American History 1st Semester Exam Review
2024-25 Questions with Certified Answers
Great Plains - Answer The grasslands in the west-central portion of the United States.
The horse, buffalo and extended family - Answer What was central to the life and culture of the Plains
Indians in the 1800s?
Sitting Bull - Answer This leader of the Hunkpapa Sioux never signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie which
forced the Sioux to live on a reservation. . He helped defeat the U.S. Army at the Little Bighorn River.
Sand Creek Massacre - Answer This resulted when the Cheyenne were attacked without warning by the
U.S. Army in 1864. About 200 Cheyenne were killed, mostly women and children.
George A. Custer - Answer This Colonel's bad judgement in attacking Native American warriors at the
Little Bighorn River resulted in his death and all of his soldiers.
assimilation - Answer In this plan, Native Americans would give up their beliefs and culture and become
part of white culture.
Dawes Act - Answer This was supposed to "Americanize" Native Americans by encouraging in them the
desire to own property and farm reservation land distributed to Native American families.
Ghost Dance - Answer This ritual was suppose to restore the Native American way of life by bringing
back the buffalo that they depended on for food, shelter, and clothing.
Battle of Wounded Knee - Answer This resulted when the U.S. Army fired cannons on 350 starving,
freezing unarmed Sioux; within minutes, 300 of them were dead in what was the final clash between
federal troops and the Sioux 1890.
Chisholm Trail - Answer This was the major cattle route from San Antonio, Texas, through Oklahoma to
Kansas.
,the development of the Chisholm Trail - Answer Demand for beef in the East contributed to
The men hunted for food.
The women prepared the food and hides.
The children practiced the skills they would need as adults. - Answer What were the responsibilities of
the different members of Indian families?
scarce land; resources - Answer What were the reasons for the clashes between the U.S. government
and the Sioux?
1. Native Americans were cheated out of the best land.
2. Nearly all of the buffalo were gone. - Answer What were two reasons why assimilation failed?
1. The public's demand for more beef.
2. The building of the railroads into the Great Plains. - Answer What two factors helped the cattle
business grow?
the railroad industry - Answer What was MOST responsible for bringing settlers to the Great Plains
Homestead Act - Answer It gave 160 acres of free land to anyone willing to farm it for five years.
homesteader - Answer A settler who farmed land given by the federal government
encourage white families to develop the West - Answer The intent of the Homestead Act was to
soddy - Answer Home made out of prairie turf.
Morrill Act - Answer Gave federal land to the states to help finance agricultural colleges.
,bonanza farm - Answer Massive single-crop farm owned by railroad companies and private investors.
The government offered land giveaways. The railroads sold some of their land to farmers for low prices.
- Answer How did government and the railroads encourage settlement of the West?
social hardship: they lived isolated from one another.
economic hardship: they often went into debt. - Answer Name at least one social and one economic
hardship settlers faced.
the Grange - Answer This organization started out as a social outlet and educational forum for isolated
farm families. It soon became a political voice for farmers.
Farmers' Alliance - Answer This organization educated farmers about a variety of issues, including how
to obtain lower interest rates and ways to protest the railroads.
Populism - Answer The movement of the people that demanded reforms to lift the burden of debt from
farmers and other workers and to give the people a greater voice in their government.
Populist Party - Answer This political party called for reforms to make government more democratic.
These reforms included direct election of senators and a secret ballot to stop cheating in voting.
Republican Party - Answer This political party supported the adoption of the gold standard to keep
prices from rising.
silverites - Answer This group favored bimetallism because it would make more dollars available and
therefore prices and wages would rise.
It would put more money in circulation therefore raising the crop prices for farmers to make more of a
profit - Answer Why did plains farmers in the late 1800s tend to support bimetallism?
William Jennings Bryan - Answer He was nominated by The Populist Party and the Democratic Party as
their candidate for the 1896 presidential election.
, William McKinley - Answer He was the winner of the 1896 presidential election which brought an end to
Populism.
They formed the Grange. They educated each other. - Answer What steps did farmers take to address
their concerns?
struggling farmers; laborers - Answer Which group did the Populists appeal to the most?
1. a large supply of natural resources
2. an explosion of inventions
3. a growing city population that wanted new products - Answer In the years after the Civil War,
advances in technology began to change the nation. There were three main causes of these advances.
Edwin L. Drakes - Answer Introduced an efficient means of retrieving oil from beneath the earth's
surface.
a new method of making steel called the Bessemer process - Answer What made it possible to construct
skyscrapers in the 1800s?
Henry Bessemer - Answer Developed an efficient technique for transforming iron into steel.
Thomas Alva Edison - Answer Perfected the incandescent light bulb at his research laboratory in Menlo
Park, New Jersey. He developed an entire system for producing and distributing electrical power and
organized power plants.
Christopher Sholes - Answer Invented the typewriter in 1867 which led to dramatic changes in the
workplace.
