Question 1

Why did reformers draw a parallel between the treatment of slaves and Indians? How did the reformers justify the drastic reductions of Indian reservation lands?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Why did reformers draw a parallel between...

Question 2

Landownership is part of the "American dream." Describe the acts of Congress that played a part in redistributing western land. Were those acts successful in distributing the land equally among the common people? Why or why not?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Landownership is part of the "American dream."...

Question 3

Although Wild West Shows celebrated cowboys as quintessentially American, in truth they shared much in common with the

Accepted Answer

The American cowboy tradition was significantly influenced by the Mexican vaqueros and Argentinean gauchos, from whom they adopted many practices, techniques, and elements of culture related to cattle ranching and horsemanship.

Question 4

How was Indian life on the Great Plains transformed in the second half of the nineteenth century?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How was Indian life on the Great...

Question 5

How did ranchers and settlers displace Spanish-speaking Americans in the Southwest?

Accepted Answer

The answer of How did ranchers and settlers displace Spanish-speaking...

Question 6

Which of the following nineteenth-century federal Indian policies is correctly is paired with what it did?

Accepted Answer

The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 aimed to assimilate Native Americans into American society by dividing communal tribal lands into individual allotments for Native American families and individuals, with the surplus land sold to American settlers.

Question 7

What roles did the federal government, the army, and the railroads play in the settlement of the West?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What roles did the federal government, the...

Question 8

What discoveries and developments prompted the establishment of national parks?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What discoveries and developments prompted the establishment...

Question 9

What methods did the United States government use to remove Indians from western land so that non-Indians could use it? In what ways did the various Indian tribes react to these methods?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What methods did the United States government...

Question 10

What was the role of the railroad in westward expansion and economic development? Did settlers have a positive or negative view of the railroad? Why?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What was the role of the railroad...

Question 11

What traditions shaped open-range ranching in the Americas? What was its environmental impact?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What traditions shaped open-range ranching in the...

Question 12

Describe the "mythic frontiersman" and give examples of how this character has been portrayed in American culture. Did myths about the frontier reflect reality or an idealized version of frontier life? Why have Americans had such a fondness for the frontier myth? How did this myth influence the conservation movement?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe the "mythic frontiersman" and give examples...

Question 13

Explore living conditions for American settlers to the Plains. What problems did they have in traveling to a homestead? Why was setting up a successful homestead so difficult? Why was homesteading particularly difficult for women?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explore living conditions for American settlers to...

Question 14

How did whites attempt to control and change Indians? What was the government policy towards where Indians should live? How did some Americans and government officials try to transform Indians? How successful were they? Explain.

Accepted Answer

The answer of How did whites attempt to control and...

Question 15

Describe the "boom-bust" economic cycles of mining, cattle ranching, and farming. What economic and environmental factors contributed to this pattern? How did these cycles affect settlers in the West?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe the "boom-bust" economic cycles of mining,...

Question 16

The 1898 Curtis Act

Accepted Answer

The 1898 Curtis Act dissolved the Indian Territory and abolished tribal governments, which was part of the United States government's efforts to assimilate Native Americans into American society.

Question 17

Historian Frederick Jackson Turner's "frontier thesis" saw the frontier as the key to understanding American history. Elaborate on Turner's belief that the American character was largely determined by the existence of a frontier. Do you agree or disagree with Turner? Explain why.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Historian Frederick Jackson Turner's "frontier thesis" saw...

Question 18

Examine what role religion had in the settlement of the West. What Americans moved West because of religious reasons, and what were their experiences? How did the government assist or hamper the success of their settlements?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Examine what role religion had in the...

Question 19

For the most part, white Americans found Indian culture to be very alien. In what ways did Indian culture (practices and beliefs) differ from that of whites? How did the encroachment of whites affect Indian culture?

Accepted Answer

The answer of For the most part, white Americans found...

Question 20

What was the popular mythic image of the cowboy, the vaquero , and the gaucho? How was the Wild West image of cowboys and Indians created?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What was the popular mythic image of...

Quiz 17: The Transformation of the Trans-Mississippi West