Transcript U.S. History Chapter 13 Notes Changes on the Western

U.S. History Chapter 5 Notes
Changes on the Western
Frontier
.
The culture of the Plains Indians declines as
white settlers transform the Great Plains.
Meanwhile, farmers form the Populist
movement to address their economic
concerns
Section 1
Cultures Clash
on the Prairie





Indians and settlers looked at the world
differently
Settlers felt that the resources were their
to be used
Large scale hunting, mining, and farming
Plains Indians used only the resources
they needed for their actual needs
They saw the white settlers as being
greedy and destructive
Government policy
►
►
Early 1800's Plains Indians lived and hunted between the
Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains
- 1840' s - Whites begin to settle the west coast
- U.S. Gov. ask Indians to let settlers pass safely
- Asked the Indians to limit their hunting to certain are
- Indians had to move with buffalo
Mid 1800's - U.S. Gov changes policy
- Established reservations - special areas used by a
specific group
- Indians agreed to live on reservations based on the
promise that the land would be theirs forever (signed
Treaties with the U.S. Gov.)
- They were also promised food, money and other help
Fighting begins
►
►
►
►
By 1860's - Treaties were being
broken by both sides
Settlers continued to pass
through areas where they were
not allowed
Groups of Indians raided white
settlements and wagon trains
1864 - Sand Creek Massacre
- Colorado militia attacked
Cheyenne and Arapaho at Sand
Creek
- Indians thought they were
under the protection of a nearby
government outpost
- Over 100 Indians were
slaughtered (including women
and children)
Fighting begins
►
►
►
Little Bighorn (most famous
battle of the Indian wars)
The Black Hills of South Dakota
had been set aside for the Sioux
and Northern Cheyenne
1874 - U.S. Army exploring
party found gold
- Settlers went looking for gold
- Gov. tried to buy the Black
Hills (Sioux considered land
sacred)
- 1875 and 1876 - Sioux warrior
left their reservations and united
under the leadership of two
Sioux chiefs (Sitting Bull and
Crazy Horse)
Fighting begins
June 25, 1876 - George
Armstrong Custer and several
hundred army soldiers found a
Sioux camp near the Little Bighorn
River
- Custer gained fame fighting in
Civil War
- Admirers considered him a daring
brilliant officer
- Critics considered him a
dangerous showoff
► Custer had orders to attack any
Indians he came into contact with
► When he attacked he was actually
stepping into a trap
► Custer and all of his men were
killed
- Became known as "Custer's
Last Stand"
►
Fighting begins
►
►
►
People in the East were shocked by the news of the Battle
of Little Bighorn
- U.S. Gov. sent 1000's of troops to fight the Indians
The Battle of Little Bighorn was the last Indian Victory in
the Indian Wars
- 1876 - U.S. Army defeated the Sioux
- Sitting Bull and his followers escaped to Canada
Crazy Horse was arrested
- He was fatally stabbed as he was being arrested
- Not sure if guard or another Indian stabbed him
Minors in the West
►
►
1859 - Gold found in the
Rocky Mountains (Clear
Creek near Pikes Peak)
- 1st found by George
Jackson
1959 - Gold found in
Nevada
- Lode produced 100s of
millions of dollars worth of
gold and silver
- Lode - a deposit of a
valuable mineral buried
between layers of rock
The Business of Mining
More efficient methods developed in
the 1870' s
► Water cannons were used to strip
the dirt off the hillside
► Exposed gold
► Only companies had the money to
use water cannons
► Working conditions were brutal
100 degrees fairenhight in some caves
►
- Workers wore thick boots to
protect against hot water
►
- Accidents such as cave-ins and
dynamite explosions were common
►
Boom End/Lumber
►
►
Most of the mining towns became
ghost towns
Gold rush changed the geography
of the United States.
