APUSH Learning Curve Chapter 16

How did Frederick Jackson Turner's audience conceive of the frontier in the 1890s?

As an illustration of American exceptionalism → When Turner first published "The Significance of the Frontier in American History," eager listeners saw pioneering in the West as evidence of American exceptionalism, the nation's unique history and destiny.

Why were Republicans so eager to fund the construction of a transcontinental railroad in the 1860s?

They saw the failure to connect different regions via the railroad as one cause of the Civil War. → Regional isolation, Republicans believed, had contributed to the sectional divisions between North and South that led to the Civil War.

What did the critics of Secretary of State William Seward nickname his purchase of Alaska?

"Seward's Icebox" → Many Americans scoffed at the purchase of the frigid region of Alaska.

What did Sitting Bull wish for his children by 1885?

A "white" education → Sitting Bull announced in 1885 that he wanted his children "to be educated like the white children are.

What did the United States purchase from Russia in 1868?

Alaska → The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1868.

Technological innovation and the global expansion of export agriculture had what impact on farmers working on the plains in the late 1800s?

A drop in crop prices → The result of technological innovation and the global expansion of export agriculture glutted world markets and led to a drop in crop prices, worsening farmers' income.

What distinguished the story of "Deadwood Dick" whose stories were published as The Life and Adventures of Nat Love in 1907?

He was born into slavery in Tennessee. → The Life and Adventures of Nat Love was written by a Texas cowhand who had been born in slavery in Tennessee and who, as a rodeo star in the 1870s, had won the nickname "Deadwood Dick."

The creation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872 was an early important step toward a public commitment to

preservation. → The creation of Yellowstone in 1872 was an early important step toward a public commitment to preservation.

Unlike most European countries, the United States decided to finance railroads through

private investors. → Unlike most European countries, the United States decided to finance railroads through private investors rather than direct government construction.

What triggered the migration of large numbers of Scandinavians and Germans in the 1870s?

A severe depression in northern Europe → A severe depression in northern Europe drove the migration of large numbers of Scandinavians and Germans in the 1870s.

During the 1870s, what decimated the vast herds of buffalo that had roamed the Great Plains?

Animal diseases and overhunting by whites → Overhunting and European animal afflictions, like the bacterial disease brucellosis, decimated herds. In the 1870s, hide hunters finished them off so thoroughly that fewer than a hundred bison remained. Hunters left the meat to rot.

How did the United States initially use the Hawaiian Islands following the Civil War?

As a place to reprovision and repair whaling ships → Even before the Civil War, the United States had become a dominant presence in the Hawaiian Islands. Whaling ships stopped to take on water, wood, and food, while also refitting and making any repairs necessary to continue their long voyage. The United States would need more refueling points for its expanding navy as well.

Why did Mormon women argue that giving them the right to vote in Utah Territory would benefit the Mormon community?

Because they would outvote non-Mormon miners → In 1870, due in part to organized pressure from Emmeline Wells and other Mormon women, the Utah legislature granted full voting rights to women, becoming the second U.S. territory to do so. The measure increased Mormon control of the territory, since most Utah women were Mormons, while non-Mormons in mining camps were predominantly male.

The purposeful destruction of which of the following opened the Great Plains to settlement?

Bison → The purposeful destruction of the bison opened the Great Plains to settlement.

Why did Great Britain agree to pay the United States $15.5 million in damages after the Civil War?

British shipyards had built Confederate raiding vessels such as CSS Alabama. → Britain had permitted Confederate raiding vessels like the Alabama to be built in its shipyards and agreed afterward to pay the United States $15.5 million in damages after an arbitration process.

How did the United States persuade the Japanese to open trade relations?

By wielding naval power to persuade the Japanese to sign a treaty → Prior to the Civil War, Commodore Matthew Perry had forced the Japanese through gunboat diplomacy to sign a treaty in 1854 opening two ports for U.S. ships to refuel. Americans wanted open trade for missionary purposes as well, which they received in 1858.

Which interest group directly shaped Ulysses Grant's peace policy for the West?

Christian reformers → When Grant entered the White House, he inherited a U.S. Indian policy in disarray. Based on recommendations from Christian reformers, Grant developed a peace policy for the West. Reformers were in charge. Many were former abolitionists and had created reform organizations to assist Indian people. They rejected army racism in favor of Indian assimilation through education and religious training in boarding schools.

In the largest mass hanging in U.S. history, President Abraham Lincoln ordered the execution of thirty-eight men from which group?

