Increasing settlement on the Plains

• What are the three main factors that affected settlement in the West?

  Economic, military, and social/political factors
• What did the Homestead Act of 1862 provide to settlers?

  160 acres of land for a $10 registration fee
• What was required for settlers to keep their claims under the Homestead Act?

  They needed to successfully farm the land for five years
• Why did white settlers fear Indian attacks?

  Because Indians opposed settlers disturbing the land and buffalo
• How did the removal of Indians to reservations affect settlement?

  It allowed settlements to increase at the expense of the Indians
• What role did the Transcontinental Railroad play in settlement?

  It facilitated the movement of people and goods to the plains
• How much land did railroad builders receive for every mile of track built?

  10 square miles of land
• Who were some of the migrants taking advantage of the Homestead Act?

  English, Irish, Dutch, German settlers, and others
• What was a significant military factor affecting settlement during the Civil War?

  The devastation of the Confederacy and the need for economic rebuilding
• What did the end of slavery mean for freed people in relation to the Homestead Act?

  They used the Homestead Act to make their own claims
• Who were the Exodusters?

  Freed black people who fled racism in the former Confederacy
• What technological developments helped solve problems of plains farming?

  Wind pumps, barbed wire, and new plows
• When were wind pumps introduced?

  In 1854
• What year saw the introduction of barbed wire?

  1874
• What were the sulky and sodbuster plows introduced for?

  To deal with heavy root-filled soils of the plains
• What were the social and economic factors that encouraged increased settlement of the plains?

  • Homestead Act
  • Immigration
  • Moving Plains Indians onto reservations
• What military factors contributed to settlement after the Civil War?

  • End of the Civil War
  • End of slavery
  • Need for homes and work for former soldiers
• What economic factors influenced settlement on the plains?

  • Railroads
  • New inventions in agriculture
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