Bell Ringer

• How would you define the word “adventure”? Explain.

• Would you like to travel to the West via steamboat, wagon or railroad? Explain

The Great Westward Movement

ExpansionExpansion

SettlementSettlement

MovementMovement

Why did people move West? Push and Pull Factors

-events or conditions that either push people to move else where or strongly pull them to

do so

Push• Cheap land• Second chances• Religious freedom

– Mormons and European Immigrants

• Outlaws

Pull• Homestead Act• Morrill Land-Grant Act• Pacific Railroad Act• Private Property

Homestead Act 1862• Encouraged people to move West• 160 Acres• Must pay $10 registration fee• Must farm land 5 years• Promoted Easy Living

400,000 families claimed land

Morrill Land Grant 1862

• 30,000 Acres to establish colleges

• Agriculture and Technical Schools

• Need to improve Farming

• Increased movement West

Land Speculators

• People who bought up large areas of land in the hope of selling it later for a profit

• States would sell their land for the Morrill Land-Grant Act to these land speculators to help raise money for colleges specializing in agriculture mechanical arts

Pacific Railroad Act of 1862

• Authorized Railroad to be built– Land Grants & Subsidies– Made Railroad’s biggest land owners in West– Gave companies 10 miles of land on each

side of the track

• By 1872—Railroad given 170 Million Acres and ½ Billion dollars– More land than the size of Texas

Promontory Point, UTPromontory Point, UT(May 10, 1869)(May 10, 1869)

Promontory Point, UTPromontory Point, UT(May 10, 1869)(May 10, 1869)

Promontory Point

• On May 10, 1869, railroad officials, political leaders and work gangs converged at Promontory Point, Utah

• Drive in the last spike of the Pacific Railroad, the first of five transcontinental railroads built in the 19th century.

• The driving of the spike linked the Union Pacific line built from East to West with the Central Pacific, which had commenced construction in California.

Railroad’s continued…

• Railroads:– First transcontinental railroad to California was

completed in 1869– Built mostly by Chinese and Irish immigrants– Brought many settlers to the west– Telegraph system– Time zones– Refrigerated cars– Killed off a majority of the American Buffalo

• Why was the Homestead Act such significant factor in the westward migration?

• How did the Pacific Railways Act influence Western settlement?

James Fergus’ James Fergus’ Supply ListSupply List

James Fergus’ James Fergus’ Supply ListSupply List

• As a group, review James Fergus’ supply list he sent his wife.• As a group, select any 5 items in any quantity from each category that you feel

is a NEED!• Select 2 items from each category that you WANT but could do without.• These supplies will have to last you 1 year!• Think back to the modern day yearly consumption list as a guide…

• 1. What made you choose what you did?• 2. If you could pick any item that is not on the list, what would it be, and why?

Bell Ringer

• If you had been alive during the Westward Movement would you have been a miner, farmer, or rancher?`

Diversity

• European Immigrants arrived in the mid 1800s– Land to farm

• Germans settled in the Great Plains• Irish, Italian, European Jews, and Chinese

– West coast cities– Mining, railroad construction

• Mexicans– ranching

Exodusters

• Post Civil War: 1,000s of African Americans traveled west

• 1879 Benjamin “Pap” Singleton led groups of southern blacks on a mass “Exodus”

• 50,000+ Exodusters migrated west.

Mining• Gold Rush 1849

– Thousands go to California—led to state hood

• 1858 Pike’s Peak– Rumors of gold “everywhere you stick your

shovel”

• 1859 Comstock Lode– Richest discovery of gold and silver– $400 million of 30 years

• Boom-Bust Towns– Towns that sprung up overnight because of gold,

then dried up overnight when gold was gone

Mining• Colorado Territory formed out of western

Kansas after gold strike in Kansas

• Homestake Mine– Opened in 1877 in the Black Hills of Dakota– The richest single mine ever uncovered in the

world• $1 billion worth of ore

• “The Atlantic and Pacific coasts, instead of being, as they are now, divided countries will become part of compact whole, joined and cemented together by bonds of mutual interest

