| A | B |
|---|
| In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, what fueled American growth and expansion? | economic opportunity, industrialization and technological change |
| During the era of the American cowboy, how did they get the cattle to market? | long cattle drives for hundreds of miles over unfenced open land in the West |
| What was the Homestead Act of 1862? | gave free public land in the western territories to settlers who would live on and farm the land |
| Which two groups in particular moved west to seek new opportunities after the Civil War? | Southerners and African Americans |
| How did new technologies, for example the railroads and the mechanical reaper, affect the westward movement? | They opened new lands in the West for settlement and made farming more prosperous. |
| What had happened to the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountain region by the turn of the century? | It was no longer a mostly unsettled frontier but was fast becoming a region of farms, ranches, and towns. |
| Where did immigrants to America come from prior to 1871? | Northern and western Europe (Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Norway and Sweden) |
| Where did the immigrants come from during the half-century from 1871-1921? | Southern and eastern Europe (Italy, Greece, Poland, Russia and present-day Hungary and Yugoslavia) as well as Asia (China and Japan) |
| Why did these immigrants come to America? | They were seeking freedom and better lives for their families. |
| What contributions did the immigrants make to the industrial growth of America during this period? | Chinese workers helped to build the Transcontinental Railroad, immigrants worked in textile and steel mills & factories, Slavs, Italians, a & Poles worked in the coal mines |
| Generally, what were the conditions like for these immigrants? | They often worked for very low pay and in dangerous working conditions to help build the nation’s industrial strength. |
| Where was the port of entry for the immigrants from Europe? | Ellis Island in New York near the Statue of Liberty |
| In what ways did these immigrants work to assimilate into the American “melting pot”? | They and their children worked hard to learn English, adopt American customs and become American citizens |
| What institution served an essential role in this process of assimilation? | public schools |
| Why did the immigrants often face hardship and hostility? | There was fear and resentment that immigrants would take jobs for lower pay than American workers, and there was prejudice based on religious and cultural differences. |
| How did Congress respond to the fear of immigrants taking the jobs away from Americans? | They limited immigration |
| What were the effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and Immigration Restriction Act of 1921? | These laws cut off most immigration to America for the next several decades, however, the immigrants of this period and their descendants continued to contribute immeasurably to American society. |
