Western Expansion

1. Western Expansion • Standard: Explore the changes on the Western Frontier (settlement of the Great Plains, Native American policies, and Populist Movement)

2. Native Americans on the Plains • Native American ways are highly developed • Hunted, planted crops, and lived in villages • Produced beautifully crafted tools and clothing • Culture centered around the buffalo- food, clothing, shelter, tools • Acquired horses/guns so they hunt more efficiently and travel further. • Did not believe in land ownership • lived in small extended family groups

3. Culture Clash • Recall Manifest Destiny • White settlers believe that not settling or improving the land meant Native Americans forfeited their rights to it. • Misunderstandings: Native Americans knew little about white settlers living east of Mississippi. Whites believe Indians are savage. Early Maps labeled lands as Great American Desert

4. What drives white settlers west? • GOLD- people wanted to get rich! Found in California in 1849 and Colorado in 1858. • White settlers along with Irish, German, Polish, Chinese, and African-American rush to find gold usually with little success.

5. What brings white settlers west? • From 1869, Railroads • In 1862, the government passed the Pacific Railroad Act • This gave government loans and large sections of land to the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads • Central Pacific started building in Sacramento and the Union Pacific started in Omaha • Work was grueling- mostly Civil War Vets, Irish and Chinese immigrants, African and Mexican Americans

7. Impacts of Railroads • Standard times and time zones are set: Professor C. F. Dowd proposed earth was divided in 24 time zones. November 18, 1883 railroad crews synchronized watches • Workers endured accidents and diseases- killed thousands each year

9. Impacts of Railroads • Fostered growth of towns- towns specialized, Chicago known for stockyards, Minneapolis for grain industries. • 1880- George Pullman: built railroad cars and provided employees with housing and almost all basic needs • Town of Pullman very strict- no loitering on front steps, no drinking alcohol • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zfYceK-GvY

11. Government and Native Americans • Government Policies continue to change throughout the 1800s. • 1834- federal government says Great Plains is one enormous reservation set aside for Native Americans. • 1850- fed gov’t creates treaties assigning specific boundaries for each tribe • 1887- Dawes Act aimed to “Americanize” Native Americans. This broke up reservations and gave land to individual Native Americans- 160 acres per household or 80 acres to unmarried adults.

12. Native Americans in 1800s • Not willing to hand land over to eager settlers infringing on their lands. • Massacre at Sand Creek-1864-Colonel Chivington and troops kill over 150- mostly Cheyenne men and women. Cheyenne thought they were protected by fed gov’t. • Battle of the Hundred Slain on Bozeman Trail- Sioux sick of settlers using trail and attack killing 80 soldiers in 1866. Settlers call Fetterman massacre. Gov’t agrees to Treaty of Fort Laramie and closes Bozeman Trail.

13. Native Americans in 1800s • Red River War-1874-1875- U.S. army rounds up and protects friendly tribes while opening fire on all others and crush resistance. This is in response to six years of raiding by the Comanche and Kiowa. • Custer’s Last Stand-1876- Settlers rushing to Black Hills for gold, the Sioux and Cheyenne under Chief Sitting Bull are ready when attacked by Custer and the 7th Cavalry.

14. Native Americans in 1800s • Battle of Wounded Knee 1876- 350 starving freezing Sioux are rounded up. When told to hand over their weapons, a shot is fired. Within 30 minutes, 300 were slaughtered, including women and children. • This battle ended the Native American battle forever. • Destruction of buffalo 1800: 65,000,000, 1870: 1000 destructs Native American’s way of life.

16. Cowboys and Beef • After Civil War, demand for beef skyrockets. • Trains reaching Great Plains allows cattle to be transported • 1867- Joseph McCoy (cattle dealer) makes deal with Abilene, KS to create shipping yard where trails met railroads. • Texas Longhorns from Texas on Chisholm Trail to Abilene. 1st year 35,000 next year 75,000.

17. Life of Cowboys • American cowboys learned from Mexican neighbors how to round up, rope, brand, and care for animals. • 55,000 worked plains between 1866-1885. Besides Anglo-American about 25% were African American and 12% were Mexican. • Day in the life: 10 to 14 hour days on ranch, 14 or more on trails, spent 3 months on trails, each cowboy looked after 300 head of cattle, risked death on crossing rivers

18. The end • Overgrazing the land, bad weather, invention of barbed wired ends the wide-open West. • Inventor of barbed wire: Joseph F. Glidden

19. Review • We have spoken about Western expansion and will continue to do so. • There is constant disagreements with the Native Americans because Americans want to move West onto their land. • Railroad building • End of the wide-open frontier