► Pacific
Northwest had an
abundance of trees
► Logging became a big
business in the west
► Redwoods: Douglas fur
► Settlers needed lumber
for homes and mine
timbers
Alaska
►
►
►
►
1867 - William Seward
arranged for the purchase of
Alaska from Russia
U.S. Senators didn't want to buy
it
- Called it "Seward's Folly"
Gamble paid off
- Russia lost foothold in North
America
Alaska was rich in natural
resources
- Gold
- Copper
- Oil
-Timber
Southwest Indians
Navajo were forced to move to
reservations in the east
- March called "The Long
Walk"
► Reservation was a failure
- Navajo allowed to return home
► Mid 1870's - Apache were
forced to move away from their
traditional territory
- Geronimo - led his people off
the reservation
- Evaded the army many times
due to their knowledge of
southern Arizona
- 1886 - Geronimo captured and
forced to live far away from his
people
►
Indians way of life destroyed
Navajo were forced to move to reservations in the east
 March called "The Long Walk“. Reservation was a failure,
Navajo allowed to return home
 Mid 1870's - Apache were forced to move away from their
traditional territory
 Geronimo - led his people off the reservation
 Evaded the army many times due to their knowledge of
southern Arizona
 1886 - Geronimo captured and forced to live far away from his
people
 Whites killed buffalo
 Indians were unable to survive without the buffalo
 Many Indians turned to the Ghost Dance Religion
 Cavalry rounded up Sioux men on the Pine Ridge Reservation
 Wounded Knee Massacre:300 men, women, and children Sioux
were killed

Considered to be the last battle of the Indian Wars

Assimilation
► Conditions
grew worse as more Indians
were forced on to reservations
► Reformers began calling for changes
► Many white though that only solution was to
make the Indians become more like the
whites
- Assimilation - to adopt the culture of the
people around you
Assimilation
Dawes Act (1887) - intended to make Indians give up their traditions and
accept White customs
- Reservation lands were divided up in farm plots for families and individuals
(40 to 160 acres)
- Any remaining land was sold to white settlers
- Profits used to pay for Indian schools
- Indians who accepted the plots of land could become citizens for the 1st
time
► Dawes Act failed
- Many western Indians didn't want to settle down as farmers
- Lacked tools and training
- Many sold their plots to white settlers cheap
► End 1800's - situation of the American Indians was tragic
- Lost land, people, and culture
- 20th century U.S. government finally realizes importance of Indian way of
life
►
Birth of the Cattle Industry
►
►
►
►
Cowboys' roots were in Texas
Small herds - (only sold cattle
locally)
Joseph McCoy organized 1st
cattle drive
- Drove cattle to Abilene Kansas
(Railroad)
- Cattle sold for $40 per head in
the east ($3 per head in Texas)
Dodge city also becomes a
cattle town
Wild West
►
►
►
Cowboys ended drives in cattle
towns
- Were dirty and nasty
- Weren't always law abiding
- Had money to spend
Large spaces with little
settlement made it hard to
catch outlaws
- Frank and Jesse James
became legendary bank robbers
- Belle Starr became famous
cattle thief
Westerners formed vigilante
groups
- Groups that took the law into
their own hands
Section 2:
Settling on
the Great Plains
Gov. encouraged western settlement (1862)
Homestead Act - Gov. offered 160 acres to head of
family over age 21 in return for living on the land 5
years and improving it
Exodusters - Southern African-American settlers in
Kansas
Gov. created Department of agriculture
Introduced new crops (Russian wheat) that could survive
harsh winters
Morrill Act of 1862, 1890
Life on the farming frontier
►
►
►
►
►
Lumber was scarce
Many settlers dug homes into
sides of ravines or hills
Made soddy or sod home by
stacking blocks of turf
- Snakes & bugs sometimes
crawled into cracks
- Burned cow chips for fuel
Grew cash crops (wheat and
com)
Had to fight year around battle
against weather (blizzards and
extreme heat)
Life on the farming frontier
►
►
Homesteaders were
virtually alone (Had to be
self-sufficient)
Women did men’s work
(plowing, harvesting,
shearing sheep)
- Also did traditional work
(carding wool, making
soap, canning vegetables)
- Some worked for
communities (sponsor
schools, churches)
Farmers in Debt
► Railroads,
investors created bonanza farms
(huge, single-crop spreads)
► 1885 to1890 - droughts bankrupted singlecrop operations
► Rising cost of shipping grain pushed farmers
into debt
Closing the Frontier
►
►
►
►
1872, Yellowstone National
Park created to protect some
wilderness
1890s - No frontier left
- miners, ranchers, and farmers
had swelled the population
April 22, 1889 - Governemt gave
signal for settlers to settle the
Oklahoma territory
- It was laid out within the day
- 60,000 people lived there by
the end of the year
Sooners - some people snuck
into Oklahoma before the Gov.
gave the signal
Section 3
Farmers and the
Populist Movement
Farmers unite to address their economic
problems, giving rise to the Populist
movement.
