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Opening the West

Opening the West. Essential Question. What were the causes and effects of mining booms in the West? Discovery of gold and silver in west led to mining boom Effect: creation of new states Effect: Transcontinental Railroad Effect: new wave of settlers Effect: benefits to industry.

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Opening the West

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  1. Opening the West

  2. Essential Question • What were the causes and effects of mining booms in the West? • Discovery of gold and silver in west led to mining boom • Effect: creation of new states • Effect: Transcontinental Railroad • Effect: new wave of settlers • Effect: benefits to industry

  3. Gold Silver and Boomtowns • Mid 1850s – California gold rush has ended • Miners began prospecting in other parts of the West • Prospectors skimmed gold dust from streams or scratched particles from the land • Most gold is deep underground • Companies stand a better chance at getting rich than individuals

  4. Boomtowns • Boomtown

  5. Boom and Bust • Gold strikes created boomtowns • Towns develop almost overnight • Lively, lawless places, violence and gambling • Mostly men, but some women acted as laundresses, cooks or entertainers • Everyday people called, vigilantes, enforced the law • Once the gold was gone, people left and they became ghost towns

  6. United States Expands West • As mining areas became more populated, they eventually became states • 1876 – Colorado • 1889 – North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Montana • 1890 – Wyoming, Idaho

  7. Railroads Connect East and West • Gold and silver had little value unless they could reach factories, ports and markets • People living in boomtowns also needed shipments of food and supplies • Nation’s railroads expand rapidly between 1865 and 1890

  8. Railroads

  9. Government and the Railroad • Railroad construction was often supported by large government subsidies • Railroad executives argued that their companies should receive free public land because connecting East and West would benefit the entire nation • Federal government agrees, grants 130 million acres to railroads • Most land is obtained by treaties with Native Americans

  10. Transcontinental Railroad • Enormous Challenge! • Low wages/harsh conditions for workers • Irish • Chinese • African Americans • Harsh terrain: forests, deserts, mountains • Harsh weather: hot summers, icy winters

  11. Transcontinental Railroad • Race between Union Pacific Company and Central Pacific Company • May 10, 1869 – construction is completed • East and West coast are connected

  12. Effects of Railroads • Brought thousands of workers west • Boost in steel industry with more needed for tracks • Coal producers, railroad car manufacturers, construction companies benefit • Towns spring up all along railway • Brings next wave of settlers west • Farmers • Ranchers • UNITES THE COUNTRY

  13. Making Connections • What was life like in boomtowns? • Lively, lawless places • More men than women • Law kept by vigilantes • Why did the government provide subsidies to Railroad Companies? • Building a Transcontinental Railroad was expensive and the RR companies argued that the government should pay for it because RRs would bring benefits to the entire nation.

  14. Ranchers and Farmers • Ranchers and Farmers • When you hear the word “cowboy” what do you think? • How does this song portray the life of a cowboy? Be specific. • Romanticized: Deal with or describe in an idealized or unrealistic fashion

  15. Essential Question • How did cattle ranchers and farmers adapt to life in the west?

  16. Cattle on the Plains • When the Spanish settled Mexico and Texas, they brought a tough breed of cattle with them – Longhorns • Most of Texas is open range and ranchers added to their herds by rounding up wild cattle • They burned symbols into their hides to mark them as their own

  17. Railroads and Cow Towns • Markets for beef were in the North and East • When railroads start expanding east, value of Texas cattle shot up • Texans drove their herds to the nearest rail point in Missouri to be shipped East • Increase in longhorn’s value set off what became known as the Long Drive

  18. Long Drive

  19. Life on the Great Plains • Cowhands and ranchers lived difficult lives on the Plains • Rode up to 15 hours a day in the saddle • Violent lightning storms, dust storms, blazing sun, freezing nights • Lonely • Stampedes • Vaqueros: Hispanic ranch hands who developed riding, roping and branding skills

  20. The Cattle Kingdom Ends • Ranching replaced cattle drives because of hardier, plumper cattle • Ranchers became rich when cattle prices boomed • Too many cattle forced prices down • Cattle industry survives, but farming becomes main economic activity. • Is the life of cowboys romanticized? Why?

  21. Farmers Settle the Plains • Free land and new farming methods brought many settlers to the Great Plains • 1872 – A Nebraska farmer wrote • “One year ago this was a vast, houseless, uninhabited prairie…Today I can see more than thirty dwellings from my door.”