Dakota Sioux → In the largest mass hanging in U.S. history, President Lincoln ordered the execution of thirty-eight Dakota men for killing Americans in 1862. The total was actually smaller than it could have been—a military court, bent on revenge, sentenced 307 Dakota to death, but Lincoln commuted most of the sentences.

What did Oglala Sioux Chief Red Cloud accomplish in 1868?

He convinced the United States to withdraw troops from the Bozeman Trail. → In 1868, after years of exhausting and inconclusive fighting, the Sioux, led by the Oglala band under Chief Red Cloud, told a peace commission they would not sign any treaty unless the United States pledged to abandon all its forts along the Bozeman Trail. The commission agreed.

What did the Lakota Sioux leader Sitting Bull mean when he said "the life of white men is slavery"?

He had no interest in adopting white culture. → Sitting Bull was explaining his lack of interest in white culture. He elaborated by saying, "I have seen nothing that a white man has, houses or railways or clothing or food, that is as good as the right to move in open country and live in our own fashion."

Which statement describes the motives of Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts in writing the Dawes Severalty Act?

He was eager for reform and hoped to improve the lives of Native Americans. → Dawes was a leader of the Indian Rights Association and wanted Indians assimilated into commercial agriculture and property ownership to move past the reservation, which he considered a relic of the past.

Republicans in the 1880s were staunch advocates of what economic policy?

High tariffs → For protectionist Republicans, high tariffs were akin to the abolition of slavery: They protected the most vulnerable workers and made the economy more just.

What did the Homestead Act of 1862 do?

It gave 160 acres to applicants who occupied and improved them. → The act succeeded in incorporating lands west of the Mississippi. Although the 160-acre parcel provided by the Homestead Act of 1862 was effective in a well-watered and semi-forested environment, in the more arid Great Plains, it failed to be of sufficient size to provide a profit for average farmers in the late 1800s.

What explains the popularity of the Ghost Dance movement in the 1880s?

Its promise of Indian resurrection → The Ghost Dance fostered the hope that native peoples could, through sacred dances, resurrect the bison and create a great storm that would drive whites back across the Atlantic. The Ghost Dance drew on significant Christian and native religious elements.

With which country did the United States begin to trade in 1858?

Japan → In 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry succeeded in getting Japanese officials to sign the Treaty of Kanagawa, allowing U.S. ships to refuel at two ports. By 1858, America and Japan had commenced trade, and a U.S. consul took up residence in Japan's capital, Edo (now known as Tokyo).

Who was the one-armed Civil War veteran who wrote a famous book on western land conditions in 1879?

John Wesley Powell → A veteran of Shiloh, Powell was an early employee of the new U.S. Geological Survey. In his Report on the Lands of the Arid Regions of the United States, Powell told Congress bluntly that typical farming methods would not work in the newly discovered dry region. He proposed an ambitious federal plan to develop western water and farming resources, which Congress ignored until the 1930s.

What problem plagued homesteaders of the Great Plains in the 1880s?

Lack of rain → Over the long term, homesteaders discovered that the western grasslands did not receive enough rain to grow wheat and other grains. As the cycle of rainfall shifted from wet to dry, farmers as well as ranchers suffered.

Which tribe openly refused to settle on a reservation in the mid-1870s?

Lakota Sioux → By the mid-1870s, the Kiowa and Comanche had been forced onto designated reservations. The Modoc in California had paid a heavy price for attacking the army. Only the Lakota Sioux under Sitting Bull refused to relocate to a reservation. Their efforts to resist federal policy would occupy the national center stage during the late 1870s.

Which issue distinguished homesteading in the plains from pioneer farming in Iowa or Oregon in the antebellum years?

Land speculation → Taming the plains differed from "pioneering" in antebellum Oregon or Iowa as farmers increasingly focused on profits from cash crops. Land speculation, new technologies, and borrowed money became common features of commercial farming on the plains.

Why was the General Mining Act of 1872 not useful in developing the West despite its generous grant of mineral resources to those who discovered them?

Large-scale operations were needed to extract many minerals. → The General Mining Act reflected the idealized notion of the lone, hardy mining prospector with his pan and his mule, but digging into deep veins of underground ore required big money. Consortiums of powerful investors, bringing engineers and advanced equipment, generally extracted the most wealth.

Why was John Wesley Powell's advice about promoting water management and dry farming in the Great Plains ignored in Congress?

Members of Congress clung to the dream of homesteading. → Critics accused Powell of playing into the hands of large ranching corporations; boosters were not yet willing to give up the dream of small homesteads.