Unrest in Rural America
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
The growth of urban America made possible because farmers were
so productive
Farmers felt poor compared to city people
Farm life seemed boring compared to the exciting opportunities of
the city
1867 - Oliver H. Kelley started the Patrons of Husbandry (Grange)
Hoped to fight the loneliness of farm life and farming methods. Open
to both men and women
Meetings were held at local schools Both social and educational
Late 1800's - most farmers weren't self sufficient: Cash Crops
Most were in debt
Western farmers owed banks money for their land and equipment
- Southern farmers had taken on debt to rebuild farms destroyed
in the Civil War
Low Prices and High Cost
►
►
►
►
Farmer's lives were hard
- droughts, floods, insects, and animal diseases
1870's - faced another problem
- Low prices for their crops
- Sank farther into debt
Caused by overproduction
- More people became farmers
- Farming methods improved
Became more expensive to operate a farm
- Tariffs on imported farm equipment
- Railroads raised prices
The Granger Movement
Turned their attention to economic and political issues
► Economic goal - avoid using middlemen
- People who made a living storing, transporting and selling product
- Cut into farmers’ profits and added to cost for buyer
► Grangers created cooperatives
- An organization owned and operated by those who use its services
- They shared crops in some places
- Allowed them to set their prices
► Politically - they elected legislatures that put limits on railroad and
storage prices
- Called Granger laws
►
The Populist Party
► 1880's
- Several political parties combined
► Populism - movement of the people
► Populist Party wants reforms
► Economic: increase money supply, graduated
income tax, & federal loans
► Political: Senate elected by popular vote, secret
ballot & 8-hour day
► 1892 - Populist candidates elected at different
levels of government
► Democratic Party eventually adopted platform
Debate Over Money Policy
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
Pitted debtors against creditors
Debtors wanted more money to be put into circulation
Wanted the government to coin more silver (bimetallism)
Bimetallism - system using both silver and gold to back currency
Silverites - would create more money, stimulate economy
Creditors wanted to limit the amount of money
- Favored gold standard
Gold standard - backing currency with gold only
Paper money considered worthless if cannot be exchanged for metal
Gold bugs - gold only would create more stable if expensive currency
Election
of
1892
1892 - Populist nominate
►
James B. Weaver for
president
► He had the following proposals
- Wanted Gov. to control and
operate railroads, telegraph and
telephone systems
- Wanted secret ballot in
elections.Wanted graduated
income tax
- Wanted U.S. senators to be
elected directly by the people
rather than state legislatures
- Demanded shorter working
hours for labor
► Grover Cleveland won 1892
election
The Panic of 1893
Railroads expanded faster
than markets
- Some went bankrupt
► Government’s gold supply
became depleted
- Led to rush on banks
- Businesses, banks
collapse
►
- Panic became depression
Election of 1896
Money was the central
issue
► Republicans nominated
William McKinley
- Supported big business
(gold standard)
► Democrats nominated
William Jennings Bryan
- Supported silver
► Populists endorsed Bryan
& chose own VP to
maintain party identity
►
Election of 1896
Candidates ran different campaigns
- McKinley didn't go out and campaign
- Considered undignified
- Accepted visitors at his home Bryan launched something
like a modem campaign
- Traveled by train made speeches
► Bryan carried the south and west (except California)
► McKinley carried northeast and California
- Won more electoral votes
► Urban America defeated rural America
►
The End of Populism
► 1896
- McKinley
elected president
► Populism collapsed
► Left legacy:
- Showed the
powerless could
organize & have
political impact
- Agenda of reforms
enacted in 20th century