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GCSE · History

EDX.ASU7 Exam Skills: Explaining Consequences in the American West

EDEXCEL 1HI0 · Calculators not allowed · about 60 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Write in full sentences for Questions 13, 14 and 15. You are advised to spend about 60 minutes on this pack.

Give the year the First Fort Laramie Treaty was agreed.

(Total for Question 1 is 1 mark)

Name the 1862 law that offered 160 acres of public land to settlers who farmed it for five years.

(Total for Question 2 is 1 mark)

Give the year the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed at Promontory Summit.

(Total for Question 3 is 1 mark)

State one immediate effect on transportation of the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862.

(Total for Question 4 is 2 marks)

Name one Plains tribe that featured in negotiations around mid-century treaties such as the Fort Laramie agreement.

(Total for Question 5 is 1 mark)

State two ways homesteaders were expected to improve the land under the Homestead Act.

(Total for Question 6 is 2 marks)

Give one consequence of the near-destruction of the buffalo herds for Plains Indian food supply.

(Total for Question 7 is 1 mark)

Name the 1887 Act that aimed to encourage assimilation by dividing collectively held tribal land into individual parcels.

(Total for Question 8 is 1 mark)

State one way the expansion of railways affected the buffalo herds.

(Total for Question 9 is 2 marks)

Give two reasons why settlers were attracted to land in the Great Plains after the Civil War.

(Total for Question 10 is 2 marks)

State one political consequence for Plains nations of treaties such as the 1851 Fort Laramie agreement.

(Total for Question 11 is 2 marks)

Name one economic change on the Plains caused by the arrival of large numbers of white settlers and farmers.

(Total for Question 12 is 1 mark)

Explain two consequences of the First Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 for Plains Indian nations.

(Total for Question 13 is 8 marks)

Write a narrative account analysing how the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 and the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 affected settlement and economy on the Plains.

You may use the following information in your answer:
- the Pacific Railroad Act provided land grants and loans to railroad companies
- the completion of the transcontinental railroad linked eastern markets to the West in 1869

You should also use information of your own.

(Total for Question 14 is 8 marks)

Explain two of the following:
(a) the importance of the Homestead Act of 1862 for westward settlement
(b) the importance of the destruction of the buffalo herds for Plains Indian society
(c) the importance of the Dawes Act of 1887 for the ownership of land on the Plains

You must answer on TWO parts.

(Total for Question 15 is 16 marks)

Mark scheme · EDX.ASU7 Exam Skills: Explaining Consequences in the American West

Question 1

B1 1851
Answer: 1851

Question 2

B1 the Homestead Act
Answer: The Homestead Act (1862)

Question 3

B1 1869
Answer: 1869

Question 4

B1 identifies an effect, e.g. it provided government support for railway construction
B1 supporting detail, e.g. through land grants and loans that helped the Union Pacific and Central Pacific build track westward
Answer: It provided government support for railway construction, through land grants and loans to companies building westward.

Question 5

B1 e.g. the Lakota (Sioux), Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow or Pawnee
Answer: E.g. the Lakota (Sioux)

Question 6

B1 clearing or fencing the land or building a dwelling
B1 cultivating or farming the land for the required period
Answer: They were expected to build a dwelling or fence and to cultivate or farm the land for five years.

Question 7

B1 severe shortage of wild protein leading to hunger and dependence on government rations
Answer: Severe shortage of food, leading many Plains people to suffer hunger and to depend on government rations.

Question 8

B1 the Dawes Act (General Allotment Act)
Answer: The Dawes Act (General Allotment Act) of 1887

Question 9

B1 identifies an effect, e.g. railways opened access to previously remote hunting areas
B1 supporting detail, e.g. transport of hunters and market access for buffalo hides led to mass commercial hunting
Answer: Railways opened remote areas to hunters and gave quick transport for hides to market, fuelling mass commercial hunting that reduced buffalo numbers.

Question 10

B1 availability of cheap or free land under acts such as the Homestead Act
B1 improved transport links such as the transcontinental railroad making travel and supply easier
Answer: Cheap or free land under the Homestead Act, and improved transport links like the transcontinental railroad.

