Discussion Questions

These questions should be useful to review for the AP exam. When you have answered the questions, check out the brief summary answers to all of the questions.

How did the settlers, farmers, and ranchers help drive the plains buffalo into endangerment? Did they do this for the profitable buffalo or to exterminate the Native Americans?
Do you think that Easterners went West more often because they needed to move from overcrowding and poverty or because Western life was romanticized by stories, songs, and newspapers?
In what ways did life in mining towns differ from life in Eastern cities and towns?
According to Frederick Jackson Turner, how did the closing of the frontier affect American life?
How did frontier farmers adjust to life on the plains?
How and why did Native Americans feel threatened by the settlers?