Answer 1
Answer: Although invited to settle in Texas during the 1820s, Americans never fully complied with Mexican requirements and finally rebelled. The United States provoked war by invading Mexican territory in 1846, a war to steal the California and New Mexico territories it coveted. The United States had ready conspirators in place in California. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo wrested one-third of Mexico's territory away. The Spanish-speaking residents were soon overwhelmed and displaced by a huge influx of Anglo settlers.
Answer 2
Answer: The Plains Indians led an aggressive, nomadic life in search of the buffalo from which they derived food, clothing, fuel, shelter, and items to trade. Initial relations with white emigrants of the 1840s were peaceful. With the white destruction of grass, timber, and buffalo, however, the tribes became more hostile and demanded compensation. In the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, the American government offered gifts and payments in return for Indian agreement to tribal boundaries.
Answer 3
Answer: Most Mormons were farmers, originally from New England and the Midwest, and shared many of the same customs and attitudes as western emigrants. But outsiders also perceived profound differences. Farming was a collective rather than individual enterprise. The church and state were closely intertwined, with church leaders occupying all important political posts. Mormons also concentrated on converting rather than isolating or killing Native Americans. The major difference, one found unacceptable by non-Mormons, was the practice of polygamy.
Answer 4
Answer: Life for pioneer farmers was difficult and lonely. The determination to reestablish familiar institutions was burdened by the mobility of the population as well as the chronic shortage of cash. Mining camps were more lively, but disorderly. Most experienced a typical pattern of boom, bust, decay, and death. The fantasies of quick profits materialized for few as mining operations required large capital and mechanical resources. Emigrants to cities such as San Francisco, Portland, and Denver generally pursued business and professional ventures.
A mother dies, a father loses his leg—such calamities shattered poor urban families. Orphaned street
The Stillwater Mining Company
How Urban Is Your State? The Rural-Urban Makeup of the United States
Where do you think these people fit in Gans’ classification of urban dwellers?
Urban South Africa
Agricultural Landscapes