Grade 7 · Social Studies · Unit 9 of 10
Railway & Settlement
The CPR, the NWMP and homesteads
What your child practises
The Canadian Pacific Railway, the North-West Mounted Police, homesteading under the Dominion Lands Act, the loss of the bison and how Alberta became a province in 1905.
Alberta Curriculum learning outcome: 7.2 · the railway, the North-West Mounted Police, homesteading and the creation of Alberta
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Put these events in the order they happened.
- 🐴North-West Mounted Police formed, 1873
- 📜Treaty 7 is made, 1877
- 🚂Canadian Pacific Railway is finished, 1885
- 🌻Alberta becomes a province, 1905
Show answer
North-West Mounted Police formed, 1873 → Treaty 7 is made, 1877 → Canadian Pacific Railway is finished, 1885 → Alberta becomes a province, 1905
Hint: Dominion Lands Act 1872, NWMP 1873, Treaty 7 1877, CPR finished 1885, Alberta 1905.
Question 2
What was a homestead?
- A kind of treaty
- A kind of fort
- A railway car
- A free-or-low-cost piece of land (160 acres) for a settler who farmed and lived on it
Show answer
A free-or-low-cost piece of land (160 acres) for a settler who farmed and lived on it
Hint: Settlers paid a small fee and had to farm the land.
Question 3
In what year was the last spike of the CPR driven at Craigellachie, British Columbia?
- 1885
- 1905
- 1867
- 1812
Show answer
1885
Hint: It was the same year as the North-West Resistance.
Question 4
After the railway was finished, what did the Canadian government do to Chinese immigrants beginning in 1885?
- Paid them to come
- Gave them free land
- Made them prime ministers
- Charged a head tax, which made it very hard to come to Canada
Show answer
Charged a head tax, which made it very hard to come to Canada
Hint: The head tax was $50 at first, then $100 and $500.
Question 5
Alberta was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta. Why is her name used?
- She built the railway
- She discovered gold in Alberta
- She was a daughter of Queen Victoria and wife of a governor general of Canada
- She signed Treaty 6
Show answer
She was a daughter of Queen Victoria and wife of a governor general of Canada
Hint: Lake Louise is named after her too.
Question 6
What happened to the bison herds on the Plains by the early 1880s?
- They had almost disappeared because of overhunting
- They doubled in size
- They moved to Ontario
- They became pets
Show answer
They had almost disappeared because of overhunting
Hint: The loss of the bison hurt Plains Nations and Métis communities.