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SS Unit 2
Westward Expansion
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Transcontinental Railroad | Railroad that crosses a continent. The first transcontinental railroad in the United States was completed in 1869. |
| Coolies | A Chinese immigrant who came to work on the transcontinental railroad. |
| Promontory Point, Utah | Place in northwestern Utah where tracks of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads met in 1869 to complete the transcontinental railroad. |
| Homesteader | Settler who claimed land on the Great Plains under the Homestead Act. |
| Homestead Act | Law signed in 1862 offering free land to people willing to start new farms on the Great Plains. |
| Sodbuster | Great Plains farmer of the late 1800s who had to cut through sod, or thick grass, before planting crops. |
| Soddy | A house made of soil and grasses. |