What was one consequence of the shift to steam-powered vessels in the transoceanic trade in the 1850s?

Merchants and the U.S. Navy needed ports where they could refuel. → Previous sailing fleets also needed supplies, but did not depend on coal deposits to keep them seaworthy.

Why were the children of the Dakotas Sioux close to starvation in the late 1850s?

Minnesota's territorial governor and Indian agents stole their provisions. → In 1858, the year Minnesota secured statehood, the Dakotas had agreed to settle on a strip of land reserved by the government, in exchange for receiving regular payments and supplies. But Indian agents, contractors, and even Minnesota's territorial governor pocketed most of the funds.

Which Indian group of California in 1873 rebelled against removal to a reservation?

Modoc → In 1873, the Modoc of California rebelled against removal to a reservation.

Which two languages became the primary languages spoken in parts of Minnesota and the Dakotas by the mid-1880s?

Norwegian and Swedish → When a severe depression hit northern Europe in the 1870s, Norwegians and Swedes joined German emigrants in large numbers to America. At the peak of "America fever" in 1882, over 100,000 Scandinavians left for the United States. Swedish and Norwegian became the primary languages in parts of Minnesota and the Dakotas.

What ended the Long Drive of cattle from Texas to Missouri in the 1870s?

Railroads → The construction of railroads into Texas allowed ranchers to ship their cattle more safely than having them march through the prairie to Missouri.

Which of the following ethnic groups was represented in notable numbers in the agricultural settlement of the Great Plains?

Scandinavians → Scandinavians were particularly drawn to the northern Great Plains such as Minnesota and the Dakotas, where Swedish and Norwegian became the primary languages in some areas.

What did the U.S. Supreme Court rule in the case of Munn v. Illinois (1877)?

States had the right to regulate businesses with a public purpose. → In Munn v. Illinois, the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged that states had the right to regulate those businesses that served important public purposes, such as railroads and grain elevators, but they did not want excessive local regulations to prevent the integration of the national marketplace.

Which technology permitted homesteaders in the West to plant crops in the prairie in the 1860s and 1870s?

Steel plows → Steel plows enabled homesteaders to break through the tough roots of prairie grasses.

How did Dr. Thomas Bland of the National Indian Defense Association recast the so-called "Indian Problem" at the time of Grant's peace policy?

The "white problem" → Bland of the National Indian Defense Association suggested that instead of an "Indian problem" there might be a "white problem," which was white Americans' refusal to permit Indians to follow their own lifeways.

Which act of 1887 led to the break-up and sale of Indian reservation lands?

The Dawes Severalty Act → The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 led to the break-up and sale of Indian reservations.

What federal department did Congress create in 1862 to conduct research and provide advice to farmers?

The Department of Agriculture → In 1862, Congress created the federal Department of Agriculture to conduct research and provide advice to farmers

Before it became heavily settled, how were the Great Plains characterized?

The Great American Desert → Before farmers would settle the western plains, they had to be persuaded that crops would grow there. Powerful railroad, mining, and agricultural interests worked hard to overcome the popular idea that the grassland was the Great American Desert.

Which act gave 160 free public acres to applicants who occupied and improved them?

The Homestead Act → The Homestead Act gave 160 free public acres to applicants who occupied and improved them.

Exodusters were blacks who left which region to seek a better life in the 1870s?

The South → Exodusters were blacks who left the southern states to seek a better life in the 1870s.

Why did the United States switch from a bimetallic standard to a gold standard in 1873?

The discovery of immense silver deposits in the West → The United States switched to the gold standard in part because treasury officials and financiers were watching developments out West. There, geologists accurately predicted the discovery of immense lodes of silver without similarly rich gold strikes. A massive influx of silver would clearly upset the long-standing ratio of silver to gold in the currency base.

For the nation that mourned him, what era did the life and career of William T. Sherman seem to encompass?

The era of conquest → Commentators back then noted that Sherman's career reflected a great era of conquest and consolidation of national power for the United States, spanning from his fight against Seminole Indians in Florida to his removal of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians into reservations in the Dakotas.

What was the basis for the development of the Far West of the United States?

The extraction of natural resources → The rugged landscape of the Far West prevented broad-scale farming as had developed in most of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. Americans in the Far West settled in isolated communities that derived their income through mining and lumbering.

What was the term for President Grant's attempt to solve the "Indian problem" in 1868?

The peace policy → The "peace policy" was President Grant's attempt to solve the "Indian problem" in 1868.

