8/8/2019 SS 5-2 Review Key

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ss-5-2-review-key 1/4

Social Studies Review of Standard 5-2

What was the significance of the following innovations?

1.  Telegraph – used electricity to send messages 

2.  Transcontinental railroad- allowed people and goods to be transported

across the country in one week

-Which people group worked in large numbers for the Central Pacific?

Union Pacific?

Central Pacific- Chinese Union Pacific- Irish

-What challenges did the builders face?

 The Sierra Nevada Mountains

-Who benefited from the completion of the railroad?

Famers were able to transport their goods—their businesses grew as

did cities along the lines

3. Steel plow

Used to break up the thick soil in the grasslands

4. Windmill

Pump water to the land’s surface

5. Barbed wire

Keep animals away from crops

6. What was the Homestead Act?

In order to encourage settlement of the Great Plains, parcels of land

were given away so long as the recipients farmed the land for five years.

-What challenges did Homesteaders face?

harsh weather, insect swarms, thick sod

7. Who were Exodusters? African Americans who faced discrimination and

lack of opportunity in the East.

8. What were cattle drives?

8/8/2019 SS 5-2 Review Key

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ss-5-2-review-key 2/4

Cowboys drove herds of cattle across the plains to railroad stations

when they could be transported East. Cattle were worth more money in the

East due to short supply. These continued until railroads were extended into

 Texas.

- What challenged the cowboys on the plains? Farmers began to put upbarbed wire fences to protect their crops, which inhibited the drives.

9. What changes in the Great Plains threatened the culture of the Native

Americans?

Decline of buffalo herds, spreading telegraph and railroad lines, arrival

of miners, farmers, and ranchers

10. Describe boomtowns. Boomtowns were located near the railroad lines. They grew quickly while gold was being found; however, when the gold

became sparse, people moved on and the town became a ghost town.

11. The Great Plains are known as the breadbasket of our country because

they are best suited for which industry? agriculture

12. Define the Chinese Exclusion Act. Why was it enacted?

Chinese immigrants prohibited from entering the US because settlers

feared that since the Chinese would work for less wages that all the jobs

would be theirs.

13. What nickname was given to the city of St. Louis? “Gateway to the West”

14. Describe the challenges caused by the natural environment that the

settlers faced.

Mountains, rivers, and deserts were obstacles for the settlers’

migration West. It was important that the settlers left on time because spring

rains and winter snows made crossing the trails through the mountains

tough. Wagons were challenged to cross the rivers. Hot, dry summersbrought drought, dust storms, and insect swarms. Winter brought snow

which resulted in floods in the spring, and the springtime also was

accompanied by severe weather such as tornados.

15. Locate on a map the following places: Rocky Mountains, Colorado River,

Snake River,

8/8/2019 SS 5-2 Review Key

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ss-5-2-review-key 3/4

Mississippi River, Appalachian Mountains

16. Describe the impact of the railroad on the way of life in the Great Plains.

 The railroad provided a means for transporting goods especially

agricultural to and from the Plains. Farmers and ranchers were able to growtheir businesses, and more people began to migrate to the Plains because of 

the easy and inexpensive transportation.

17. What caused new industries and cities to develop in the West?

New industries and cities grew around the railroad lines in the West

because the railroad brought the people and goods over from the East.

18. Describe the conflict and cooperation demonstrated by

- Settlers and Native Americans

- Cooperation- At first, settlers negotiated treaties with Native

Americans to use their land.

- Conflict- The buffalo herds were decimated after the railroad

was built, which destroyed the Native American culture. More and more land

began to be confiscated by settlers, which caused some Native Americans to

begin fighting with the settlers and mainly the US Army.

- Colonist and Native Americans

- Cooperation- Native Americans helped the Colonist to learn to

survive in America by showing them how to fish, farm, and what other

resources were available.

- Conflict- As more Colonist arrived, they began moving the

Native Americans further West.

19. How were Native Americans impacted socially and economically by

westward expansion?

- Socially- Their culture was destroyed by the settlers killing the

buffalo. They were forced to live on reservations and begin farming. The

beliefs and traditions that they had lived by for centuries was violated, which

resulted in the deadly conflicts with the US Army.

8/8/2019 SS 5-2 Review Key

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ss-5-2-review-key 4/4

- Economically- They were forced off of their land as the settlers

continued their westward movement. As a result, some tribes were not able

to adapt to a new way of life and were unable to provide food for their

families.