GCSE Edexcel History The American West
ACTUAL EXAM 2026 TEST COMPREHENSIVE
QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED ANSWERS
(DETAILED & ELABORATED) 100% SOLVED
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Terms in this set (52)
Homestead Act 1862 Settlers could officially claim 160 acres of land to
live on and farm
After 5 years settlers were sold a certificate of
ownership for $30
Manifest destiny A concept spread by the US government that
made people think it was there destiny to live
across the whole of America
1837 (Reason for moving west, Banks collapse in the East thousands bankrupt
push)
Religious reason for moving west • Missionaries wanted to convert Indians to
(2) Christianity
• People converted to Mormons wanted to go to
the salt lake city
1848 (Reason for moving west, pull) Gold discovered in California
, Between 1840 and 1860 ( journey 34,000 people died
west)
Rail-road subsidies The government gave land either side of new
rail-road tracks to the rail-road companies.
Growth of towns (how did the Railroad companies sold much of the 155 million
government help settle the plains) acres they owned to help new planes towns grow
Pacific Railways Act 1862 This set up the Union pacific railway company to
lay track east to west and the Central Pacific Rail-
road Company to lay tack west to east
Why were the Black Hills of Dakota • It is where they went to bury their dead
sacred to the Sioux (2) • Where medicine men would go for special
guidance on important decisions
Amount of people digging for gold 90,000
in 1849
Mid 1850's (Gold) • Surface gold was exhausted and the "forty-
niners" returned home
• Professional miners backed by inverters in the
east came in and turned mining into a profitable
business
What was wrong with vigilante Innocent people could easily be executed for
groups getting on the wrong side of an influential citizen
ACTUAL EXAM 2026 TEST COMPREHENSIVE
QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED ANSWERS
(DETAILED & ELABORATED) 100% SOLVED
Save
Terms in this set (52)
Homestead Act 1862 Settlers could officially claim 160 acres of land to
live on and farm
After 5 years settlers were sold a certificate of
ownership for $30
Manifest destiny A concept spread by the US government that
made people think it was there destiny to live
across the whole of America
1837 (Reason for moving west, Banks collapse in the East thousands bankrupt
push)
Religious reason for moving west • Missionaries wanted to convert Indians to
(2) Christianity
• People converted to Mormons wanted to go to
the salt lake city
1848 (Reason for moving west, pull) Gold discovered in California
, Between 1840 and 1860 ( journey 34,000 people died
west)
Rail-road subsidies The government gave land either side of new
rail-road tracks to the rail-road companies.
Growth of towns (how did the Railroad companies sold much of the 155 million
government help settle the plains) acres they owned to help new planes towns grow
Pacific Railways Act 1862 This set up the Union pacific railway company to
lay track east to west and the Central Pacific Rail-
road Company to lay tack west to east
Why were the Black Hills of Dakota • It is where they went to bury their dead
sacred to the Sioux (2) • Where medicine men would go for special
guidance on important decisions
Amount of people digging for gold 90,000
in 1849
Mid 1850's (Gold) • Surface gold was exhausted and the "forty-
niners" returned home
• Professional miners backed by inverters in the
east came in and turned mining into a profitable
business
What was wrong with vigilante Innocent people could easily be executed for
groups getting on the wrong side of an influential citizen
