) the Paiutes in the Owens Valley.
C) the Yana in the foothills of the Sacramento Valley.
D) the Yurok along the coast of far northern California.

Question 31

All of the following statements are true about the Hopi Indians EXCEPT:

A) they incorporated aspects of Catholicism into their religious rituals and beliefs.
B) they occupied some of their dwellings over a period of about 500 years.
C) they abandoned their polytheism in favor of the Spaniards' monotheism.
D) corn and beans were the staples in their irrigation-based agriculture.

Question 32

The Comanches were known for:

A) the adobe homes that they constructed in Arizona and New Mexico.
B) their refusal to use firearms in their method of warfare.
C) growing beans, corn, and wheat through intensive agriculture.
D) being master horsemen and among the greatest warriors in the West.

Question 33

Which statement about Mexico's approach to early American settlers in Texas is NOT true?

A) The Mexican government saw the Americans as protection against Indian attacks.
B) The Mexican government required that settlers promise to accept Mexican citizenship.
C) The Mexican government sold land only in small portions to American settlers.
D) The Mexican government required that settlers promise to convert to Catholicism.

Question 34

Which practice did settlers bring to Texas that was illegal under Mexican law?

A) the sale of huge tracts of land
B) slavery
C) commercial farming
D) land speculation

Question 35

Tejano was the term for:

A) Spanish-speaking Mexicans born in Texas.
B) Indians of the southwestern tribes.
C) American settlers in Texas.
D) American settlers in Texas who accepted Mexican citizenship.

Question 36

What happened immediately after General Santa Anna was elected as president of Mexico?

A) Texas declared it was part of the United States.
B) He overturned the liberal constitution and became a dictator.
C) Tejanos immediately attacked his forces at Mexico City.
D) Sam Houston crossed the Rio Grande with American forces.

Question 37

The Mexican army annihilated defenders at:

A) the Alamo and San Jacinto.
B) San Jacinto and Mexico City.
C) the Alamo and Goliad.
D) the Nueces River and the Alamo.

Question 38

The Battle of San Jacinto:

A) established the independence of Texas.
B) resulted in the slaughter of Texans who had surrendered.
C) showed that Mexico could not challenge Zachary Taylor.
D) solved the border dispute between Mexico and the United States.

Question 39

Juan Cortina instigated a rebellion in 1859:

A) that was ultimately successful.
B) in northern New Mexico.
C) because Mexicans in American territory were abused by white Americans.
D) that eventually led to the Mexican-American War.

Question 40

While the Texans were fighting Mexico, they were also fighting:

A) England.
B) the American cavalry.
C) France.
D) the Comanches.

Question 41

The Comanches in Texas were subdued:

A) by Mexicans prior to Americans immigrating to Texas.
B) by Texans during the 1830s.
C) by American soldiers during the Mexican-American War.
D) by American soldiers after the Civil War.

Question 42

In the 1820s and 1830s, the missions in California:

A) enslaved even more Indians.
B) saw much of their land turned into rancheros.
C) expanded their influence over events in California.
D) converted nearly all the Indians to Christianity.

Question 43

The Santa Fe Trail:

A) led to the Oregon Territory.
B) encouraged closer ties between settlers and the Mexican government.
C) opened the door to the eventual American takeover of New Mexico.
D) did not infringe on the land of Native Americans.

Question 44

After facing great prejudice, the Mormons decided to settle in:

A) California.
B) Iowa.
C) Utah.
D) New Mexico.

Question 45

Mormons in Utah came under the control of the United States in:

A) 1844.
B) 1848.
C) 1865.
D) 1885.

Question 46

The cornerstone of President Polk's foreign policy was:

A) the acquisition of California.
B) promoting close economic ties with England.
C) neutrality in the war between Spain and England.
D) protective tariffs to promote American industry.

Question 47

During the Mexican-American War, the most adamant expansionists called for the American takeover of:

A) Panama.
B) Cuba.
C) Canada.
D) Mexico.

Question 48

Manifest Destiny was used to justify:

A) the acquisition of foreign territories in the late 1890s.
B) America's entry into World War I.
C) America's entry into World War II.
D) America's involvement in Vietnam.

Question 49

The appeal of Manifest Destiny peaked in the:

A) 1810s.
B) 1840s.
C) 1870s.
D) 1920s.

Question 50

Results of the Mexican War included all of the following EXCEPT:

A) the American acquisition of territory north of the Rio Grande in Texas.
B) a $15-million dollar "war guilt" payment made by Mexico to the United States.
C) the granting of U.S. citizenship to Mexicans living in newly acquired territories.
D) the American acquisition of Alta California and New Mexico.

Question 51

The actual fighting of the Mexican War began when American forces moved into:

A) the borderland region at the mouth of the Rio Grande River.
B) Alta California.
C) the valleys just east of the Colorado River.
D) central Mexico.

Question 52

Polk's offer to buy California for $30 million dollars:

A) fell apart when Mexico refused to receive Polk's representative.
B) came at a time when Mexico City was about to fall.
C) was accepted by Mexico, but then rejected after the Battle of the Alamo.
D) was greeted by furious protest from leaders of the Democratic Party.

Question 53

The Americans launched a successful amphibious assault upon:

A) Mexico City.
B) towns near the Nueces River.
C) Vera Cruz.
D) Utah.

Question 54

Which of the following happened first?

A) Fort Laramie Treaty signed
B) Mormons arrive in Utah
C) United States annexes Texas
D) Mexico wins independence

Question 55

Which of the following events happened last?

A) Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
B) American-British agreement on Oregon
C) Texas independence
D) creation of Indian Territory by Congress

Question 56

What did Americans mean by Manifest Destiny?

Question 57

Define the following terms: mestizo, criollo, Californio, and Tejano.

Question 58

Why did President Jefferson tell Lewis and Clark to "cultivate good relations with the Sioux"? How did Lewis
and Clark describe this large tribe on the Great Plains?

Question 59

In what way did Manifest Destiny combine with the pride that some Americans felt in their Anglo-cultural
roots?

Question 60

Why did the location of American slavery shift in the period of 1790-1850?

Question 61

Describe the native cultures of two Indian tribes that show both their uniqueness among Indian cultures in the West and their differences with European-American culture.

Question 62

What factors accounted for the massive westward movement of Americans?

Question 63

Who was responsible for the outbreak of the Mexican War? Cite specific examples to support your claim.

Question 64

How did westward expansion antagonize relations between the American North and South, and foreshadow further conflict between the two regions?

Question 65

Address the following statement: "Manifest Destiny was not an act of providence, but was instead a self-fulfilling prophecy of American expansionism."