Frontier Societies: Hispanic, Chinese, Western Tribes in the Far West

1. Brinkley Ch. 16: The Conquest of the Far West Page 440

2. Topics • Societies of the Far West 1) Western Tribes 2) Hispanic New Mexico 3) The Chinese Migration • Continuing white settlement • Miners • Cattle Kingdom • “Romance” and myth of the West • Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis • Dispersal of the Tribes

3. Let’s start a concept map:Example

4. Locations of Plains and Southwest Indians

5. Societies of the Far West

6. Western Tribes • Pacific Coast Tribes • Chumash • Pomo • Pueblo(southwest) • Plains Indians • Diverse group • Three main groups • Sioux • Arapaho • Cheyenne

7. 1) Pacific Coast Tribes • Lived on Pacific Coast before arrival of the Spanish • Fished • Disease and dislocation decimated them • Some remained within Spanish society

8. 2)Pueblos Indians of the Southwest • Farmers • Grew corn • Permanent settlements • Adobe houses • Irrigation • Trade and commerce

9. Caste system in the Southwest Landowning Spanish or Mexicans Pueblos Genizaros - Apaches, Navajos and others

10. 3)Plains Indians • Complete a Venn diagram on similarities and differences within Plains Indian cultures. • P. 443 – 444

11. Proud and aggressive warriors Skilled in warfare Males were a warrior class Dominated the Plains region Inability of various tribes to unite against white aggression Not used to political or military centralization Some faced whites who were being helped by other Indians Depended heavily on buffalo for food Diseases Advantages/Disadvantages of Plains Indians In fighting white aggression

12. Hispanic New Mexico in the Far West • Native American Spanish Empire Mexican Republic United States • Spanish – speaking communities scattered throughout the southwest, from Texas to California • When the U.S. took over it tried to exclude the Mexican ruling class from power • Widespread fear among Indians and Mexicans that Anglos would take their land.

13. 1847 : Taos Indians rebel against the US government • Killed new governor and others until subdued • Territorial government established in New Mexico in 1850 • By 1870, old Hispanic elite had lost much of its power • Hispanic societies survive because they are far from Anglo culture

14. Hispanic California and Texas • California - 18th cent. Spanish settlement by missionaries who forced or persuaded coastal Indians to go to missions and baptized them. Indians become slaves in missions taking care of farming and ranching. • Decline of mission society: New Mexican government reduces power of church and more Anglo settlement

15. Californios begin decline • Outnumbered by Anglos and excluded from gold rush • Lose land through corruption, bad business deals and theft • By 1880, the Mexican ranching community or rancheros had ceased to exist. • Same pattern in Texas • Story of Juan Cortina

16. The Chinese migration • Many first came to work in gold mines then in 1865 on the transcontinental railroad. • At first welcomed in California, then seen as threat due to their industriousness and success. • Chinese were 90% of the labor force on railroad

17. Chinese work on the Central Pacific railroad

18. Read page 446 • Building the Transcontinental railroad: The Chinese experience • Add to your notes • Identify two words you do not know and look them up

19. End of the line – for the railroad and the ChineseTranscontinental railroad completed 1869 inPromontory, Utah

20. The Chinese • 1869 – Transcontinental railroad completed. Many Chinese now find themselves out of work • Agricultural laborers • Tenant farmers • Most went to cities

21. Chinatowns form throughout the West

22. Anti-Chinese sentiment 1860’s – early 1900’s • Anti- “coolie” clubs • Bans on employing Chinese • Chinese portrayed as “barbarous” and unassimilable” • Democratic Party • Working Man’s Party

23. 1882 – Chinese Exclusion Act • Banned Chinese Immigration into the United States for 10 years • Banned Chinese already here from becoming citizens • Supported by many due to fears of unemployment ,labor unrest and racism

24. Thomas Nast cartoon 1) identify people and items 2) identify symbols 3) message of the cartoon 4) point of view of the cartoonist

25. Migrations from the east SOD HOUSE

26. Migrations from the east • 1870 – 1900: Millions of Anglos migrated from the east GOLD AND SILVER PASTURE FOR CATTLE AND SHEEP HOMESTEAD ACT OF 1862 COMPLETION OF RAILROAD

27. Problems with farming on the Plains • Framers of Homestead Act assumed just having the land would be enough to sustain a family • Did not take into account increased mechanization and cost associated with farming • Eastern farming much different than on the Great Plains. More than 160 acres needed for grazing animals and grain-farming. • Many abandoned homesteads before the 5-year time period for ownership. Very isolated, hard existence.

28. Government assistance • Timber Culture Act (1873) • Desert Land Act (1877) • With these two acts, people could now get up to 1,280 acres of land

29. Labor in the West • The “market economy” led to farmers growing cash crops, rather than doing subsistence farming. • Labor shortage leads to higher wages, but harder work and little job security • Competition with the Chinese, who would work for less • Multi-racial, but racially stratified • Limited social mobility

30. Arrival of Miners

31. Boom and Bust • News of gold or silver strike would start a stampede • Comstock Lode • Black Hills • Surface mining • Corporations took over with quartz or lode mining

33. Mining townspage 252

34. Supply train for mines

35. Discrimination in mining • Chinese, Mexicans and Filipinos often expected to do the most dangerous work • Would often work for lower wages • 1 worker in every 30 disabled and 1 in every 80 was killed.

36. Cattle Kingdom • Open range provided grazing land • Railroads created range –cattle industry by giving access to markets. • Mexican origins of cattle ranching

37. Cattle Kingdom: A Texas Cattle Trail

38. Branding Cattle: Mexican origins

39. Chisholm Trail

40. Cattle Trails: by end of Civil War, 5 million head of cattle on range in Texas

41. Long Drive: romanticized and mythologized • Most cowboys were veterans of the Confederate army • Next largest group was African-Americans • Competition leads to fenced land • Two severe winters with drought – like summers insured the open-range industry never recovered

42. Effects of ranching • Presence of women increases • Women own substantial numbers of ranches • Provided women with many opportunities • Women would get to vote in western states long before other parts of the U.S.

43. Suffrage map before the 19th amendment

44. Romance of the West • Which old west and whose? Audio • Brinkley page 455

45. Turner Thesis – presented at 1893 World’ s Fair • The conquest of the West by white people was the central story of American history • Savagery civilization • Let’s consider this thesis as we discuss the Dispersal of the tribes

46. Turner’s Frontier Thesis • Turner argued that his colleagues should not look to the East coast, much less to Europe, for an explanation of the development of American character, society, and democracy. • Rather, they should look to the Western frontier, because, he said, “The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward, explain American development.” • Turner’s argument consisted of eight points.

47. Turner’s Frontier Thesis • First, Turner considered the frontier to be the leading edge of American westward expansion. • Second, the pioneer eventually transformed the wilderness, not into another Europe, but into a distinctly American civilization, not as savage as it was, but not particularly genteel either.

48. Turner’s Frontier Thesis • Third, the variations of place and time dictated that no two frontiers were exactly the same, that no two were settled exactly the same way, and each had its own special effects on American economic and political history.

49. Turner’s Frontier Thesis • Fourth, because of their differing rates of westward advance, Turner distinguished four different social frontiers: the trader's, the rancher's, the miner's, and the farmer's.

50. Turner’s Frontier Thesis • Fifth, “the frontier promoted the formation of a composite nationality for the American people.” • Sixth, the advance of the frontier diminished our economic dependence on England and forced America to develop its own system of trade to service the needs of the pioneers.