Question 11

B1 identifies a consequence, e.g. recognised territorial boundaries that limited mobility
B1 supporting detail, e.g. tribes were expected to keep to reservations or agreed areas, reducing their control over traditional hunting grounds
Answer: Treaties set recognised boundaries and expectations that tribes remain within certain areas, limiting mobility and control over hunting grounds.

Question 12

B1 the growth of commercial farming or cattle ranching
Answer: The growth of commercial farming or cattle ranching

Question 13

Level 1 (1-2): Identifies one or two simple consequences with little or no supporting detail or explanation.
Level 2 (3-4): Identifies and begins to explain one consequence, supported by some accurate detail.
Level 3 (5-6): Explains two consequences, each supported by accurate and relevant detail.
Level 4 (7-8): Explains two consequences in a well-developed way, showing clear links between the treaty terms and their effects, with precise and accurate supporting detail.
Indicative content:
- One consequence was the formal recognition of tribal territories, which on paper reduced violent conflict between some groups and settlers, but in practice fixed boundaries that limited tribes' seasonal movement and control of hunting grounds.
- A second consequence was increased US government involvement in Plains affairs, since the treaty established the principle of federal negotiation and payments, creating expectations of annuities and agents whose failure to deliver on promises later caused mistrust and instability.
- Good answers will distinguish consequence from mere description by explaining how treaty terms produced political limitations, altered traditional mobility and brought new administrative control that changed tribal autonomy.

Question 14

Level 1 (1-2): Simple, generalised statements with little organisation or sense of change over time.
Level 2 (3-4): Some accurate knowledge is used, with limited organisation; may be more a list of consequences than an organised narrative.
Level 3 (5-6): Organised account showing how events are linked, with relevant supporting detail and some analysis of change over time.
Level 4 (7-8): A coherent, well-organised narrative that analyses connections between events across the period, showing clearly how the Act and the railroad completion changed settlement patterns and the Plains economy, fully supported by precise and accurate detail.
Indicative content:
- The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 gave land grants and government loans to the Union Pacific and Central Pacific, encouraging rapid railway construction across the Plains and reducing the financial risk to private companies.
- Completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 created faster, cheaper transport for people, goods and agricultural produce, linking eastern markets to western farms and encouraging large scale migration and settlement on the Plains.
- Railway construction also opened access to remote regions, stimulated towns and trading posts along the route, and supported industries such as cattle ranching and wheat farming by providing markets and bringing in equipment and settlers.
- A strong narrative explains the sequence from legislation to construction to market integration, and analyses how this sequence shifted the Plains from a sparsely settled region into one connected to national economic networks.

Question 15

Level 1 (1-4): For each part answered, identifies a general point of importance with little or no supporting detail or explanation.
Level 2 (5-8): For each part answered, begins to explain importance, supported by some accurate detail.
Level 3 (9-12): For each part answered, explains importance clearly, supported by accurate and relevant detail, with some analysis of consequences.
Level 4 (13-16): For each part answered, explains importance in a well-developed, analytical way, fully supported by precise and accurate detail, showing clearly why the development mattered for the outcome named.
Indicative content:
- (a) The Homestead Act was important because it provided cheap or free land to millions of settlers, accelerating migration, encouraging family farming and creating a legal route for occupation that transformed patterns of settlement across the Plains.
- (a) The Act also encouraged government-backed population growth which increased demand for infrastructure, markets and law and order, making permanent settlement more viable.
- (b) The destruction of the buffalo herds was important because it removed the main food and material base of Plains societies, forcing many tribes into famine, dependence on US government supplies and surrender of autonomy.
- (b) It also undermined economic and social structures built around buffalo hunting, accelerating cultural disruption and making it easier for the US state and settlers to occupy traditional Plains lands.
- (c) The Dawes Act was important because it broke up communal landholding and imposed the idea of individual private ownership, weakening tribal structures and making it easier for non-Native buyers to acquire 'surplus' land.
- (c) The Act also aimed at assimilation by promoting private farming but in practice led to significant loss of Native-held land and long term changes in land tenure patterns across the Plains.
- A high-quality answer addresses two options, explains why each development mattered for the specified outcome, and supports points with precise factual detail and analysis of short and longer term effects.

Exam Skills: Explaining Consequences in the American West - Worksheets, Questions and Revision