COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE DIFFERENT GROUPS OF PEOPLE WHO MIGRATED TO THE WEST AND DESCRIBE THE PROBLEMS THEY EXPERIENCED

Michael Quiñones, NBCT www.socialstudiesguy.com

NCSCOS OBJECTIVE 4.01

Macro Concepts Micro Concepts

Migration-mass movement of people to a new location.

Change-transformation of an object, place or person.

Environment-Location affected by people, animals or nature.

Status-the rank or level of a person based on wealth.

Conflict-problem or issue that is controversial and can cause fighting without compromise.

Citizenship-the status of having rights, freedoms and responsibilities within a country Ethnicity-a group a person belongs to based on family, origin and heritage [language and culture are linked].

Gold Rush

   Gold was discovered by prospector James Marshall in early 1848. At first the precious metal was found in streams and river beds using primitive methods such as panning. Later more advanced mechanized methods were used to quarry entire mountainsides for gold. After news of Marshall’s discovery spread thousands of men journeyed to strike it rich in California. Many foreigners from China and South America came to prospect for gold but were victimized by anti-immigrant laws and violence.

Eventually over 300,000 people came to the region forming boomtowns and settlements that later expanded such as in San Francisco, California.

Comstock Lode

   After Gold Fever had swept the West. Henry Comstock mistakenly discovered enormous deposits of pure silver in sticky, blue clay as he was prospecting for gold in the Nevada territory in 1858 spurring a sliver rush in 1859. Prospectors were called the ’59ers.

News of silver deposits caused the population of Nevada to explode and it was soon after admitted as a state.

The profits reaped from the silver mines were useful in funding the U.S. Civil War.

Homestead Act

   Law passed by President Lincoln in 1862 to encourage Western expansion.

For $10 individuals could apply for a land grant [free land]. Freed blacks and poor whites often took advantage of this. Former Confederates were excluded.

Lots of 160 acres were available if homesteaders improved the land by developing and farming it. After 5 years homesteaders owned the property outright.

Life for U.S. Settlers on the Great Plains

     Life for settlers on the Great Plains was extremely harsh and challenging.

During summer months temperatures were regularly greater than 100 degrees.

During the winters extreme cold temperatures and severe snow storms were frequent.

Timber/Lumber was very rare on the prairies so settlers built sodhouses out of tightly packed blocks of earth and sod [grass]. The threat of destruction from fire was ever present during the dry summer months.

Occasional swarms of grasshoppers/locusts could also destroy crops within hours.

Morrill Land Grant Act

    In 1862 and 1890 laws were passed to grant [give/gift] land to create public colleges.

Most states received money to start “state colleges” such as Penn State, Michigan State and N.C. State [there were many, many more].

These colleges and universities expanded the existing knowledge of science and agriculture throughout the United States.

In general, opportunities for higher education were expanded beyond the wealthy and elite to previously uneducated citizens.

Oklahoma Land Rush

    In 1889 thousands of Americans “rushed” to claim land in the Oklahoma territory when the U.S. Government opened settlement there.

Within months the population went from 100s to over 100,000.

Many people illegally entered the area “too soon” and hid out beyond the territory’s border to scout the best land tracts [The people were known as Sooners].

After Oklahoma was opened officially the best land was quickly taken by the Sooners.

Unique Experiences of: Chinese immigrants

    Starting in the 1840s Chinese workers [sometimes called coolies] traveled overseas to the Americas, Europe and Africa to work [mostly men].

The work was mostly hard, strenuous labor and for very low pay.

In the United States the laborers built the Transcontinental Railroads.

Jealousy and suspicion from other Americans was common because Chinese often supplanted other workers particularly the Irish.

Unique Experiences of: Women

    Women were at least half of the population in the U.S. during the 1880s and 1890s.

Unfortunately, because of the culture of the times, women were often considered to be second class citizens with fewer legal rights than men.

The types of work women performed was often limited to domestic work [home cleaning, sewing/textiles production and farm work].

Single [unmarried, divorced or widowed] women sometimes engaged in illegal or “immoral” types of work such as saloon girls in brothels [houses of prostitution] and bar keeping.

Unique Experiences of: African-Americans

     After passage of the 13 th find employment.

Amendment African-Americans were free to work where they could Unfortunately racism and discriminatory laws [Jim Crow] prevented freed blacks from achieving equal opportunities.

The Homestead Act allowed blacks to go West and own land.

Poor freed blacks who remained in the South often were Sharecroppers who were exploited by landlords and remained poor.

Many Southern blacks went North during the Great Migration for job opportunities in factories.

Unique Experiences of: Irish immigrants

     During the 1840s millions of Irish fled their homeland due to the Potato Famine.

Most of these emigrants came to the United States seeking jobs.

The earliest immigrants took jobs building the railroads.

Many riots between Irish and Chinese workers broke out over labor competition.

During the U.S. Civil many Irishmen protesting against conscription and participated in anti draft riots using extreme violence.

Image Sources

                   http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award97/ndfahtml/hult_sod_02.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sod_house_1901.gif

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http://sfist.com/2009/02/02/today_in_san_francisco_history_-_ey.php

http://questgarden.com/29/87/8/100328154314/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Comstock_miners.jpeg

http://www.prophecynewsheadlines.com/2008/11/19/swarms-of-locusts-spread-across-australia/ http://www.today.colostate.edu/story.aspx?id=2662 http://www.duetsblog.com/2009/04/ http://brodsky.pbworks.com/f/immigrantschinois_1900%5B1%5D.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_wL-YTMevzU0/TPN1h5ktoxI/AAAAAAAAABU/iXImzqz9ypE/s1600/chinese-railroad-workers.jpg

http://www.jimandellen.org/trollope/HollSeamstresses.jpg

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http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/thp-irish-csa.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ChineseMigration003.jpg