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Settling the West and Industrial America. Chapters 13 and 14. Settling the West – Opportunities for Americans. Homestead Act: 160 acres of free land to a citizen who was the head of a household given to farmers with the promise they would farm the land for 5 years
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Settling the Westand Industrial America Chapters 13 and 14
Settling the West – Opportunities for Americans • Homestead Act: 160 acres of free land to a citizen who was the head of a household • given to farmers with the promise they would farm the land for 5 years • Exodusters: African Americans who moved from the post-Reconstruction south to Kansas • Long Drive - Journey north with the herd of cattle for sale • Homesteader -Farmer who helped to settle the west
Battle at Wounded Knee • Sitting Bull lead the Sioux tribe through poverty and disease • He encouraged the Ghost Dance to turn the fortune of the tribe • The US military enforced an end to the Ghost dance and the arrest of Sitting Bull (they didn’t want thousands of Native Americans assembling in one place) • The Sioux fought back, Sitting Bull was one of many killed • Significance: it marked the end to the plains wars between Native Americans and the US government
Currency Debate Terms: • Bimetallism - the idea that the government would issue paper money backed by both gold and silver • Greenbacks - Money not backed by either gold or silver • Silverites - Paper money backed by both gold and silver
The Cross of Gold Speech • The most famous speech in American political history was delivered by William Jennings Bryan on July 9, 1896, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. • The issue was whether to endorse the free coinage of silver at a ratio of silver to gold of 16 to 1. (This would have increased the amount of money in circulation and aided cash-poor and debt-burdened farmers.) • Hear Audio and Learn More
Industrialists in America • Bessemer Process – the process of purifying iron into steel • Steel could be used for new projects like skyscrapers, suspension bridges, etc • John Rockefeller – revolutionized the oil industry with his Standard Oil Company • Samuel Grompers – led a major labor union (AFL) during the time of great industrial growth • Was open to white men with skilled labor jobs • Sherman Anti-Trust Act: made it illegal for tycoons to buy all of the companies within an industry • Led to many anti-trust lawsuits in the 1890s
Railroads and Pullman Strike/Haymarket Strike • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvLpDau9OTk