U.S. History

Chapter 18 Study Sheet

While the first part of this chapter is significant, the"meat" is found on pp. 338-350. There are some glaring omissions in the text (read bias), which we will attempt to address....

SECTION A

1. Who was Cornelius Vanderbilt (what did he do)? _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
2. What was the impact of what Vanderbilt did on our country? _______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________

3. Transcontinental Railroad
golden spike - where what two railroads were joined?
________________ _______________ & _________________ _________________
location: ___________________ year: _____________

importance:
• unified culture (long-term impact of RR and other developments)
• brought settlers West
• fostered cattle-raising to provide beef to East
• disrupted buffalo migration patterns

4. How many "transcontinental railroads" were eventually built? ___________

SECTION B

  1. Gold was discovered in __________ _______ , in the Colorado Rockies, in _______ .

  2. Silver was discovered in the ________________ ___________________ mountains; the ________________ ____________ yielded $300,000,000 worth of silver. (A "lode" is a vein or streak of gold or silver.

  3. As a result, tens of thousands of settlers moved West.

SECTION C (for Cholesterol!)

Growth of Ranching:

  1. Industrial cities (i.e., "urban centers") plus railroads created a demand for _________ .

  2. Cattle were driven every spring to railway cites by ______________ , ranch hands hired for the purpose.

  3. Railroads brought in ____________________ and ______________________ who competed for the range.

By 1880's all ranchers (cattle and sheep) were using a new invention, _________________ ___________ , to fence in their animals. This provided more tender cuts of beef, but further interrupted the migration patterns of the __________________ , on which the ______________ _______________ depended for their way of life....

SECTION D

  1. The Great Plains were notoriously unpredictable, windy, and dry—BUT the soil turned out to be good when watered. Several years of good rains helped entice people westward; later, _________________ provided irrigation.

  2. In 1862, Congress passed the __________________ _____ , giving away up to ____ acres to settlers. This provided a free, fresh start on a new life for anyone willing to move west.

  3. Settlers usually lived either in ______________ or in ______ houses.

  4. The Plains went from uninhabited territories to almost total statehood in ___________ years!!

SECTION E

ð All the above factors combined together to drive out the Plains Indians.

  1. Plains Indians' life depended on the ________________ .

  2. RR – interrupted the buffalo migrating patterns.

  3. Buffalo – occasionally interrupted trains.

  4. Buffalo driven to the brink of extinction b/c of:

  1. Broken promises: (lands taken back after given to tribes)

  2. In 1859 due to _____________________ _______ _______ .

  3. In 1874 b/c of ____ found in the _____________ ________ (South Dakota)

  4. "__________________ 's Last Stand" was at ______________ _________ _____________) river, SD.

  5. Led by Chief __________ _________ ; also, _______________ __________ said that the gods were displeased, since these were sacred grounds that the white man had invaded.

  6. Last battle: ________________ ___________ , a massacre of 200 Indians, including women and children.

  7. In 1887, Congress passed the Dawes Act, a misguided attempt to help Indians adjust to the white man's world, effectively stripping them of their culture and taking yet more land from them. Indians were offered ____ acres for farming plus _____________________ for forsaking their tribal lives (320 acres were given for ranchers).