Page 517 - US History

Chapter 17 | Go West Young Man! Westward Expansion, 1840-1900 507
stripped away, it was ever more difficult for the Indians to maintain their tribal integrity.
17.5 The Impact of Expansion on Chinese Immigrants and Hispanic Citizens
In the nineteenth century, the Hispanic, Chinese, and white populations of the country collided. Whites moved further west in search of land and riches, bolstered by government subsidies and an inherent and unshakable belief that the land and its benefits existed for their use. In some ways, it was a race to the prize: White Americans believed that they deserved the best lands and economic opportunities the country afforded, and did not consider prior claims to be valid.
Neither Chinese immigrants nor Hispanic Americans could withstand the assault on their rights by the tide of white settlers. Sheer numbers, matched with political backing, gave the whites the power they needed to overcome any resistance. Ultimately, both ethnic groups retreated into urban enclaves, where their language and traditions could survive.
Review Questions
1. Which of the following does not represent a group that participated significantly in westward migration after 1870?
5. What accounts for the success of large, commercial “bonanza farms?” What benefits did they enjoy over their smaller family-run counterparts?
6. How did everyday life in the American West hasten equality for women who settled the land?
7. Which of the following groups was not impacted by the invention of barbed wire?
A. ranchers
B. cowboys
C. farmers
D. illegal prostitutes
2.
A. African American “exodusters” escaping racism and seeking economic opportunities
B. former Southern slaveholders seeking land and new financial opportunities
C. recent immigrants from Northern Europe and Canada
D. recent Chinese immigrants seeking gold in California
Which of the following represents an action that the U.S. government took to help Americans fulfill the goal of western expansion?
A. the passage of the Homestead Act
B. the official creation of the philosophy of
Manifest Destiny
C. the development of stricter immigration
policies
D. the introduction of new irrigation
techniques
8.
9.
3.
4. What specific types of hardships did an average American farmer not face as he built his homestead in the Midwest?
A. droughts
B. insect swarms
C. hostile Indian attacks
D. limited building supplies
How did mining and cattle ranching transform individual “get rich quick” efforts into “big business” efforts when the nineteenth century came to a close?
Why and how did the U.S. government promote western migration in the midst of fighting the Civil War?
The American cowboy owes much of its model to what other culture?
A. Mexicans
B. Indians
C. Northern European immigrants
D. Chinese immigrants