Mining Centers: Mining Centers: 19001900

Mining Centers: Mining Centers: 19001900

Mining Frontier

• Almost all men• Crude life with almost no comforts• Lots of violence• Some mining camps grew into mining towns• Successful mining required:

– Hydraulic mining or hard rock mining• Both were very expensive and replaced placer mining

• Led to big companies who hired workers• Dangerous work and low pay

Mining (“Boom”) Towns--Mining (“Boom”) Towns--Now Ghost TownsNow Ghost Towns

Mining (“Boom”) Towns--Mining (“Boom”) Towns--Now Ghost TownsNow Ghost Towns

Calico, CACalico, CACalico, CACalico, CA

Cowboys and Cattle Ranching

• Americans learned how to cattle ranch from Mexican cattlemen

• Texas Longhorns– Texas longhorn-survived easily in harsh climate– Open Range-restriction free grazing, free

• Railroads led to rounding up of cattle to sell east• Dodge City and Abilene (Chisholm Trail)• Cattle ranching grew after Civil War

Ranch Life• Centered on Roundup

– Cattle Drives (long) to take cattle to Railroad• Spring round up from open range• Ranchers go north w/herds to RR• Adopted Mexican clothing style and

ranching techniques• Danger of drowning and stampedes• Dirty and hard work• About ten cowboys and a cook• Ended in places like Abilene, Kansas

TheThe

CattleCattle

TrailsTrails

TheThe

CattleCattle

TrailsTrails

• Cow towns grew from cattle drives• Overgrazing, low prices, and barbed wire would end

cattle boom• Modern cattle ranches• Limited size • Fed cattle hay in winter• Barb Wire

– made it possible for farmers & ranchers tocheaply and efficiently fence in their livestock- Used to keep cattle in– Ends long drive

Joseph Joseph GliddenGliddenJoseph Joseph GliddenGlidden

Land Use: 1880sLand Use: 1880sLand Use: 1880sLand Use: 1880s

Frontier Settlements: 1870-Frontier Settlements: 1870-18901890

Frontier Settlements: 1870-Frontier Settlements: 1870-18901890

What is the Message of this What is the Message of this Picture?Picture?

What is the Message of this What is the Message of this Picture?Picture?

The Realty--A Pioneer’s Sod House, The Realty--A Pioneer’s Sod House, South DakotaSouth DakotaThe Realty--A Pioneer’s Sod House, The Realty--A Pioneer’s Sod House, South DakotaSouth Dakota

Farming out West

• Soil and climate very different than from the east.

• Lack of trees• Lack of water• High temperatures

• Had to develop:– Dry Farming techniques—plant seeds deep to absorb

moisture– New Technology

• Steel Plow• Seed drills• Reapers• Windmills• Built Sod Housing

Life of Farms

• Life on farms for homesteaders:– Sod houses dirty and not rainproof

• Many lived in sod houses b/c trees were not abundant and prairie sod was

– Winter blizzards– Summer heat– Tornadoes– Grasshoppers– Hard work and poor– Often very lonely and isolated

• Better equipment and technology led to more production but lower prices

• Dependent upon railroads– Had to have railroad to get crops to market– Railroads overcharged and set

unreasonable rates– Gave rebates to special customers– Charged more for short haul than long

haul

• What technologies gradually replaced placer mining?

• Why did cattle ranching become so successful after the Civil War?

• What hardships did homesteaders face?

• Describe the rise of cow towns.

• What kinds of stereotypes were created about the West?

• Describe the impact of new technologies and factors on small entrepreneurs in mining, ranching, and farming.

Bell Ringer

• List the three Acts and/or Grants we have talked about that helped motivate people to move west.

