Book Cover American History: A Survey 10/e   Alan Brinkley
Online Learning Center 

Chapter 16: The Conquest of the Far West


Glossary

 

Glossary

  1. barrios: Urban neighborhoods occupied, principally, by lower-class Mexican Americans. Spanish language dominates in the barrio, and businesses, churches, and other social institutions catering to Mexican Americans are concentrated in these neighborhoods. Barrios were often, but not always, located on the fringe of the city.
  2. frontier: In the American sense, an unexplored, unsettled, or recently settled geographic region. The term also refers to any endeavor in which development possibilities seem unbounded--for instance, the urban frontier, frontiers of science. In the European sense, the frontier is the area near the border with another nation.
  3. placer mining: The process of removing gold from the sand and gravel of stream beds. Gold, eroded from mountain lodes, washes into swift-flowing streams and is suspended in the water until the streams slow in certain places and the gold settles to the bottom. Placer mining is the easiest and cheapest method of gold mining because only a simple pan or wooden sluice box is required to separate the gold from the sand and gravel.
  4. quartz mining: The process of removing gold or silver from lodes in ore-bearing rock and earth. It is an expensive process involving digging, blasting, crushing, and smelting.
  5. territory: A geographical and governmental subdivision under the jurisdiction of the United States but not included within any state. Beginning with the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the federal government divided the West into territories to facilitate control until the area was prepared for statehood. Territories were allowed some self-government by territorial legislatures, but the president appointed the territorial governor. Because of the peculiar circumstances surrounding their entry into the union, Texas and California never went through the territorial stage.

HomeChapter IndexPreviousNext

Begin a search: Catalog | Site | Campus Rep

MHHE Home | About MHHE | Help Desk | Legal Policies and Info | Order Info | What's New | Get Involved


Copyright ©1999 by The McGraw-Hill CompaniesInc. All rights reserved.Any use is subject to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
For further information about this site contact history@mcgraw-hill.com.

Corporate Link