  22. Farmers Settle the Plains • Several factors brought settlers to the Plains • Railroads made journey west easier • New laws offered free land • Above average rainfall in the late 1870s made land better suited for farming

  23. The Homestead Act • This land gave up to 160 acres to settle for a $10 filing fee and who promised to live on the land for 5 years • Immigrants and women were eligible • Attracted thousands of new settler to the plains

  24. The Homestead Act

  25. New Groups of Settlers • Immigrants • African Americans • End of Reconstruction mean end of protection in the South • Fearing for their safety, they moved West • By 1881, more than 40,000 had migrated to Kansas

  26. Women on the Frontier • Worked hard in the fields alongside men • Sewed clothing, made candles, cooked and preserved food • Kept farm running when men were away • Children worked the farms as well

  27. The Oklahoma Land Rush • Oklahoma Territory, designated by Congress as “Indian” Territory was the last region of the Plains to be settled • Government opens is up to settlers on April 22, 1889 • 1890 census reveals the frontier was no more • Settlement had greatly changed the Plains, especially for Native Americans

  28. Making Connections • Why do you think cow hands capture the imagination of many Americans? • Making Predictions • How do you think the Oklahoma Land Rush affected Native Americans?

  29. Native American Struggles • How did westward expansion affect Native Americans?

  30. Following the Buffalo • Native Americans of the Great Plains depended on buffalo to survive, but railroads threatened this lifestyle • Great Plains Indians like the Comanche, Sioux and Blackfeet lived a nomadic life following their food source

  31. Following the Buffalo • For most of their history the Plains Native Americans had millions of buffalo to supply their needs. After the Civil War however, American hunters hired by the railroads began slaughtering the animals to feel their building crews. Railroad companies also wanted to prevent the giant herds of buffalo from blocking the tracks. Starting in 1872, hunters targeted buffalo to sell their hides back east.

  32. Following the Buffalo

  33. Conflict • Conflict between Native Americans and whites grew as Native Americans were forced onto reservations • Army was given authority to deal with any groups who would not move

  34. Reservation Life • Government agents often used trickery to persuade Native Americans to move to reservations • Located on poor land • Government often failed to deliver food and supplies • Some groups abandoned reservation life • The stage was set for conflict

  35. Conflict Begins • Sioux • Summer of 1862 – Red Cloud and Sioux warriors burned and looted homes and killed hundreds before being stopped by the army • 1866 – Crazy Horse and Sioux warriors tricked military leaders • Cheyenne and Arapaho killed hundreds of settlers as well • Sand Creek Massacre: Army killed hundreds of Cheyenne on their way to make peace in Colorado

  36. Little Big Horn • 1868 – Government signed treaty that promised “No white person or persons shall be permitted” to settle on the Black Hills • However, prospectors swarmed the area looking for gold • Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and their Sioux warriors gathered along Little Big Horn River to meet the US army • Within 30 minutes, Colonel George Custer and his 250 soldiers were dead

  37. Little Big Horn • George Armstrong Custer

  38. The Dawes Act • Passed in 1877 to remove what whites regarded as two weaknesses of Native American culture • Lack of private property • Nomadic tribal life • Each Native American received a plot of land to farm

  39. Native Americans and Westward Expansion • The Westward Expansion of the late 1800s continued to create problems for the Native Americans who stood in its path. By the 1840s, only scattered groups of Native Americans still lived in the East. Most lived west of the Mississippi on lands that few whites wanted • The California Gold Rush • Transcontinental Railroad • Discovery of rich farmland in the Great Plans

  40. Native Americans and Westward Expansion • All of these factors changed the view of white people and they began to move onto Native Americans lands in the West • One way that Native Americans tried to “fit in” with the white settlers was to obey the law that was passed by Congress in 1887. • The Dawes Act

  41. Native Americans and Westward Expansion • The purpose of this act was to break up tribes of Native Americans and reservations. It offered Natives who gave up tribal ways the deed to their land and US citizenship after 25 years. • Questions to consider • Was the Dawes Act fair to the Native Americans? Why or why not? • Did the Native Americans Support it? • Did the economy of the West rely on the same kinds of business as the economy of the North? If so, how?

  42. The Dawes Act

  43. Wounded Knee • Police shot and killed Sitting Bull for leading the ritual of the Ghost Dance • In response, several Lakota Sioux gathered at a creek called Wounded Knee • Army killed over 200 Native Americans • Marks the end of the conflict between the US Government and Native Americans

  44. Wounded Knee

  45. Letters • You are a Native American living in the American West! Every year, westward expansion is taking its toll on you and your people. Write a letter to the United States government highlighting • The struggles that you and your people face • The effects that westward expansion has on your daily life • The effect you hope your letter has on the policies of the United States government • Be sure to include relevant facts and details • Must be at least 10 sentences long!

  46. Farmers in Protest • Essential Question • Why did farmers organize and begin reform movements in the late 1800s?

  47. The Farmers Organize • After the Civil War, farming expanded in the West and the South • However, the supply of crops grew faster than the demand and prices fell • Farmers blamed their troubles on 3 groups

  48. Farmers in Protest • Farmers blamed their troubles on 3 groups • Railroad Companies • Charged high shipping rates • Eastern manufacturers • Charged high prices for their products • Bankers • Charged high interest rates for borrowing money for seed and equipment • Farmers began to organize in an effort to solve their problems • Form a mass political movement

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