Unit 1 Notes

1. Unit 1 Notes • Great Plains • Homestead Act • Describe Native American Character • Describe American Settler Character • Treaty of Ft. Laramie • Assimilation • Dawes Act • Transcontinental Railroad • Reasons for demand for beef • Describe American Cowboy • Chisholm Trail • Reason cowboy era ended

2. Clash of Cultures

3. President Andrew Jackson and the removal of the Native Americans • 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act forcing all Native Americans to move west and out of the lands wanted and needed by the white settlers • Cherokee Nation resisted the move and fought for their rights in the U.S. Supreme Court

4. President Andrew Jackson and the removal of the Native Americans • Worcester v Georgia-The court ruled that the Cherokee Nation was a distinct political community and was not bound by Georgia or United States law. • President Jackson refused to abide by the Supreme Court decision and said, “John Marshall (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) has made his decision now let him try to enforce it.” (1830)

5. President Andrew Jackson and the removal of the Native Americans • Trail of Tears-20,000 Native Americans were forced to move West (1838), most of them Cherokees from the South- • By the end of the forced march more that ¼ of them had died

6. Plains Indians • In 1834, the American government passed legislation setting aside the Great Plains as one giant reservation for Native Americans.

7. Plains Indians • Great Plains=The vast grassland extending through the west-central portion of the U.S. • Highly developed way of life existed • Planting of crops and settled villages • Nomadic tribes traded and produced goods • Lived by code of tribal law.

8. Plains Indians • Horses introduced in 1598 by the Spanish changed the Plains Indians way of life • Travel farther and hunt more efficiently • Farming was secondary to roaming the plains • Buffalo • Destroyed by tourists and fur traders • In just less than 100 years the number of buffalo in the U.S. went from 65 million in 1800 to 1000 by 1870 • Buffalo was used as food, clothing, shelter and fuel

9. Settlers push west (1850s-1890s) • Manifest Destiny, gold (49ers), silver, pushed settlers into Indian Country • 1862 Homestead Act -Free land (160 acres) to anyone moving west who would cultivate the land for 5 years. • 400,000-600,000 settlers used this • 1869-Transcontinental railroad finished (10 days to travel coast to coast) • White man butchers buffalo

10. Cultural Conflict American Character • Rugged Individual-tame the land • These characteristics were found in the frontier and its opportunities • Character is formed by interaction with the environment. Use, settle, and improve the land. • The measure of a person is economic • It is a function of how much wealth is accumulated. • The white man is looking to better his station in society, so as to turn new opportunity into prosperity

11. Cultural Conflict • Native Americans • Success is based on character • Character is created by bravery and loyalty • Interaction with the land-very religious/the land sustains them • Source of most conflicts: • Whites felt that Indians used land inefficiently (underutilized) • Thus the justification for taking it

12. Clash turns to Conflict • By the 1850’s, government policy had changed, and specific areas were carved out for each tribe. • The major conflicts between settlers and natives: • Hunting of the Buffalo • Massacre at Sand Creek • Battle of 100 Slain • Battle of Little Bighorn (Custer’s Last Stand) • Red River War • Wounded Knee

13. Treaty of Ft. Laramie • After several bloody conflicts with Native Americans over territory on the Great Plains, the government forced tribes to sign the Treaty of Ft. Laramie, in which they agreed to live on reservations lands. • Native Americans still expected to be able to use other lands, especially traditional hunting grounds. • Sioux leader Sitting Bull refused to sign.

14. Assimilation • In trying to compromise on treatment of Native Americans, assimilation was proposed – forcing Native Americans to drop their cultures to fit into white society.

15. The Dawes Act • In 1887, Congress passed the Dawes Act. • To “Americanize” Native Americans, each head of household would receive 160 acres of land, and 80 acres to each unmarried adult. The government would sell any leftover land to give money to the tribes for farming. The property was owned by the government for 25 years, then the tribes would gain their deeds. • “Private property stimulates social progress” • The result was that Native Americans lost about 2/3 of their reservation lands, and received no money from their sale.

16. The Tamed Frontier • As the Battle of Wounded Knee marked the end of the Indian wars, cattle and horses roamed free, and settlers moved west unrestricted. • The new era of the west was dominated by economic opportunity for those who were able to grasp it.

17. The Age of the Railroads

18. The Age of the Railroads • From 1850 – 1871 the government gave 170 million acres in land grants to the railroad companies. • This program was designed to open up the western territory.

20. There were two major companies/each receiving rights to public land ownership surrounding their tracks.

22. Union Pacific

23. Central Pacific Railroad

26. By 1869, the transcontinental railroad was connected at Promontory Point, Utah. • The Central Pacific came from Sacramento east • The Union Pacific came from Omaha west

28. The First Trans-continental Route

29. 15 years later there were five transcontinental connections

30. The railroads got rich quick • Many farmers and European immigrants paid top dollar for the land • There grew a need to transport livestock like never before.

32. Texas Shipping Yards

33. Eastern food markets realized the demand for beef and needed the beef from the western ranches

34. Root of the Cowboy • Growth of cities + demand for beef = more cowboys

35. This demand to move herds of animals from the West was the direct root for the creation of the true American cowboy

38. The Roots of the Cowboy

39. The settlers learned the skills needed to become a cowboy 1. That knowledge came from Mexicans 2. Texas longhorns came from Spain originally 3. Horses and longhorns were brought to the new world for food and transportation

40. A current cowboy’s food, clothes, and vocabulary came directly from the Mexican vaqueros. Things such as: Spurs, chaps, broncos, jerky, mustangs, corral, ranch, and rodeo.

41. Vaqueros with their families

43. The skills that made up the cowboy would be vital for his survival on the trail: • Unlike their Mexican counterpart, the American cowboy would be required to travel long distances with their herds. • The abilities of the American cowboy would be essential for the survival of the American cities.

44. Growing demand for beef First realized to be profitable during the Gold Rush The Civil War also created a demand for beef in the East.

50. The bigger the cities, the greater the demand for meat. Cites like Chicago, St. Louis, and New York. During Reconstruction, food was needed for the rebuilding process. Stockyards were created in the big cities near the rail lines to house animals as they waited to be shipped.