Edexcel GCSE History · Option P3

The American West, c1835–c1895

50 exam-style questions with answers for Option P3 The American West, c1835–c1895 in Edexcel GCSE History (spec 1HI0). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official Pearson material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Option P3, Key topic 1.1
State two ways the buffalo was important to the Plains Indians. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: food (1); hides for tipis and clothing (1); bones for tools (1); spiritual importance (1).
Question 2 · Option P3, Key topic 1.1
Describe the social structure of a Plains tribe. [2 marks]
Answer:
People lived in bands of extended families led by a chief (1); decisions were made by a council of elders, and warrior societies policed the band (1).
Question 3 · Option P3, Key topic 1.1
Describe the Plains Indians’ attitude to land. [2 marks]
Answer:
Land was sacred and could not be owned (1); it was shared by everyone, which clashed with white ideas of private property (1).
Question 4 · Option P3, Key topic 1.1
Describe the Plains Indians' attitude to war. [2 marks]
Answer:
War was mainly about raiding for horses and honour, not conquering land (1); bravery was shown by 'counting coup', touching an enemy without killing him (1).
Question 5 · Option P3, Key topic 1.1
Describe the Plains Indians' attitude to property. [1 mark]
Answer:
Land could not be owned, and wealth was measured in horses and generosity rather than possessions.
Question 6 · Option P3, Key topic 1.2
Define the term ‘Manifest Destiny’. [1 mark]
Answer:
The belief that white Americans had a God-given right and duty to expand across the whole North American continent.
Question 7 · Option P3, Key topic 1.2
What was the Oregon Trail? [1 mark]
Answer:
The 2,000-mile wagon route from Missouri to Oregon, used by migrants from the late 1830s.
Question 8 · Option P3, Key topic 1.2
What started the California Gold Rush? [1 mark]
Answer:
The discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in 1848.
Question 9 · Option P3, Key topic 1.2
What happened to the Donner Party in 1846–1847? [2 marks]
Answer:
They took an untested shortcut and were trapped by snow in the Sierra Nevada (1); about half died and some survivors resorted to cannibalism (1).
Question 10 · Option P3, Key topic 1.2
Why did the Mormons move west? [3 marks]
Answer:
Any three from: persecution in Missouri and Illinois (1); the murder of Joseph Smith in 1844 (1); hostility to their beliefs, including polygamy (1); wanting an isolated place to build their own community (1).
Question 11 · Option P3, Key topic 1.2
Explain how Brigham Young helped the Mormons survive in the Salt Lake Valley. [3 marks]
Answer:
He organised the journey carefully in groups with supplies (1); he controlled land and water, so irrigation could make the desert farmable (1); he enforced cooperation and discipline, so the community worked together (1).
Question 12 · Option P3, Key topic 1.2
State two problems of early settlement in the West. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: shortages of food and supplies (1); lawlessness in mining towns (1); isolation (1); conflict with Indigenous peoples (1).
Question 13 · Option P3, Key topic 1.3
What was the Permanent Indian Frontier? [2 marks]
Answer:
A line set in the 1830s west of the Mississippi (1); land beyond it was to be left to Native Americans, who were moved there by the Indian Removal Act (1830) (1).
Question 14 · Option P3, Key topic 1.3
What did the Fort Laramie Treaty (1851) agree? [3 marks]
Answer:
Plains tribes were given defined territories (1); they agreed to let settlers pass safely and allow roads and forts (1); the government promised annual payments (annuities) of goods and money (1).
Question 15 · Option P3, Key topic 1.3
What was the Indian Appropriations Act (1851)? [2 marks]
Answer:
It gave money to move Plains tribes onto reservations (1); this began the policy of concentration (1).
Question 16 · Option P3, Key topic 1.3
Describe the problems in mining towns. [3 marks]
Answer:
Any three from: lawlessness and violence (1); racism towards Chinese and Mexican miners, eg Foreign Miners’ Tax (1); claim jumping (1); poor sanitation and disease (1); gambling and drinking (1).
