goal 4: western expansion
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Goal 4: Western Expansion . Plains Indians . Great Plains or Great American Desert Thought to be uninhabitable Americans generalized all “Indians” into one group without recognizing the significant differences between tribes Nomadic lifestyle Moved with the herds and the land - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Goal 4: Western Expansion
Plains Indians Great Plains or Great American Desert
◦ Thought to be uninhabitable ◦ Americans generalized all “Indians” into one group without
recognizing the significant differences between tribes Nomadic lifestyle
◦ Moved with the herds and the land Importance of the horses and buffalo
◦ Apart of the land and not things to ownCommunal living
◦ Shared land as it wasn’t seen as a possessionor what was produced/hunted from the land
Common use of the tribe’s land ◦ Common good over individual
Sioux, Lakota, Cheyenne, Apache, Nez Pierce, Blackfeet
American Interests Lands given by treaty to Indian groups
◦ Taken back after gold and silver are found on them
California Gold Rush, 1849◦ Drive to acquire and become wealthy ◦ Drastic population increase
Homestead Act, 1862◦ 160 Acres given free in exchange for: a road
being built, a well dug and a 5 year promise Transcontinental Railroad building
◦ Massacre of the buffalo herds Killed 100s and let meat spoil, problematic for
railroad so eliminated◦ Central and Pacific Railroads
Need to connect coast to coast Central began in California Pacific began in Nebraska
◦ Promontory Point, Utah, 1869 Meeting of the Central and the Pacific Railroads
Indian Restrictions Treatise were broken
◦ Indians forced into reservations Government limited contact with settlers in
order to prevent issues ◦ Government payment and supplies were
not delivered as promised ◦ Treatise were agreed to by both sides and
both sides did not follow the treatise Indians uprisings
◦ Dakota Uprising, 1862 Massacre at Sandy Creek, 1864
◦ Caused increased violence as Indians were attacked while on reservation
◦ John Chivington leads Army unit in massacre of Cheyenne
Fetterman’s Massacre, 1866◦ Fetterman’s small army band crushed by
Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Red Cloud’s warriors
◦ Attack by Indians to prevent a road that was planned for gold mines
Indian Wars – Defeat of Plains Indians Gold found in the Black Hills of the
Dakotas ◦ Sioux try to defend area promised to them
By treatise◦ Army sends George Custer
Ahead with 250 men Little Bighorn, 1876 (Montana)
◦ Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull lead warriors as Custer and all his men were killed Crazy Horse surrenders and Sitting Bull flees to
Canada but is captured Custer is anxious to begin battle and starts
before rest of calvary arrives Nez Perce Indians, 1877
◦ Led by Chief Joseph, they refused to go to reservation Had assimilated and “christianized”
◦ Chased by the Army for over 1000 miles until captured
◦ “I will fight no more forever”◦ Captured and banished to Oklahoma –
lobbies Washington for Indian rights
Assimilation “Century of Dishonor”
◦ Helen Hunt Jackson ◦ Shattered treatise and mistreatment ◦ Recognition of Indians in Court
Some people supported assimilation of Indians◦ Indian children are educated like white
settlers◦ Civilize and Christianize
Dawes Act passed, 1887◦ Attempt to speed up assimilation◦ Indians treated as individuals and not as
nations/tribes ◦ 160 Acres to each family – based on
calculation of what was needed in the east to support a family; calculation was too low and was not enough land
◦ Most of land was eventually taken by speculators Was supposed to stay in the family for 25
years to allow children to learn how to farm
End of Indian Lifestyle Assimilation – to make apart of the
established culture Destruction of the buffalo
◦ Forcing Indians to become farmers and settle in one spot
Ghost Dance Movement◦ Believed it would return the land to the
Indians and the Buffalo would return as well
◦ Sioux spiritual dance◦ Dance was outlawed ◦ Sitting Bull was believed to be
