Question

After the Civil War, Chicago became the largest city in the Midwest because _____.


it was located centrally between the coasts
the Erie Canal made the city an important center of trade
it was located near a coast
people from the South and the West migrated to the area

Answer 1

Not great choices. The Erie Canal was important to Chicago's growth in the 1830s, because the Erie Canal gave direct water access from the East Coast through the Great Lakes to Chicago. Another important development was the opening in 1848 of the Illinois and Michigan Canal that connected the Chicago River (and hence Lake Michigan) to the Mississippi RIver. But after 1850 or so, the most important reason for Chicago's growth was its development as a rail/ship nexus, joining railroad traffic from Iowa and points west, as well as Missouri, Kentucky and points south, and the Great Lakes, which connected to Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, and through the St. Lawrence Seaway New England and Europe.

I'm not sure how to advise you. The second choice, the Erie Canal, would make sense if the time period was BEFORE the CIvil War. The 3rd and 4th choices are false (migration to Chicago was from the East). The first is true, but incredibly overbroad, because it doesn't distiinguish CHicago from all the other cities "centrally located between the coasts" that did NOT become large.