Term
| Why was the Great Plains a valuable area of land? |
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Definition
| It had fertile soil that was suitable for farming. |
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Term
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Definition
An area of hard Earth above the soil.
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Term
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Definition
| A farmer that used plows to break up large areas of sod and turn land into farms. |
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Term
| What did a farmer have to do in order to get 160 acres of land? |
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Definition
| They had to pay a small fee and agree to live and farm the land for at least five years. |
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Term
| What was one of the largest problems for Plains farmers? |
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Definition
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Term
| What did most farmers on the plains grow? |
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Definition
| Wheat, because it did not need a lot of rain. |
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Term
| What did most farmers use to build houses? |
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Definition
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Term
| What did millions of Americans start to do after the Civil War? |
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Definition
| They moved to the region west of the Mississippi River known as the "West". |
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Term
| What did many Americans believe about the West? |
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Definition
| They thought it was an unfit place to live consisting of all deserts. |
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Term
| What kind of people moved West in the late 1800's? |
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Definition
| Ranchers, miners, farmers, all seeking opportunity. |
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Term
| What did the Pacific Railway Act do? |
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Definition
| It helped pay for the Transcontinental railroad. |
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Term
| What two companies were chosen to work on the transcontinental railroad? Where did they build? |
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Definition
Union Pacidic Railroad Company = Eastern part
Central Pacific Railroad = Western part |
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Term
| Where was the transcontinental railroad completed? |
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Definition
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Term
| How did the transcontinental railroad open up the West? |
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Definition
| It made it a lot easier to get there. |
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Term
| What group of people did the transcontinental railroad bring conflict with? |
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Definition
| Native Americans who had been living in the West for thousands of years. |
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Term
| What ethnic groups were brought to the U.S. because of the railroad and why? |
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Definition
| Chinese and Irish to help build the railroad. |
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Term
| What began to happen to the land set aside for Native Americans because of the Homestead Act? |
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Definition
| Settlers began to move into it. |
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Term
| What did Native Americans on the Great Plains use buffalo for? |
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Definition
| Food, clothing, and shelter. |
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Term
| How many buffalo wandered the Great Plains in the early 1800's? |
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Definition
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Term
| What almost caused the extinction of buffalo? |
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Definition
| They were hunted close to extinction by settlers. |
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Term
| What did the treaties between the U.S. and Native Americans set up? |
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Definition
| Large areas or reservations for Native Americans where they could live. |
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Term
| How did the U.S. break the treaties that they set up with Native Americans? |
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Definition
| They did not provide food and shelter and let settlers onto reservation lands. |
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Term
| What was the goal of the Dawes Act? |
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Definition
| To break up reservations. |
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Term
| What did Native Americans recieve due to the Dawes Act? |
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Definition
| 160 acres of reservation land to own. |
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Term
| What was done with the reservation land left over from the Dawes Act? |
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Definition
| It was sold to settlers moving west. |
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Term
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Definition
| To become absorbed in a main culture. |
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Term
| How did cattle ranchers make money? |
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Definition
| By rounding up wild cattle and leading them to railroad towns farther north. |
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Term
| Why were cattle shipped back East? |
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Definition
| To meet the need for beef. |
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Term
| How many cattle roamed Texas in the 1860's? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| When cattle ranchers lead large amounts of cattle from the range to cow towns to be shipped east. |
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Term
| When did cattle drives occur? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| A city in the west where the railroad stopped and cattle could be shipped back east. |
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Term
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Definition
| A worker of the cattle industry in the west (a.k.a cowboys) |
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Term
| How did most Americans view cowhands? |
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Definition
| Rugged, adventuresome, and free spirited. |
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Term
| What was life as a cowhand really like? |
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Definition
| They spent long hours on horses everyday, the pay was low, the job was tiresome and often dangerous. |
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Term
| What caused the price of cattle to fall? |
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Definition
| An increase in the number of cattle. |
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Term
| What did railroads do that caused cattle drives to be unneccessary? |
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Definition
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