Alexander Graham Bell - Answer Opened the way for worldwide communications with invention of the
telephone
2024-25 Questions with Certified Answers
Great Plains - Answer The grasslands in the west-central portion of the United States.
The horse, buffalo and extended family - Answer What was central to the life and culture of the Plains
Indians in the 1800s?
Sitting Bull - Answer This leader of the Hunkpapa Sioux never signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie which
forced the Sioux to live on a reservation. . He helped defeat the U.S. Army at the Little Bighorn River.
Sand Creek Massacre - Answer This resulted when the Cheyenne were attacked without warning by the
U.S. Army in 1864. About 200 Cheyenne were killed, mostly women and children.
George A. Custer - Answer This Colonel's bad judgement in attacking Native American warriors at the
Little Bighorn River resulted in his death and all of his soldiers.
assimilation - Answer In this plan, Native Americans would give up their beliefs and culture and become
part of white culture.
Dawes Act - Answer This was supposed to "Americanize" Native Americans by encouraging in them the
desire to own property and farm reservation land distributed to Native American families.
Ghost Dance - Answer This ritual was suppose to restore the Native American way of life by bringing
back the buffalo that they depended on for food, shelter, and clothing.
Battle of Wounded Knee - Answer This resulted when the U.S. Army fired cannons on 350 starving,
freezing unarmed Sioux; within minutes, 300 of them were dead in what was the final clash between
federal troops and the Sioux 1890.
Chisholm Trail - Answer This was the major cattle route from San Antonio, Texas, through Oklahoma to
Kansas.
,the development of the Chisholm Trail - Answer Demand for beef in the East contributed to
The men hunted for food.
The women prepared the food and hides.
The children practiced the skills they would need as adults. - Answer What were the responsibilities of
the different members of Indian families?
scarce land; resources - Answer What were the reasons for the clashes between the U.S. government
and the Sioux?
1. Native Americans were cheated out of the best land.
2. Nearly all of the buffalo were gone. - Answer What were two reasons why assimilation failed?
1. The public's demand for more beef.
2. The building of the railroads into the Great Plains. - Answer What two factors helped the cattle
business grow?
the railroad industry - Answer What was MOST responsible for bringing settlers to the Great Plains
Homestead Act - Answer It gave 160 acres of free land to anyone willing to farm it for five years.
homesteader - Answer A settler who farmed land given by the federal government
encourage white families to develop the West - Answer The intent of the Homestead Act was to
soddy - Answer Home made out of prairie turf.
Morrill Act - Answer Gave federal land to the states to help finance agricultural colleges.
,bonanza farm - Answer Massive single-crop farm owned by railroad companies and private investors.
The government offered land giveaways. The railroads sold some of their land to farmers for low prices.
- Answer How did government and the railroads encourage settlement of the West?
social hardship: they lived isolated from one another.
economic hardship: they often went into debt. - Answer Name at least one social and one economic
hardship settlers faced.
the Grange - Answer This organization started out as a social outlet and educational forum for isolated
farm families. It soon became a political voice for farmers.
Farmers' Alliance - Answer This organization educated farmers about a variety of issues, including how
to obtain lower interest rates and ways to protest the railroads.
Populism - Answer The movement of the people that demanded reforms to lift the burden of debt from
farmers and other workers and to give the people a greater voice in their government.
Populist Party - Answer This political party called for reforms to make government more democratic.
These reforms included direct election of senators and a secret ballot to stop cheating in voting.
Republican Party - Answer This political party supported the adoption of the gold standard to keep
prices from rising.
silverites - Answer This group favored bimetallism because it would make more dollars available and
therefore prices and wages would rise.
It would put more money in circulation therefore raising the crop prices for farmers to make more of a
profit - Answer Why did plains farmers in the late 1800s tend to support bimetallism?
William Jennings Bryan - Answer He was nominated by The Populist Party and the Democratic Party as
their candidate for the 1896 presidential election.
, William McKinley - Answer He was the winner of the 1896 presidential election which brought an end to
Populism.
They formed the Grange. They educated each other. - Answer What steps did farmers take to address
their concerns?
struggling farmers; laborers - Answer Which group did the Populists appeal to the most?
1. a large supply of natural resources
2. an explosion of inventions
3. a growing city population that wanted new products - Answer In the years after the Civil War,
advances in technology began to change the nation. There were three main causes of these advances.
Edwin L. Drakes - Answer Introduced an efficient means of retrieving oil from beneath the earth's
surface.
a new method of making steel called the Bessemer process - Answer What made it possible to construct
skyscrapers in the 1800s?
Henry Bessemer - Answer Developed an efficient technique for transforming iron into steel.
Thomas Alva Edison - Answer Perfected the incandescent light bulb at his research laboratory in Menlo
Park, New Jersey. He developed an entire system for producing and distributing electrical power and
organized power plants.
Christopher Sholes - Answer Invented the typewriter in 1867 which led to dramatic changes in the
workplace.
Alexander Graham Bell - Answer Opened the way for worldwide communications with invention of the
telephone