20. 1870-1900 • Americans settle 400 million acres of land in 30 years • Those living west of Mississippi made up 1% of population in 1850. This grew to 30% by 1900. • Rapid settlement made possible by Federal land policies and completion of transcontinental railroad lines

23. Land Attracts Many • Homestead Act in 1862- 160 acres of land free to any citizen or intended citizen who was head of a household. • 1862-1900, 600,000 families took advantage of offer BUT only 10% of land was actually settled by families. • Due to private speculators and railroad/state government agents abusing the system, the Homestead Act was eventually strengthened. • 1889- major land giveaway in Oklahoma. In less than a day settlers claimed 2 million acres. Some settlers claimed land before it was officially declared open resulting in Oklahoma being called the Sooner State.

24. Exodusters African Americans who moved from the post-Reconstruction South to Kansas.

25. Settler’s Lives • Hardships- weather (floods, fires, blizzards, locust plagues), raids by Native Americans • Housing- dugout/soddy. Trees were scarce so they built into ravines or small hills. A soddy consisted of piles of prairie turf. The good: warm in winter, cool in summer. The bad: little light/air, leaked when raining, lots of bugs

26. Women on the prairie • Worked, provided clothes & toiletries, stored food, sponsored schools and churches • worked beside men in field, plowing/planting/harvesting • Sheared sheep/carded wool for clothing, hauled water from well they helped made • made soap and candles, canned fruits and vegetables, skilled at doctoring • Sponsored schools and churches to help build communities

27. Farming the Prairie • Numerous farming inventions affect farming techniques • 1837- John Deere invented steel plow • 1847- Cyrus McCormick started mass-producing a reaping machine • Spring-toothed harrow 1869 • grain drill to plant see 1841 • barbed wire- 1874 • corn binder 1878 • 1830 a bushel of grain took 183 minutes, 1900 took 10 minutes

28. Agricultural Education • Federal Government supported this with Morrill Act of 1862 & 1890 through agricultural colleges. • Innovations led to successful farming on the dry eastern plains • The first land-grant institution newly created under the Act was Kansas State University, established on February 16, 1863

29. Downside to Advancements New machinery isn’t free… Farmers often had to take out loans to buy equipment and if prices of their crops weren’t high, they were losing $ and going into debt. Bonanza Farms: Created by R.R. companies to create huge farms that grew one crop. Needed migrant labor for these to function(1890s, These ended with droughts) The R.R. companies were making it hard to make a living as a farmer (they were overcharging them for shipping, more expensive for long hauls)

30. Farmers Unite! • Farmers begin to organize, 1867- first with the Grange started by Oliver Hudson Kelley, then the Farmer’s Alliance • Farmer’s wanted to impact policies and give the people a voice in government • Populism: the movement of the people called People’s Party 1892. These were discontent farmers forming a voice

31. Populist movement • Causes for popularity of movement • Poor economic conditions • Price for crops were down • Farmers were in debt • Land was becoming scarce • Railroads were charging too much for shipment of goods • Failure of the “greenbacks”

32. Populism Platform • increase in the money supply • graduated income tax • federal loan program • single term for president and VP • secret ballot to end vote fraud • 8 hour workday • restrictions on immigration

33. Farmers Problems part of a bigger problem • Civil War- U.S. gov’t issued money called greenbacks • They could not be exchanged for silver and gold • After war, gov’t started removing them from circulation, which increased money still in circulation. • Bad news for farmers!! The money they had borrowed had to be paid back with more “expensive” money

34. Panic of 1893 • Several railroads went bankrupt. • Gold supply had grown thin, people panicked and traded in paper money for gold. • Stocks fell, price of silver then plunged. • Many businesses had collapsed, 3 million lost jobs. By Dec 1894 a fifth of the work force was unemployed.

35. Populism • Significances? They DID impact government.The People’s Party presidential candidate won 10% of popular vote, elected five senators, three governors, and 1,500 state legislators. • It eventually became platform for Democratic Party

36. Dealing with our money problems • Debate was over which metal should be the basis for the monetary system • Bimetallism- a monetary system using both gold and silver in exchange for paper currency • Or, President Cleveland and the “Gold Bugs” backing dollars by gold alone

37. 1896 Presidential Election • Republican William McKinley backing the gold standard vs. Democrat William Jennings Bryan backing the combined gold and silver standard. • William Jennings Bryan gives his famous address “Cross of Gold” and is endorsed by the Populist Party. • McKinley wins, Populism ends but two important things come out of it: the down-trodden can organize and have a political impact, and their agenda of reforms resurface in the 20th century.

38. Exit Assignment