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Settling on the Great Plains

Americans Move West. Settling on the Great Plains. I.) Government Help Settlers Move West. Homestead Act of 1862 - act passed by Congress offering 160 acres of free land to any citizen or head of household - Exodusters - African-Americans who move West from South Problems:

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Settling on the Great Plains

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  1. Americans Move West Settling on the Great Plains

  2. I.) Government Help Settlers Move West • Homestead Act of 1862- act passed by Congress offering 160 acres of free land to any citizen or head of household - Exodusters- African-Americans who move West from South • Problems: 1. Railroads & Govt. gobble up land 2. Ranchers fence off land 3. Miners & Woodcutters claim natural resources

  3. C. Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889-as part of the Homestead Act, federal govt. offers a major land giveaway in Oklahoma 1. in less than one day settler claim 2 million acres

  4. II.) Life on the Plains • Settlers face droughts, floods, fires, dust storms, & raids by outlaws or Native Americans B. Trees are scarce = build home from land itself 1. Soddy- home made by settlers by sod Women’s Role 1. worked the land, prepared food, cared for home, and raised the children

  5. III.) Agriculture Inventions • 1837 John Deere invents steel plow • 1847 Cyrus McCormick invents reaping machine • 1869 Spring-tooth Harrow to prep soil • 1841 Grain drill to plant seed • 1874 Joseph Glidden invents barbed wire • 1878 Corn binder and reaper Outcome: 1. more grain available 2. need for more farmland!

  6. IV.) Agricultural Assistance A.) Morrill Act of 1862 & 1890-federal govt. gives land to states to establish agricultural colleges B.) Hatch Act of 1887- established experiment stations for development of new agricultural tools 1. Great Plains nickname: “the Breadbasket of the Nation”

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