Unit 2: Chapter 7

The states sold their land grants to bankers and land speculators, people who bought up large areas of land in the hope of selling it later for a profit.

The government program that really set the wagons rolling west was the Homestead Act, signed by President Lincoln in 1862. Under the act, for a small fee settlers could have 160 acres of land—a quarter-mile square—if they met certain conditions...

While many Indian nations continued to live mainly as farmers, hunters, and gatherers, other became nomads. These are people who travel from place to place, usually following available food sources, instead of living in one location.

Other treaties restricted Native Americans to reservations, federal lands set aside for them.

Soldiers opened fire, killing more than 200 Sioux. The Massacre at Wounded Knee was the last major episode of violence in the Indian wars.

The children were to be integrated into white society. This policy is called assimilation, the process by which one society becomes a part of another, more dominant society by adopting its culture.

A technique called placer mining used this method on a larger scale. Miners shoveled loose dirt into boxes and then ran water over the dirt to separate it from gold or silver particles.

The story of the Chisholm Trail typifies the cowboy's experience on the long drive, the herding of thousands of cattle to railway centers scattered across the plains.

A soddie, or sod home, was a structure with the walls and roof made from blocks of sod—strips of grass with the thick roots and earth attached.

New farm machines and techniques increased farm output enormously. Owners of large farms hoped to reap a "bonanza" by supplying food to growing eastern populations.

Historians have since modified the Turner thesis, as his view came to be called. His theory of frontier life did not include the contributions of women and of various ethnic groups.

The stories promoted stereotypes, exaggerated or oversimplified descriptions of reality. The stereotypical hero might be an outlaw, a miner, a gang leader, or a cowboy—anyone who dealt out righteous justice against evil.

The value of money is linked to the money supply, the amount of money in the national economy. If the government increases the money supply, the value of every dollar drops.

In contrast, if the government reduces the money supply, the value of each dollar becomes greater. This causes deflation, or a drop in the prices on goods.

Monetary policy, the federal government's plan for the makeup and quantity of the nation's money supply, thus emerged as a major political issue.

Supporters of deflation wanted a "tight money" policy of less currency in circulation.

In 1866, the Department of Agriculture sent Oliver H. Kelley on an inspection tour of southern farms. Disturbed by the farmers' isolation, the following year he founded the Patrons of Husbandry, or the Grange.

In 1887, Cleveland signed the Interstate Commerce Act. It regulated the prices that railroads charged to move freight between states, requiring the rates to be set in proportion to the distance traveled.

In 1887, Cleveland signed the Interstate Commerce Act. It regulated the prices that railroads charged to move freight between states, requiring the rates to be set in proportion to the distance traveled.

In 1891, the Alliances founded the People's Party, a new national party that demanded radical changes in federal economic and social policies. The Populists, as followers of the new party were known, built their platform around the following issues...