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The West: Exploring an Empire. Chapter 17. Which “Old West” and Whose?. Where was the “old west” between 1865 and 1890? Can you locate it on a map? Why or why not? Who was Frederick Jackson Turner and why was he significant? How did the US deal with American Indians in the west?
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The West: Exploring an Empire Chapter 17
Which “Old West” and Whose? • Where was the “old west” between 1865 and 1890? Can you locate it on a map? Why or why not? • Who was Frederick Jackson Turner and why was he significant? • How did the US deal with American Indians in the west? • Is the West still appealing today? Why or why not?
The American West played an increasing significant role in US history between 1865 and 1980. During this period, Anglo-Americans settled 430 million acres of land and overwhelmed Native Americans in the so-called Indian Wars. Furthermore, ten new states entered the Union, bringing the total number o states to 48 by 1912. Finally, over the course of just a few decades, three commercial “empires” rose and fell: mining, farming, and cattle.
Space • 3 disctinc regions • Trans-Mississippi West • Far West • Great Basin
Stephen H Long, surveyed a portion of Louisiana Purchase in 1819 • Coined phrase “Great American Desert” to describe land between 98th parallel to Rockies • Described as “wholly unfit for cultivation and uninhabitable for those dependant on agriculture.”
The Myth of the Garden • Western boosters popularized the myth of the Garden to encourage settlement • Claim based on “scientific” evidence • Credibility strengthened by unusually high levels of rainfall recorded in 1870s and ‘80s. • “In God we trusted, in Kansas we busted.”
Frederick Jackson Turner • “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” (1893) • Turner’s thesis, which generated tremendous interest in the fronter
Major Points • Frontier process • Epic struggle explains American development • Fronteir reproduces American democracy and individualism • By 1890 frontier had closed, ending the first stage of American development • In sum, civilization is a process which becomes ever more complex.
Cowboys • Approximately 35,000 men between 1864 and 1884 • 25% black, 12% Mexican, 63% white
American Indians • Population estimated to stand at 10 million in 1600 • By 1865 300,000 remained
1867 Peace Commission • Effort to “civilize” and “pacify” western Indians by moving them to reservations • Reservations established in present day South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Arizona
Indian Policy • Destruction of buffalo to weaken tribes and attract tourists • 1865 roughly 12-15 million buffalo • 1885 roughly a few hundred • This led to Indian rebellion and then open warfare • 1874 - Red River Way – defeat of Comanche • 1877 – defeat of Chief Joseph and Nez Perce • 1886 – defeat of Geronimo and Apache • 1876-1890 – Sioux battle government
Custer’s Last Stand • 1876 • Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse flee federal reservation • Custer and 7th Cav pursue • Indian forced overwhelm US troop and killed Custer and his soldiers
“Ghost Dance” • 1880s • Sioux • Belief that following this faith would drive away white Americans and bring back Sioux society.
Final Battle • In 1889, Sioux warriors, women, and children tried to flee to Canada • Government troops surrounded at Wounded Knee in South Dakota • Machine guns • Americans left wounded to die in the snow • Two views • Triumph over “Indian Problem” • Senseless slaughter of innocents
Dawes Severalty Act (1887) • Shaped Indian policy until 1930s • Attempt to tranform Indians into independent farmers • Pledged to privde Indian families with 160 acres of reservation land • If accept grant, Indians become full citizens • Government act as trustee to “protect” Indians from “unscrupulous” whites.
Good intentioned but impossible to enforce • 1880s-1930s, Indians sold or lost 2/3 of total land (approx. 86 million acres) • Land that remained was not good for agricultural development
“Old West” didn’t last long • Industrialized transformed economics, politics, and society. • Politicians and leaders began looking for gold in factories where Americans had once searched for gold in the frontier lands