| A | B |
|---|
| Push-pull factors | events and conditions that either force people to move elsewhere or stongly attract them to do so. |
| Pacific Railway Acts | Of 1862 and 1864 the government gave land grants to the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads. the 1862 act granted every alternate section of public land to the amount of five alternate sections per mile on each side |
| Morrill Land grant Act | Of 1862 gave state govenments millions of acres of western lands, which states could then sell to raise money for the creation of "land grant" colleges specializing in agriculture and mechnical arts. |
| Land speculators | People who bought up large areas of land in the hope of selling it later for a profit. |
| Homestead Act | Signed by president Lincoln in 1862, under the act for a small fee settlers could have 160 acres of land if they met certain requirements. |
| Exodusters | African Americans fleeing the violence and exploitation. |
| Great Plains | The vast grasslands between the Mississippi River and the Rocky mountains. |
| nomads | People who traveled from place to place usually following available food sources. |
| reservations | Federal lands set aside for Native Americans |
| Battle of Little Bighorn | "Custers Last Stand" 1876 Sioux victory over army troops led by George Custer. Custer died and the Indians won. |
| Ghost Dance | A ritual in which people joined hands and whirled in a circle. |
| Massacre at Wounded knee | The last major episode of violence in the indian Wars. |
| Assimilation | The process by which one society becomes a part of another, more dominant society by adopting its culture. |
| Dawes Act | Divided reservation land into individual plots. |
| Boomers | Staked claims on almost 2 million Acres. |
| Sooners | people who had sneaked past the government officials earlier to mark their claims. |
