WESTWARD EXPANSION INDUSTRIALIZATION URBANIZATION 1870 1900
WESTWARD EXPANSION
|
Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
|
|
|
to work as cowhands
|
|
|
to own land
|
|
|
to fight Native Americans
|
|
|
to live in California
|
Detailed explanation-1: -Gold rush and mining opportunities (silver in Nevada) The opportunity to work in the cattle industry; to be a “cowboy” Faster travel to the West by railroad; availability of supplies due to the railroad. The opportunity to own land cheaply under the Homestead Act.
Detailed explanation-2: -Signed into law by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, the Homestead Act encouraged westward migration and settlement by providing 160-acre tracts of land west of the Mississippi at little cost, in return for a promise to improve the land.
Detailed explanation-3: -White settlers from the East poured across the Mississippi to mine, farm, and ranch. African-American settlers also came West from the Deep South, convinced by promoters of all-black Western towns that prosperity could be found there.
Detailed explanation-4: -One of the main reasons people moved west was for the land. There was lots of land, good soil for farming, and it could be bought at a cheap price. In addition, it was very crowded living on the East Coast. The population of the United States was growing at a very fast rate.