Indian Wars and Government Policy

• What were the clashes over?– The killing of the Buffalo– Taking of land

• How did the US government handle the wars and clashes?– Treaties would be negotiated that prevent the

Indians from moving or forced them to live in reservations

• These treaties would be frauds and not what had been agreed on between the Indians and White man

Battlefield Challenges

• Conflicts had been going on since Europeans arrived in the New World

• 1871 – US gov’t declared it would no longer make treaties with the Indians

• US spread thin to monitor the South during Reconstruction

• Could not get volunteers because– Low pay, disease, duties, clothing

Key Battles

• Sand Creek Massacre– Cheyenne Indians occupied central plains and parts

of the Colorado Territory– Had attacked wagons and trains near Denver– Chief Black Kettle took orders to camp at Sand

Creek – US Colonel John Chivington attacked the Cheyenne

and killed 300, mostly women and children– The following year the Cheyenne argreed to move to

reservations

Key Battles

• Build up to The Battle of Little Bighorn– Sioux Indians – northern plains – Dakota,

Wyoming, and Montana territories– US gov’t decided to build the Bozeman Trail

through prime hunting ground• After a two standoff between the two sides signed

the Fort Laramie Treaty– Ended the Bozeman Trail and set aside a large

reservation that is off of South Dakota today

Gold Found in Gold Found in the Black the Black

Hills of the Hills of the Dakota Dakota

Territory!Territory!

18741874

Gold Found in Gold Found in the Black the Black

Hills of the Hills of the Dakota Dakota

Territory!Territory!

18741874

The Battle of Little Bighorn• Colonel George Custer was sent to

investigate the rumor of gold in the Black Hills– Said there was gold “from the grass roots down”

• 1876 - US offered to buy the Black Hills from the Sioux but declined– Custer was sent back to round up the Indians to

clear the land for gold mining– Custer divided his troops in hopes to easily defeat

the Indians– He instead was met with the largest ever

gathered on the Plains

The Battle of Little Bighorn

• 2,000 Sioux fought and killed Custer and his troops

• Became known as Custer’s Last Stand

• The US Army quick arrived at the Black Hills and forced the Sioux back to the reservation– Sitting Bull and others escaped to Canada

The Battle of Little Big The Battle of Little Big HornHorn18761876

The Battle of Little Big The Battle of Little Big HornHorn18761876

Chief Sitting Chief Sitting BullBull

Gen. GeorgeGen. GeorgeArmstrong Armstrong

CusterCuster

The Battle of Wounded Knee

• Sitting Bull returned from Canada and encouraged Sioux to leave the reservation

• After Ghost Dancing in the snow the Army was called and Sioux were once again rounded up

• Sitting Bull resisted arrest and was killed along with 350 other Indians

• The last major episode of violence in the Indian Wars

New Policies Towards Native Americans

• Attempts to change Native Americans– People wanted them civilized– Assimilation – when one society becomes a part of

another, more dominant society by adopting its culture

• Dawes Act – divided reservations into individual plots and the head of each family would receive 160 acres– These land owners would now have to pay local,

federal, and state taxes

Chief JosephChief JosephChief JosephChief Joseph

Nez Percé Nez Percé tribal tribal

retreat (1877)retreat (1877)

“…“…Hear me, my Hear me, my chiefs, my heart is chiefs, my heart is

sick and sad. From sick and sad. From where the sun now where the sun now stands I will fight no stands I will fight no

more against the more against the white man.”white man.”

Helen Hunt JacksonHelen Hunt JacksonHelen Hunt JacksonHelen Hunt Jackson

A Century of DishonorA Century of Dishonor (1881)(1881)

A Century of DishonorA Century of Dishonor (1881)(1881)

“It makes little

difference . . . where one opens the

record of the history of the Indians; every

page and every year has

its dark stains.”

Crazy Horse Monument:Crazy Horse Monument:Black Hills, SDBlack Hills, SD

Crazy Horse Monument:Crazy Horse Monument:Black Hills, SDBlack Hills, SD

Lakota ChiefLakota ChiefLakota ChiefLakota Chief

Mt. Rushmore: Black Hills, SDMt. Rushmore: Black Hills, SDMt. Rushmore: Black Hills, SDMt. Rushmore: Black Hills, SD

Destruction of the Buffalo Destruction of the Buffalo HerdsHerds

Destruction of the Buffalo Destruction of the Buffalo HerdsHerds

The near extinction of the buffalo.The near extinction of the buffalo.

