Westward Expansion U.S. Land Acquired in the 1800s Urbanization (add this part to bottom of your notes, whole slide) Urbanization: When people move from the countryside to the city. Cities were getting over crowded and people wanted more space. Manifest Destiny Americans believed they should own all the land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean; coast to coast. The Homestead Act of 1862. Homestead Act The Act stated that any citizen could occupy 160 acres of government land. If the settler improved the land by making a home and growing crops, after 5 years the homesteader would own the property. Homesteaders. A settler under the Homestead Act. People moved West to stake their claim. Plowfarms, plows and families in front of their sodhouses. A difficult life for the farmers. Farmers had to cut through thick, hard earth called sod. Winters were harsh; cold, windy with a lot of snowstorms called blizzards. Summers were hot and had little rain. Farmers had to use a technique called dry-farming (growing crops that needed little water.) Sometimes grasshoppers would eat all the crops. Farmers in crisis. Farmers could not repay their debts. The Populist party tried to help farmers. They wanted government to reduce railroad rates and to help with (falling) decreasing prices for grain. Populists wanted all the silver mined in the West to be turned into coinage (money). Free silver would make it easier for farmers to repay their debts. The United States did not turn silver into money. Peoples party Bimetallism: Monetary system based on silver and gold The Transcontinental Railroad finished in 1869. Transcontinental Railroad A train route across the United States, finished in It was the project of two railroad companies: the Union Pacific built from the east, and the Central Pacific built from the west. The two lines met in Utah. Many Immigrants, such as Irish, Mexicans and Chinese helped build the Railroad. Eventually led to the Chinese Exclusion Act 1882: Prevented Chinese immigrants from entering the US for 10 years. Add to your notes Impact of the Railroads Railroads brought growth and new settlement all across the West. The railroads enabled people, supplies, and mail to move quickly and cheaply and safer across the plains and the mountains. The largest cities and towns developed where major railroad lines met. African Americans Moved West. African Americans were called Exodusters. Many African Americans moved to the West from the 1840s to late 1890s. They were escaping the difficult life in the South where Whites practiced Jim Crow Laws and denied African Americans their new Constitutional Rights. Why were African Americans called Exodusters? African Americans were called Exodusters after the book from the Bible called the Exodus. Exodusters moving West. The Great Plains Blue skies open prairies The location of the Great Plains. Native American Land Native Americans lived here first. Native Americans and Whites came into bloody conflicts over the land. They tried to protect their lands, but finally, the United States government forced them onto reservations. Battle of Little Bighorn BROKEN PROMISES! The United States government made many treaties with the Native Americans not to fight and not to touch certain areas of their land. For example, The Fort Laramie Treaty was a treaty made with the Cheyenne tribe, where Americans said an area of land belonged to the Cheyenne forever! However, when gold was discovered there, the Americans forced them to sign a new treaty giving up the land. The United States government broke many treaties with the Native Americans. Indians defend their lands, but are defeated in the end. Native Americans are forced onto reservations. The Dawes Act 1887 A policy (federal) that broke up reservation lands into smaller individual plots of land that were to be assigned to American Indians on an individual basis. The intention was to assimilate American Indians by making them self-sufficient through individual land ownership.