ch 17

The 'Golden Spike' ceremony in Promontory, Utah

The Battle of Little Bighorn

The passing of the Homestead Act

The invention of barbed wire

To serve as military outposts against foreign invasion

To facilitate trade and limit conflicts with local American Indian tribes

To provide shelter for settlers during harsh weather

To establish educational institutions for migrating families

Cattle rustling

The Fence Cutting War

Invention of barbed wire

Completion of the transcontinental railroad

Homesteads

Bonanza farms

Sod houses

Dry farms

Dakota War Act

Chinese Exclusion Act

Pacific Railway Act

Mexican-American War Act

Homestead Act

Dawes Severalty Act

Indian Removal Act

First Treaty of Fort Laramie

Tornadoes, droughts, blizzards, and insect swarms

Moderate temperatures year-round

Consistent rainfall

Lack of sunlight

John O’Sullivan; divine encouragement for territorial expansion

Stephen Harriman Long; the promotion of the railroad industry

Abraham Lincoln; the belief in the abolition of slavery

Samuel S. Montague; the completion of the transcontinental railroad

Abundant water sources for irrigation

Frequent setbacks due to excessive rainfall

Limited access to building materials

Overwhelming support from the first railroad lines

The desire to establish aristocracy and ancient history in the new world

The belief in the superiority of Euro-American settlers and their technology

The need to limit westward expansion during the Civil War

The destiny of Native Americans to rule the continent