Settling the Far West
Download
Report
Transcript Settling the Far West
Two Visions of the West
“Mythic West”
vs.
Pioneers & gunslingers
Individualism,
freedom, & opportunity
“Tragic West”
Greed, irresponsibility,
exploitation
Destroyed wildlife &
nearly exterminated
Native Americans
Reasons for Moving West
PUSH Factors
Civil War
Failure to achieve
prosperity in the East
Repression
PULL Factors
Railroad
Land availability
Natural resources
The Transcontinental Railroad
Civil War made transcontinental RR
possible – Pacific Railroads Act
(1862)
A race between Union Pacific and
Central Pacific ended in
Promontory, Utah (1869)
Chinese recruited for RR work were
later subject to racism
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) due to
resentment of white workers
Diversity in the West
Women in the West had greater
equality within the family
Large numbers of immigrants
African American “Exodusters”
fled post-Reconstruction
discrimination and poverty
“Buffalo soldiers” in the Indian
Wars
Mining
Began with California Gold
Rush in 1849
Comstock Lode (1873)
generated vast wealth
Permanent settlements resulted
In late 1800s, mining turned
commercial
Great Sioux Wars
Violations of Fort Laramie Treaty (1851)
brought conflict
Sand Creek Massacre (1864) and other
violence led to new Indian policies
Great Sioux Wars were the result of Custer’s
expedition into Sioux hunting grounds
Despite victory at Little Bighorn, Sioux
eventually gave up and were moved to
reservations
Indian Resistance Ends
“Tell your people that since the Great Father promised that we
should never be removed, we have been moved five times… I
think you had better put the Indians on wheels and you can run
them around wherever you wish.” – Chief Spotted Tail of the Sioux
“I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed… The old men are
dead… I want to have time to look for my children, and see how
many of them I can find… Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My
heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight
no more forever.” – Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce
Ghost Dance Movement
Movement started by Wovoka
in 1888 in order to see Indian
lands returned
When Lakota Sioux defied the
ban on the Ghost Dance, this
led to the Wounded Knee
Massacre (1890)
Decimation of the Buffalo
Resulted from:
Overhunting
Climate change
Competition for grasslands
Disease
Barbed wire
Remaking Indian Policy
“Many, if not most, of our Indian wars have had their origin in
broken promises and acts of injustice on our part.” – Rutherford B.
Hayes
A Century of Dishonor (1881) brought attention to the Indians’
plight
Dawes Severalty Act (1887) was central to the new policy of
“Americanizing” Indians
Homesteading
Homestead Act (1862) and railroad land grants made farm land
available for purchase
Land is cheap, but life was hard – many claims abandoned
New technologies played a significant role in conquering the
West
Small farmers who stayed struggled with indebtedness, leading
to political movement through the Grange
Cattle Drives
Shortage of meat after the Civil War created opportunities
Cowtowns emerged, but the boom was shortlived
End of the Frontier
1890 census showed no end to consistent settlement, which
prompted the issuance of Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier
thesis
Turner believed that American character was shaped by the
existence of new areas to conquer
“Four centuries from the discovery of America, at the end of a
hundred years under the Constitution, the frontier has gone and
with its going has closed the first period of American history.” –
Frederick Jackson Turner