Westward Expansion Study Guide – Test on Monday June 1st
1. Know the order of the first five presidents of the United States: George Washington,
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe
2. Study the reasons American Pioneers moved west
A. searching for adventure
B. rich land for farming
C. wanted to start over
D. become hunters and trappers
3. Thomas Jefferson was president at the time of the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson got
permission from Congress to purchase the Louisiana Territory from France
4. Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, York, Sacajawea were among the people on the
expedition of the Louisiana Territory. President Thomas Jefferson did not go.
5. The main purpose of Lewis and Clark’s expedition was to find an all-water route to the
Pacific Ocean.
6. Know the order of the camps/forts that Lewis and Clark built during their expedition.
A. Trained at Camp Wood (the first stop)
B. Wintered at Fort Mandan (1804-1805)
C. Wintered at Fort Clatsop (1805-1806)
7. When they got to the Pacific Ocean, they voted on where to set up camp (Fort Clatsop)—
even Sacagawea and York were allowed to vote (this was very important because in
America at that time women, Native Americans, and African Americans were not allowed
to vote).
8. Manifest Destiny was the belief that God wanted the United States to extend from
the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
9. Native American tribes (indigenous people) were angry because American settlers kept moving west and taking over the land. The American government was doing this by force (through fighting) and by trickery (bad treaties).
10. As Americans took over more land, Native Americans were forced to live in certain
areas only.
(study guide continued on the other side)
Choose one improvement in transportation from the list below. Be able to write three
things you remember about that form and be able to tell how it changed transportation.
Remember: the information in bold will likely be on the test, so study that too. ☺
A. Turnpikes (a somewhat better form of roads) were often “paved” with dirt and gravel.
1. charge people to use the good roads
2. collect a toll, or fee, every 10 miles or so
B. The steamboat, invented by Robert Fulton, was invented to travel upstream and
downstream faster than flatboats could do it.
1. built a boat with two large paddle wheels on its sides and installed a steam engine
2. people called his boat Fulton’s Folly, but it was actually named the Clermont
3. in 1807 his boat steamed up the Hudson River, going 150 miles in 32 hours
(much faster than a horse-drawn wagon could do it—and with more cargo)
C. Canals were built to connect cities east & west, since most rivers ran north & south.
1. the Erie Canal was built—363 miles long
2. it took 8 years to build—finished in 1825
D. Railroads were built soon after canals.
1. 1828—the first railroad in the U.S. was built in Baltimore; it was 13 miles long
2. The first ones had horses pull the coach along tracks
3. In 1830 Peter Cooper built a steam engine that pulled a train up to 18 miles an hour
The 14th state -- Vermont; the 15th state -- Kentucky; the 16th state -- Tennessee
Texas gained its independence from Mexico and spent nine years as its own country before
joining the United States as the 28th state.
Great Britain and the United States compromised and divided the Oregon Territory so they
each got some of the land (instead of going to war over the land).
The United States went to war with Mexico over a border between Texas and Mexico,
all as a means to get land in southwestern United States.
Gold brought thousands of people to California in 1849!