Question 17 · Option P3, Key topic 1.3
State two ways people tried to tackle lawlessness in early settlements. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: miners' courts (1); vigilance committees, as in San Francisco in 1851 and 1856 (1); claims clubs (1); electing sheriffs (1).
Question 18 · Option P3, Key topic 2.1
What was the Pacific Railroad Act (1862)? [2 marks]
Answer:
It gave land and money to two companies, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific (1); to build a railroad linking East and West (1).
Question 19 · Option P3, Key topic 2.1
Explain how the transcontinental railroad, completed in 1869, encouraged settlement of the West. [2 marks]
Answer:
It made travel west quicker and cheaper, bringing settlers and supplies (1); railroad companies sold land along the lines and advertised the Plains (1).
Question 20 · Option P3, Key topic 2.1
What was the Homestead Act (1862)? [2 marks]
Answer:
Settlers could claim 160 acres of public land (1); they gained ownership after living on and farming it for five years (1).
Question 21 · Option P3, Key topic 2.1
State three farming problems faced by homesteaders on the Plains. [3 marks]
Answer:
Any three from: lack of water (1); no wood for building or fuel (1); extreme weather (1); grasshopper plagues (1); tough sod that was hard to plough (1).
Question 22 · Option P3, Key topic 2.1
Describe three solutions to homesteaders’ farming problems. [3 marks]
Answer:
Any three from: wind pumps to reach underground water (1); barbed wire (patented 1874) for fencing (1); sod houses (1); dry farming techniques and Turkey Red wheat (1); sod-busting steel ploughs (1).
Question 23 · Option P3, Key topic 2.1
What was the Timber Culture Act (1873)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It gave homesteaders a further 160 acres if they planted trees on a quarter of the land.
Question 24 · Option P3, Key topic 2.1
Explain why federal government influence increased in the West after 1862. [2 marks]
Answer:
Territories became states with their own governments and courts (1); US marshals and the army were sent to enforce law (1).
Question 25 · Option P3, Key topic 2.2
Who was Joseph McCoy? [2 marks]
Answer:
A businessman who built stockyards at Abilene in 1867 (1); next to the railroad, so cattle could be shipped east (1).
Question 26 · Option P3, Key topic 2.2
Why was Abilene significant? [1 mark]
Answer:
It was the first cow town, where cattle driven from Texas were loaded onto trains to the East.
Question 27 · Option P3, Key topic 2.2
Who were Charles Goodnight and John Iliff? [2 marks]
Answer:
Goodnight pioneered the Goodnight-Loving Trail to sell cattle to forts and reservations (1); Iliff set up the first big ranch on the Plains, in Colorado (1).
Question 28 · Option P3, Key topic 2.2
Describe the work of a cowboy on the long drive. [2 marks]
Answer:
Driving herds of up to 3,000 cattle north for months (1); facing dangers such as stampedes, rustlers and river crossings (1).
Question 29 · Option P3, Key topic 2.2
Why was there conflict between ranchers and homesteaders? [2 marks]
Answer:
Cattle trampled homesteaders' crops (1); Texas cattle carried Texas fever, so homesteaders blocked the trails (1).
Question 30 · Option P3, Key topic 2.3
State two ways the railroads affected Plains Indians. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: they cut through hunting grounds (1); they brought hunters who killed the buffalo (1); they brought more settlers onto Indigenous land (1).
Question 31 · Option P3, Key topic 2.3
Describe the small reservations policy. [2 marks]
Answer:
From the late 1860s, tribes were moved to smaller reservations (1); they were expected to farm and adopt white culture, and were dependent on government rations (1).
Question 32 · Option P3, Key topic 2.3
What was Little Crow's War (1862)? [2 marks]
Answer:
A Dakota Sioux uprising in Minnesota caused by broken treaty promises and food shortages (1); hundreds of settlers were killed and 38 Dakota were hanged afterwards (1).
Question 33 · Option P3, Key topic 2.3
What happened at the Sand Creek Massacre (1864)? [2 marks]
Answer:
Colonel Chivington’s militia attacked Black Kettle’s Cheyenne camp, which was flying a US flag and a white flag (1); around 150 Cheyenne, mostly women and children, were killed (1).
