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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did Santa enter the homes of prairie families on Christmas Eve?

2. Why did streams run brown in Kansas in 1874?

3. To which of the following were Kansas settlers subjected?

4. Who cleared paths after major snowstorms?

5. How were land concessions negotiated with the Native Americans?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe how a winter storm was so incapacitating to prairie families.

2. What was a typical social visit between pioneer families and why were the social times so valued?

3. What was the pioneer family's priority after establishing its homestead?

4. What crops were the mainstays of Kansas crops and what else did the families eat?

5. Explain the roles of children in the prairie family.

6. Explain why pregnancy and childbirth were especially trying times for women and what complications were there for the newborns?

7. In addition to fires, what other natural disasters did the homesteaders need to fend off?

8. Who were Sarah White and Anna Brewster Morgan and why did they gain notoriety?

9. What did pioneer children do to amuse themselves?

10. What were the sources of hostility between the Native Americans and the homesteaders?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain why the accounts of the Kansas pioneer women had been overlooked for so many years. What value do they have for historians and students today? What value will you take away from this literary experience? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Cowboys and cattle drives have a lasting impression on American culture yet they were active for only about a 20-year period. What was the purpose of a cattle drive? How was a cattle drive structured? Who were the personnel included on a cattle drive? What were the advantages and disadvantages of cattle drives to the Kansas homesteaders?

Essay Topic 3

Name the three most popular types of homes built by the Kansas homesteaders. What were the determining factors in choosing the type of home to build? What were the disadvantages and advantages of each type?

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