Why did new prairie homesteaders often spend their first winter in hillside dugouts rather than houses?

The plains lacked the lumber for housing construction. → Newly arrived families often cut dugouts into hillsides and then erected houses made of turf cut from the ground after a season or two.

What was a major difference between the settlement of the Great Plains and of mining camps and cattle ranches?

There were proportionately more women on the plains. → Homesteading was a family affair, and the work of women and children was vital to the farm family's success.

Why did Sioux and Cheyenne Indians sign on with Buffalo Bill's entertainment group?

They sought to escape the harsh conditions on reservations. → Sioux and Cheyenne men signed on with Bill and demonstrated their riding skills for cheering audiences across the United States and Europe in order to escape harsh reservation conditions back home.

What was the purpose of the Long Drive?

To bring cattle from Texas to railroad towns so they could be shipped east for food → In 1865, the Missouri Pacific Railroad reached Sedalia, Missouri, far enough west to be accessible as Texas re-entered the Union. A longhorn worth $3 in Texas might command $40 at Sedalia. With this incentive, ranchers inaugurated the Long Drive, hiring cowboys to herd cattle hundreds of miles north to the new rail lines, on which they were shipped east to be slaughtered for beef.

For what reason had states chartered corporations in the early nineteenth century?

To fulfill specific public purposes → States chartered corporations in the early nineteenth century to assume responsibilities in the public interest but beyond the capabilities of government, such as banking, transportation, or higher education.

What was the purpose of the U.S. Fisheries Commission, created in 1871?

To prevent the further decline of wild fish populations in the American West → The U.S. Fisheries Commission made recommendations to stem the decline in wild fish and, by the 1930s, had merged with other federal wildlife bureaus to become the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Why did William Seward urge Congress to purchase refueling stations in the Pacific and the Caribbean?

To support growing trade with Asia and Latin America → Seward urged the Senate to purchase sites in both the Pacific and the Caribbean for naval bases and refueling stations in order to facilitate international trade.

What was the status of land ownership in New Mexico and Arizona in the late 1800s?

Traditional land claims from Spanish colonial times were rejected in favor of new claims by Anglos. → Existing land claims were so complex that Congress eventually set up a special court to rule on land titles. Between 1891 and 1904 the court invalidated most traditional claims, including those of many New Mexico ejidos, or villages owned collectively by their communities. Mexican Americans lost about 64 percent of the contested lands, with Anglos primarily benefiting.

Giant corporations that dominate whole sectors of the economy through monopoly power are known by what name?

Trusts → Giant corporations that dominate whole sectors of the economy through monopoly power are known as trusts.

What event highlighted federal incompetence in regard to Indian relations in 1870, early in Ulysses S. Grant's presidency?

U.S. troops killed over 170 Blackfoot Indians in Montana. → The mass killing of over 170 Blackfoot Indians in January 1870 on the Marias River in Montana by an army detachment highlighted the disarray and incompetence in the federal approach to native tribes, as the Blackfoot had been peaceful and done nothing to provoke the attack.

How were the homesteaders who moved onto the plains from 1878 to 1886 misled?

Unusual weather led to farming success. → As if to confirm promoters' optimism, a wet cycle occurred between 1878 and 1886, increasing rainfall in the arid regions east of the Rockies. Americans decided that "rain follows the plow": settlement was increasing rainfall.

What prompted the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890?

White efforts to suppress the Ghost Dance → In 1890 when a group of Lakota Sioux Ghost Dancers left their South Dakota reservation, they were pursued by the U.S. Army, who feared that further spread of the religion would provoke war. On December 29, at Wounded Knee, the Seventh Cavalry caught up with fleeing Lakota and killed at least 150—perhaps as many as 300.

What idea from Frederick Jackson Turner's "frontier thesis" do historians reject today?

White settlers claimed empty land. → Historians reject Turner's depiction of Indian "savagery" and his contradictory idea that white pioneers in the West claimed empty "free land." Many scholars have noted that frontier conquest was both violent and incomplete.

Congress in 1864 set aside ten square miles of which valley for public use?

Yosemite → In 1864, Congress set aside ten acres of the Yosemite Valley for public use.

Although in the late 1800s critics decried the ways in which government spending aided the accumulation of enormous private wealth, they acknowledged that the giant railroad companies that received these funds

benefited the economy. → Critics had to acknowledge that railroads and other giant corporations drove economic growth and aided general prosperity, even as government support and subsidies facilitated a fabulous accumulation of wealth.