Chapter 16 The Conquest of the Far West Practice Questions

Which of the following best describes the work of the Rocky Mountain School painters? a) innocent b) gritty c) dramatic d) surrealistic

c)

How did the Homestead Act encourage Western migration? a) It made nondurable land more affordable b) it made land cheaper only for settlers who irrigated it c) it gave settlers land in exchange for working on railroad tracks d) it gave settlers land in exchange for occupying it and a small fee

d)

What fencing material revolutionized agriculture on the prairies and plains? a) split rails b) chain link c) pickets d) barbed wire e) chicken wire

d)

What happened to the Californios who dominated California prior to the gold rush of 1849? a) Most died due to epidemic diseases brought in by miners b) The ones who could speak English adapted well and continued to dominate real estate ownership c) Most emigrated back to Mexico or Arizona d) Many lost statues and land were excluded from the prosperity of the statehood period e) They became merchants in San Francisco and Sacramento

d)

What was the most powerful Great Plains tribe before Anglo-American expansion to the region? a) Pueblo b) Cheyenne c) Apache d) Sioux

d)

Which of the following best describes commercial farmers of the late nineteenth century? a) locally focused b) self-sufficient c) powerful d) specialized

d)

Which of the following best describes the attack on tribal sovereignty created by the Dawes Act? a) temporary b) accidental c) genocidal d) gradual

d)

Which of the following was NOT a reason for Anglo-American resentment of Chinese immigrants? a) They tended to congregate together and maintain Chinese culture. b) Some secret societies ("tongs") engaged in crime c) Many of the early female Chinese immigrants had been sold into prostitution d) The Chinese were perceived as lazy people who would not work hard e) Americans did not resent Chinese immigrants; they admired them for their hard work

d)

Construction on the Central Pacific rail line was marked by the refusal to give Chinese laborers a) pay for their work b) jobs c) adequate shelter d) supervisory positions

c)

Most women who lived in mining towns were a) married b) prostitutes c) miners d) laborers

a)

Which of the following was a prominent argument that the Chinese in America made against anti-Chinese practices? a) Chinese immigrants were superior to other groups of immigrants b) China's military would be provoked by anti-Chinese practices in America c) The Chinese had been selected by God as a superior race d) Unlike other laborers, the Chinese could effect massive strikes if conditions did not improve

a)

Why did the Indians' actions at Little Bighorn ultimately fail? a) Many of the warriors disbanded and were killed or captured by U.S. troops b) A smallpox outbreak killed most of the warriors c) The Indians realized they could not subsist off of the reservation d) U.S. troops returned to the reservation and killed the remaining women and children

a)

Which of the following contributed to the decimation of American buffalo? a) the Army's plan to rob Indians of their livelihood b) desire for buffalo hides among white Americans c) killers hired by railroad companies d) distaste for the buffalo as a symbol of Native Americanism e) Indian agriculture f) groups of gold-rush migrants

a), b), c), f)

Many companies found more profit in mining less glamorous resources, including which of the following? a) tin b) zinc c) diamonds d) iron e) quartz

a), b), e)

Which of the following were explicit responsibilities of the Bureau of Indian Affairs? a) paying federal money to Indians b) overseeing supply shipments c) enforcing terms of treaties d) documenting Native American cultures e) parcelling out land

a), b), e)

Which of the following were reasons that many Chinese entered the laundry business? a) most laundry jobs did not require extensive English skills b) many had experience with the business in their homeland c) they refused to work as common laborers d) laundries did not require much start-up money e) laundries were used as fronts for criminal activity

a), d)

What two groups constituted most of the cowboys in the open-range era? a) northern whites and African Americans b) Native Americans and southern whites c) southern whites and African Americans d) Hispanics and southern whites e) Chinese and Hispanics

c)

After the Civil War, most new settlers to the West came from a) Asia b) the East c) Mexico d) Africa

b)

The fighting at Wounded Knee a) resulted in an Indian victory b) turned into a massacre of Indians, including women and children c) was Custer's redemption after the Battle of Little Bighorn d) was started by a sneak attack by the Sioux on the Seventh Cavalry e) led to a revision of Indian policy

b)

What was the primary reason cattle ranches expanded during the second half of the nineteenth century? a) Cattle ranchers wanted to isolate their herds from sheep-borne illnesses b) Competition from farmers encouraged ranchers to define their private grazing land c) Ranchers began to breed sheep in addition to cattle d) The government began clearing Indians from land to facilitate ranch expansion

b)

Which of the following features did almost all of the Plains Indians share? Choose all that apply. a) highly nomadic lifestyle b) large family networks c) nature-based religion d) council government e) language f) peaceful existence g) division of labor by gender

b), c), d), g)

As part of the Dawes Act, the Bureau of Indian Affairs a) encouraged the sale of independently owned Native American property b) endorsed Indian-run schools for children c) encouraged the creation of Christian churches on Indian reservations d) promoted the preservation of Indian religious rituals

c)

Which type of mining came first as new fields opened? a) chemical b) quartz (lode) c) strip (open pit) d) hydraulic (water pressure) e) placer (pan)

e)