Yellowstone National ParkYellowstone National ParkYellowstone National ParkYellowstone National Park

First national First national park established park established

in 1872.in 1872.

National ParksNational ParksNational ParksNational Parks

Conservation MovementConservation MovementConservation MovementConservation Movement

John MuirJohn Muir

With President With President Theodore Theodore RooseveltRoosevelt

Bell Ringer

•Use your phone to answer the Edmodo question

Populism

Setting the Scene

• Farmers always struggled against nature and the economy

• Since the end of the Civil War farm production had risen

• Farmers had to barrow more money to pay for new equipment to keep up with production

• More production = price decline

• Economic nosedives in 1873 and 1893

The Farmers Complaint• Farmers and Tariffs

– Tariffs increased farming manufacturing and kept foreigners from earning US money to buy American Crops

– Tariffs were always raised to help industry• Farmers believed the gov’t didn’t care about them

• The money issue– After the Civil War the US was experiencing

deflation– Monetary policy became a major political issue

The Farmers Complaint• Gold Bugs

– 1873 – worst economic panic to its time. Money was put on the gold standard

• Limited the money supply in circulation

– Pleased the “Conservatives”

• Silverites– Bland-Allison Act – required the gov’t to purchase and

use silver coins– Sherman Silver Purchase Act – increase the amount of

silver the gov’t was required to purchase each month (repealed in 1893)

Alliance Movement

• Poor farmers gathered together to discuss hardships

• Organization took shape and began many local alliances

• Merged regional organizations• Members attended rallies, read alliance

newspaper, listened to speakers

• Began to recognize political power

Organizing Farmer Protests

• The Grange– Founded by Oliver H. Kelley– Began by helping farmers create corporations– Primary purpose was to buy less, produce more to

make farms more self sustaining– Set up discounts with farm machinery dealers– Pressured state legislators to regulate businesses

that farmers depend on • Ex. Grain elevators for storage, and railroads for shipping

– Granger Laws

Farmer Protests

• The Farmers’ Alliances– Began in the 1880s by attacking monopolies– Women served as officers

• Mary Elizabeth Lease urged farmers to raise “less corn and more Hell”

• Colored Farmers Alliance– Formed in 1886, by 1891 there were 250k

members

Interstate Commerce Act

• 1887 Congress passed Interstate Commerce Act– Outlawed secret rebates– Couldn’t charge more for short hauls– Rates had to be reasonable and just– Created Interstate Commerce Commission to

oversee it– Did not stop monopolies

Populism

• Replaced grange and farmer’s alliance– Strong support in Midwest

• Reform based party– Wanted:

• Graduated income tax• Bank regulation• Government owned telegraphs and railroads• Free coinage of silver• Immigration restrictions• Secret ballots • Supported by farmers, labor leaders, and reformers• 8 hour work day

Populism Con’t • 1892 saw need for 3rd party because reps

ignored agenda once in office• Populist platform

• Same as Grange and Farmers’ Alliance goals

• RR slowed• Industry affected • Rural America—declining prices• Populists gain momentum 1896 Election- Bimetallism big issue

– William McKinley R (Goldbugs)– William Jennings Bryan D (Silverites)

Election of 1896 Continued

• Cross of Gold Speech – William Jennings Bryan• “you shall not press down upon the brow of labor a crown of

thorns, you shall not crucify humanity on a cross of Gold”

• Populist knew if ran, would ensure Republican victory

• Endorsed Bryan

• McKinley won b/c of fierce campaigning • Warned people of problems with Silver

• Bryan’s Defeat was downfall of populism—but start of new movement with Democrats taking on some of their platform

• The end of Populism leads to Progressivism.