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Settling on the Great Plains

Settling on the Great Plains. Chapter 13 Section 3. I Settlers Flock Westward to Farm A. Railroads Open the West. 1850 -1871 Fed Gov’t gave land grants to RR to lay track in W Union & Central Pac. Received 10 sq. miles per track of mile laid

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Settling on the Great Plains

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  1. Settling on the Great Plains Chapter 13 Section 3

  2. I Settlers Flock Westward to FarmA. Railroads Open the West • 1850 -1871 Fed Gov’t gave land grants to RR to lay track in W • Union & Central Pac. Received 10 sq. miles per track of mile laid • Both hired Civ. War vets., Irish, & Chinese im., Af. Amer., & Mex. Amer. For the grueling labor • 8 miles of track per day • Union & Central Pac. Meet in Promontory (Utah) linking the 1st Transcontinental RR • 4 more in next 15 yrs connecting E & W

  3. B. Government Support for Settlement • Homestead Act of 1862  thousands of homesteaders = settlers on this free land • Sometimes private speculators & gov’t workers used law for their own gain • Cattlemen fenced & claimed land/RR co. hold land that was given to build extensions and sell it • Kansas gov. opens land to settlement  massive land rush • Some took possession before gov’t officially declared it open Oklahoma AKA the Sooner state

  4. C. Closing of the Frontier • Speculator calls Congress to protect land near Yellowstone R. from settlement because of the geysers & nat. springs • Congress set aside land that weould later become Yellowstone National Park • RR forced to give up W land claims but 19 mil. Acres still bought from gov’t • Western frontier was fast disappearing but was very influential to the American identity

  5. II Settlers of the FrontierA. Dugouts & Soddies • Trees were scarce  settlers build house from land itself • Dugouts =Dug homes into sides of small hills • Soddy = freestanding house made by stacking blocks prarie turf • Soddies were cool in summer and hot in winter BUT offered little air or light • Perfect for snakes and insects

  6. B. Women’s Work • Biggest hardship was being completely self suffient out in he prairie by yourself • Women  most of feeding & clothing family but also sometimes worked alongside men in fields • Also doctored their fam. & others around them • Also sponsored schools & churched to provide for the future

  7. C. Technical & Educational Support for Farmers • Building a homestead was diff. work • Prairie sod breaks wooden plows & reaping wheat by hand steel plow • Cyrus McCormick invents reaping machine  sold as farmers migrate to plains • Treeless landscape = no wood for fences  barbed wire • Morrill Land Grant Acts give fed. Land to sttes to help finance agricultural colleges • Hatch Act estab. Agricultural experiment stations to comm. New inventions to farmers in other states • NEW INVENTIONS & ACTS  BREADBASKET OF THE NATION

  8. D. Farmers in Debt • Farmers borrow $ to buy expensive farming equip  debt • When $ of wheat was low  raise more crops to make ends meet  Bonanza Farms • Enormous single-crop farms of 10,000 acres or larger • Some farmers mortgaged their land to buy more property  larger farming debts • Drought caused many farms to close • RR charges more $ to trans. Goods from W farms than they did for E farms • RR charged more for shorter hauls that long ones

  9. Thinking Through history Questions • How did the RR’s help open the West? • In what ways did governmental policies encourage settlement of the west? • How were women central to the homesteading process? • How did RR’s take advantage of farmers?

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