Westward Expansion and Pioneer Girl Vocabulary

Westward Expansion and Pioneer Girl Vocabulary

1. pioneer- a person who is one of the first to settle a region so that it opens up for others to occupy and devleop

2. claim (n.)-a piece of land claimed by a settler

3. heifer- a young cow

4.priarie- a large area of flat or rolling grassland

5. sod-a chunk of grassy soil held together by matted roots

6. homestead- a farmhouse, its buildings and the land it sits on

7. immigrants- people who leave their native country to settle in another country

8. fertile- rich in material needed to grow healthy plants

9. discouraged-in low spirits and without hope

10. propaganda- information or ideas used to influence how others think

11. memoir- an account of the personal experiences of its author

12.  destiny-  a predetermined event; something that is to happen

13. reservation-a tract of public land set aside for the use of an Indian tribe.

14. “trail of tears”- The route along which the United States government forced several tribes of Native Americans, including the Cherokees, Seminoles, Chickasaws, Choctaws, and Creeks, to migrate to reservations west of the Mississippi River in the 1820s, 1830s, and 1840s. Those on the march suffered greatly from disease and mistreatment.

15. assimilate- to conform with the customs, attitudes, etc., of a group or nation

16. "Indian Removal Act"- federal law that permitted the president to give public lands in the West to Indians residing in eastern states, in exchange for their removal west of the Mississippi River; it was sometimes applied unilaterally and enforced at gunpoint, in flagrant violation of previous treaties, to evict Indians from valuable lands in the East.