1 / 24

The West: Exploring an Empire

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?

ila-barrett
Download Presentation

The West: Exploring an Empire

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The West: Exploring an Empire Chapter 17

  2. 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?

  3. 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.

  4. Space • 3 disctinc regions • Trans-Mississippi West • Far West • Great Basin

  5. Great American Desert

  6. 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.”

  7. 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.”

  8. Images of the “West”

  9. Frederick Jackson Turner • “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” (1893) • Turner’s thesis, which generated tremendous interest in the fronter

  10. 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.

  11. Cowboys • Approximately 35,000 men between 1864 and 1884 • 25% black, 12% Mexican, 63% white

  12. American Indians • Population estimated to stand at 10 million in 1600 • By 1865 300,000 remained

  13. 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

  14. 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

  15. Battle of Little Big Horn

  16. 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

  17. Wounded Knee

  18. “Ghost Dance” • 1880s • Sioux • Belief that following this faith would drive away white Americans and bring back Sioux society.

  19. 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

  20. 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.

  21. 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

  22. End of the “Old West”

  23. “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

More Related