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The American Frontier: A Journey of Expansion and Conflict

Explore the wild and rugged frontier of the American West with its mining booms, ranching culture, railroad development, and clashes with Native American tribes as settlers pushed further into the unknown. Witness the economic growth, social changes, and struggles that shaped the landscape of the expanding nation.

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The American Frontier: A Journey of Expansion and Conflict

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  1. The Frontier West

  2. Background • The frontier: Definition • Furthermost settlement • Divides civilization and wilderness • Reasons for migration • Adventure • Economic improvement • Greater social and political democracy • The symbol of the West

  3. Republicans, a National Economy and the West • Republicans endeavor to build a national economy • Internal improvements • Protective tariffs • Public/private partnership • Currency • Gold vs. Silver • The use of the courts

  4. Railroads and the establishment of the West • Railroad development soared after the war • Developed the corporation • Railroads established towns, sold land after huge land grants from the government • Transcontinental Railroad—1869 • 4 more by 1890

  5. Republican Global Vision • Expansionists expect to add territory • Increased trade with the outside world • Japan • Latin America • Purchase strategic land • Naval bases • Refueling stations • Seward’s folly

  6. Mining, Ranching, and Farming in the West • Tight money policy and industrialization spurs western migration • Demand for western metals • Miners move to seek their fortunes

  7. Gold and Silver Fever • By the late 1850s gold fever in CA had faded • Strikes brought thousands of settlers • Gold discovered in Colorado in 1858 • Black Hills in 1875 • Silver discovered in Virginia City, Nevada (Comstock Lode) • Between 1860 and 1890, $2 billion in gold and silver mined in the west

  8. Other Mining Enterprises • Eastern industries demanded other materials • Copper • Lead • Zinc • Created economic growth in many remote western regions

  9. Mining • Western mining was not profitable for the individual • Prospectors disappeared • Big business took over claims • Other elements proved more profitable • Mining towns became melting pots

  10. Racial Diversity and the West • Mining and Cowboy communities were diverse • Mexicans, Chinese and Black • Exodusters • Women’s roles expand

  11. The Homestead Act • Homestead Act—1862 • 160 acres • Included women • Had to live on the land for 5 years • 1879—Department of Interior • After 1886 many settlers fled due to dry weather • Sod houses susceptible to harsh weather

  12. Farmers and Frontier • Restless veterans sought new homes • People respond to advertising • Steamship companies • Railroads • New technology helped overcome obstacles • Steel plows • Barbed wire • Women and the frontier

  13. Cattle and Cowboys • Buffalo hunters made room for cattle • Western lands and open range proved ideal for cattle ranching • Railroads opened up Eastern markets for beef • Texas longhorns brought in herds of 3000 cattle from Texas to railhead towns such as Abilene and Dodge City • Stockyards--Chicago

  14. Cattle and Cowboys • Open range ended in 1880s • Harsh winters of 1885 and 1886 wiped out herds • Barbed wire (invented by Joseph Glidden) allowed farmers to fence range land to keep cattle from grazing

  15. Closing of the Frontier • 1890 census declared that the frontier was closed. • Frederick Jackson Turner's thesis ("The Frontier in American History") stated • Frontier was critical development of American democracy • Self-reliance and independent nature of American culture were fostered by the frontier

  16. Struggle of the Plains Indians • Ethnocentrism is the root of the problem for the Native Americans • Pre-Civil War conflict resulted in the removal policy • Trans-Mississippi west, most in Oklahoma territory--Reservations • Over 200,000 Indians lived in the Plains following the Civil War • US gave them the Plains

  17. Struggle of the Plains Indians • Some resistance to reservations • Peace Commissions (army and Indian agents) sent to meet with Plains Indians in 1867 and 1868 promised aid and non-interference • Attempts to assimilate

  18. Clash between Plains Indians and American Society American Culture: - Values land ownership - Values individual achievement - Values “taming” nature • Plains Indian Culture: • Nomadic • Communal • In Harmony With Nature

  19. The Dawes Act--1887 Reservations divided among families in 160 acre segments Tribal loyalties had to be renounced to gain American citizenship Between 1887 and 1934, Indians lost over half of their reservation lands to whites Sought to Americanize Indians

  20. Conflicts between Indians and US Army • Chivington's Raid-1864. 450 Arapaho and Cheyenne men, women, and children killed in Colorado Territory AKA: Sand Creek Massacre • Little Big Horn-1876. General Custer and 264 troops killed by Sioux Indians in Montana Territory. • Chief Joseph and Nez Perce captured by army after 1300 mile chase • Wounded Knee-1890. 200 unarmed Sioux killed after Sitting Bull was killed.

  21. Assimilation Policies • Ethnocentrism • Office of Indian Affairs • Indian Rights Association • Helen Hunt Jackson • A Century of Dishonor

  22. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ6LXqOMk4I

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