Name: ___________________________________________
Westward Expansion Test Study Guide
Block:
1. Label the political region settlers traveled to
during Westward Expansion
The Mid West
2. Describe the physical features of the Great Plains in 10 words or less.
Flat grasslands, little rain, treeless, windy, frequent dust-storms and tornados, eroded soil
3. Draw a picture of each of the 5 reasons people moved WEST:
Adventure
_____________
Gold and Silver
_____________
New start for
Freedmen
New Technology
_____________
4. Which 3 advancements were the most helpful? Why?
Invention
WHY
5. Which advancement was the least helpful? Why?
Invention
WHY
Land Ownership
_____________
Name: ___________________________________________
Block:
6. List 2 benefits of the Transcontinental Railroad?
Transported people and goods quicker, made trade easier, started building factories in the West
7. Who helped build the railroad? (3 groups of people)
The Chinese, African-Americans, and the Irish
8. Explain the reason Native Americans lost land during the westward expansion era?
Native Americans were forced to move to reservations because of government treaties
9. What is a reservation?
A small piece of government land set aside for Native Americans
10. How did Americans force Native Americans to assimilate?
1. Deliberate reduction of buffalo herds to force them to move off their hunting grounds to reservations
2. Efforts to get Native Americans to become settled farmers – settlers wanted the land to be used more
“productively”
11. What happened to Native Americans as a result of warfare and disease?
Many Native Americans were killed by warfare with the U.S. military and diseases brought by western settlers
12. Complete the chart below. What actions did each leader take as a result of forced relocation?
Leader:
Sitting Bull
Action taken:
Fought against Col. Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn after fleeing his
reservation to Montana
Chief Joseph
After being forced onto a reservation in Idaho (1/10 of the size of their
original land) Chief Joseph led a group of 750 Native Americans out of
Idaho, escaping the reservation. General Oliver Howard was then ordered to
bring them back to the reservation. Chief Joseph and others were caught
and surrendered at Bear’s Paw Mountain.
Geronimo
As Americans moved further west, Geronimo led several attacks on U.S. The
Apache believed Geronimo had special powers - for example, believed he
could walk without leaving tracks. After many battles, Apache were forced to
surrender to the U.S. in 1886 in Arizona
13. Summarize what happened at each event.
Battle of Little Bighorn: Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse and their tribe fled their reservation to Montana. Col. George
Custer and troops were sent in to drive the Native Americans back to their reservation. They met 2,000 warriors
(largest Indian force ever gathered in the Plains). Custer was killed during the fighting.
Massacre at Wounded Knee: After Col. Custer was killed at Little Bighorn, U.S. Army was sent in to capture
Sitting Bull. He was killed along with 120 men, 230 women and children at a creek call Wounded Knee. The
Massacre at Wounded Knee was the last major episode of violence in Native American wars.
Name: ___________________________________________
Block:
“Hear me my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”
~Chief Joseph
14. Explain what this quotation above means?
Due to all of the fighting, the fleeing, and constant mistreatment of his people, Chief Joseph is saying he cannot
fight anymore. He is upset at the ordeal his people had to go through.
15. What impact did settlement in the Great Plains have on the U.S. economy?
Answer in your own words.