dearbornhistory - Blogdearbornhistory.weebly.com/.../5.14_gold_rush_dbq.docx · Web viewDescribe the hardships and motivations for moving West. Describe the consequences of Westward

Name:______________________________________Period:_____________

DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION

This question is based on the accompanying documents. It is designed to test your ability to work with historical documents. Some of these documents have been edited for the purposes of the question. As you analyze the documents, take into account the source of each document and any point of view that may be presented in the document.

Historical Context:

Following the California Gold Rush, there was a rush to settle the American West. This settlement was promoted by the government, as seen through a number of laws passed by Congress. These laws helped both railroad companies and average American citizens to seek a new life in the West.

Task:

Using information from the documents and your knowledge of social studies, answer the questions that follow each Document in Part A. Your answers to the questions will help you write the Part B essay, in which you will be asked to:

· Describe the hardships and motivations for moving West.

· Describe the consequences of Westward expansion for Native Americans and the natural world of the American West.

Part A

Short-Answer Questions

Directions: Analyze the documents and answer the short-answer questions that follow each document in the space provided.

Document 1

As soon as the railroad demonstrated its practicality… far-thinking men realized that it would be the tool Americans used to pry open the continent and extract wealth from mines, factories, and fields…

In mid-1862, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act authorizing the Central Pacific Railroad to build east from Sacramento and the Union Pacific Railroad to build west from Omaha. On May 10, 1869, the two companies met at Promontory Summit, Utah, completing the nation’s first Pacific Railroad…

-from “Rails to the Pacific,” California State Railroad Museum

1a What tool made it possible to tap the riches of the American West?[1]_________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________

b How was the transcontinental railroad funded? [2]__________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Document 2

CROSSING WATER TO ESCAPE A PRAIRIE FIRE

2a What are the settlers trying to get away from? [1]__________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

b What dangers do you see for settlers crossing the West?[1] __________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Document 3

On arriving at Rich Bar… many went a few miles farther down the river. The next morning, two men turned over a large stone, beneath which they found quite a sizable piece of gold. They washed a small panfull of the dirt, and obtained from it [gold worth] two hundred and fifty-six dollars. Encouraged by this success, they commenced staking off the legal amount of ground allowed to each person for mining… before the night the entire bar was “claimed… The largest amount [of gold] ever taken from one panfull of dirt was fifteen hundred dollars. In a little more than a week after its discovery, five hundred men had settled upon the Bar for the summer.

- Mrs. Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe

from a letter, September 20, 1851

3a Why were people drawn to settle in Rich Bar?[1] _________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

b How long did it take for 500 men to settle at Rich Bar? [1] __________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Document 4

-newspaper illustration of a Great Plains hunt, 1871

4a Why are the buffalo in the document running? [1] ________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

b What are the men in the picture doing?[1] ________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Document 5

I wasn’t nineteen years old when I come up the trail… The average age of cowboys then… was twenty-three or –four…

Look at the chances they took and the kind of riding they done… over rough country. Even in the daytime those deep coulees* could open up all at once… before you had a chance to see where you were going, and at night it was something awful if you’d stop to think about it, which none of them ever did. If a storm come and the cattle started running- you’d hear that low rumbling noise along the ground… then you’d jump for your horse and get out there in the lead, trying to head them and get them into a [circular course] before they scattered… It was riding a dead run in the dark…

-taken from “Up the Trail in ‘79” from We Pointed Them North:

* coulee= ravine or ditch Recollections of a Cowpuncher, by E.C. Abbott and Helena Huntington Smith

5a What was something that was challenging about being a cowboy? [2] _________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

b How old was the average cowboy? [1] ____________________________________________________

Document 6

Interactions Between White Settlers and Native Americans, Mid-1800s

-taken from “Americans Move West,” by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston

6a Which state or territory had the largest concentration of Native American reservations in 1890? [1]

_____________________________________________________________________________________

b Why were Native Americans forced onto reservations? [2] __________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Document 7

- Poster created by the Burlington & Missouri River R.R. Co., mid-1800s

7a How much land does this poster advertise as being for sale?[1] ______________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

b Why would this poster encourage people to buy land from this company?[2] ____________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Part B

Essay

Directions: Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs, and a conclusion. Use evidence from at least four documents in your essay. Support your response with relevant facts, examples, and details. Include additional outside information.

Historical Context:

Following the California Gold Rush, there was a rush to settle the American West. This settlement was promoted by the government, as seen through a number of laws passed by Congress. These laws helped both railroad companies and average American citizens to seek a new life in the West.

Task:

Using information from the documents and your knowledge of social studies, answer the questions that follow each Document in Part A. Your answers to the questions will help you write the Part B essay, in which you will be asked to:

· Describe the hardships and motivations for moving West.

· Describe the consequences of Westward expansion for Native Americans and the natural world of the American West.

SEE RUBRIC PROVIDED BY TEACHER FOR GRADING BREAKDOWN