Question 34 · Option P3, Key topic 2.3
Why did Red Cloud’s War (1866–1868) begin? [2 marks]
Answer:
Miners used the Bozeman Trail through Sioux hunting grounds (1); the army built forts along it, which the Sioux saw as a treaty violation (1).
Question 35 · Option P3, Key topic 2.3
What did the second Fort Laramie Treaty (1868) achieve for the Sioux? [2 marks]
Answer:
The army abandoned the Bozeman Trail forts (1); the Great Sioux Reservation was created, including the Black Hills (1).
Question 36 · Option P3, Key topic 3.1
Describe two new technologies that changed farming on the Plains after 1876. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: wind pumps to reach water (1); barbed wire for fencing (1); steel ploughs (1); mechanical reapers and binders (1).
Question 37 · Option P3, Key topic 3.1
What was the impact of the winter of 1886–87? [2 marks]
Answer:
Huge numbers of cattle froze to death on the overstocked open range (1); many ranchers went bankrupt (1).
Question 38 · Option P3, Key topic 3.1
Why did the open range end? [2 marks]
Answer:
After 1886–87, ranchers turned to smaller, fenced ranches with fewer, better-quality cattle (1); barbed wire made fencing cheap (1).
Question 39 · Option P3, Key topic 3.1
Who were the Exodusters? [2 marks]
Answer:
Formerly enslaved Black Americans who migrated from the South (1); to Kansas in 1879, to escape violence and discrimination (1).
Question 40 · Option P3, Key topic 3.1
What was the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1893? [2 marks]
Answer:
The government opened the Cherokee Strip of former Indian Territory to settlement (1); about 100,000 people raced to claim land on one day (1).
Question 41 · Option P3, Key topic 3.2
Who was Billy the Kid? [1 mark]
Answer:
A gunfighter in the Lincoln County War who was shot dead by Sheriff Pat Garrett in 1881.
Question 42 · Option P3, Key topic 3.2
What was the gunfight at the OK Corral (1881)? [2 marks]
Answer:
A 30-second gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona (1); Wyatt Earp, his brothers and Doc Holliday killed three cowboys (1).
Question 43 · Option P3, Key topic 3.2
What was the Johnson County War (1892)? [2 marks]
Answer:
Wealthy cattle barons in Wyoming hired gunmen to kill small ranchers they accused of rustling (1); the invaders were besieged and had to be rescued by the army (1).
Question 44 · Option P3, Key topic 3.2
Why did the Battle of the Little Big Horn (1876) take place? [2 marks]
Answer:
Gold was found in the Black Hills, which led to a gold rush onto Sioux land (1); Sioux and Cheyenne who refused to move to reservations were attacked by the army (1).
Question 45 · Option P3, Key topic 3.2
What were the consequences of the Battle of the Little Big Horn? [2 marks]
Answer:
Custer’s defeat led to public demand for revenge (1); the army defeated the Sioux, and the Black Hills were taken in 1877 (1).
Question 46 · Option P3, Key topic 3.2
What happened at Wounded Knee (1890)? [2 marks]
Answer:
Soldiers trying to disarm Sioux under Big Foot opened fire (1); around 150–300 Lakota were killed, ending armed resistance (1).
Question 47 · Option P3, Key topic 3.3
Explain how the destruction of the buffalo affected the Plains Indians. [2 marks]
Answer:
The buffalo were their main resource for food, shelter and tools (1); without them they could not survive independently and were forced onto reservations (1).
Question 48 · Option P3, Key topic 3.3
How many buffalo were left by 1895? [1 mark]
Answer:
Fewer than 1,000 (from about 15 million in 1865).
Question 49 · Option P3, Key topic 3.3
Describe life on the reservations. [2 marks]
Answer:
People relied on government rations, which were often poor or stolen by agents (1); children were sent to boarding schools and traditional ceremonies were banned (1).
Question 50 · Option P3, Key topic 3.3
What was the purpose of the Dawes Act (1887)? [2 marks]
Answer:
To break up reservations into individual plots of land (1); to make Native Americans farm and assimilate into white culture (1).

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The American West, c1835–c1895

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