responsible to they attempt to arrest him and the result is Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee, 1890◦ Massacre of several hundred Sioux◦ Ground was covered in the blood of the
dead who had attempted to flee Indian Era Comes to an End
RANCHING AND MINING
Goal 4
Open Range Great Plains area – “Great
American Desert” No boundaries to man or cattle
◦Texas Longhorn, cattle was branded to tell owner but all cattle roamed freely and was collected for cattle drives in the spring
Low population ◦No need for fences◦No need for law enforcement
Cattle Kingdom Greater urban populations
demanded more food ◦ Immigration increase across the
country as well as people getting back to normal after the war
Cattle drives to meet railroads◦ Access to eastern markets◦ Developed the legend of the
cowboyLegend of the cowboy
◦ Mexican influence◦ Trained horses to collect cattle
that roamed freely (Texas Longhorn)
◦ Very lonely and lawless lifestyle
Cattle’s Decline Too many cattle – supply was
higher than demand (surplus) causing prices to drop but expenses to rise to ship cattle and feed cattle
Disease Drought – brutal winters and hot
summers killed grass and cattleBarbed wire fences blocked open
range ◦Cattle were not able to roam and the
food supply disappeared
Mining Towns Gold Rushes – mass chaos to find gold
◦Population problems, law enforcement issues, food issues
◦California, 1849 – 49ers, admittance to the Union as free or slave
◦Black Hills – Sioux Indian land◦Comstock Lade◦Alaska
Ghost Towns ◦Miners leave and follow the legends of the next
strike somewhere else ◦Mines polluted water supply and many people
poisoned
Mining Life Large mix of people
◦ Various backgrounds and expertise ◦ Ethnicities varied
Many opportunities for everyone◦ Building towns and filling them with businesses◦ Traveling salesmen to profit off of settlers and
Miners Saloons, gambling
◦ Profiteers from mining rush◦ Added to the “Wild West”
Hard luck ◦ Very little surface gold for the influx of miners to
find ◦ Mining was dangerous
“ Wild West” Legend of Adventure
◦ Wild Bill Hickok ◦ Calamity Jane ◦ Wyatt Earp ◦ Jesse James ◦ Billy the Kid
Dime novels that told western tales◦ Glamerized the experience as the “Wild West” ◦ Traveling shows – similar to the circus
Only last about 30 years◦ By 1890 it was declare there was no frontier –
every mile had been settled according the census
FARMERS AND THE POPULISTS
Goal 4
Farmer’s Problems Weather problems – droughts; tornadoes;
harsh winters; flooding Failing prices – costs to ship and harvest
were higher than the price they could sell the produce for; led to surplus which led to decreased prices and high debt
Increasing debt – many became tenant farmers as they were so deep in debt
Dependant upon railroads – only way to transport to the markets back East and West
Need for cheaper money ◦Deflation and inflation
Railroad Abuses Construction graft – passed the cost of building
the railroad on to the people who used it to transport their goods
Bribes Stock watering Unfair pricing
◦Long haul ◦Short haul
All of these things lead to the farmer/rancher/settler not trusting the railroad, going further into debt; raising the price of food; the call for Free Silver; the Grange Movement; Populism
The Grange Also called the “Patrons of Husbandry”Began as a social group – organized by Oliver
Kelley; educated members on new technology and techniques of farming
Evolved into a political group Called for regulation of railroads
◦ “Granger Laws” – mid-western state laws that regulated railroad abuses
◦ Called for a set price for shipping freightICC – Interstate Commerce Act
◦ Federal law that regulates commerce Currency reform – farmers organize into co-ops to
sell produce as a group and therefore reduce the cost to the individual to ship the produce
Populism - Took the place of the Grange – based on Grange
Movement Ideals; grassroots political partyStrong mid-west support – spread East and West
quickly Reform based party – grew quickly as it was not
a 3rd party with a single issueOmaha Platform, 1892
◦ Increase $ supply – free silver idea ◦ Income tax – introduced as a means to pay for
infastructure improvements ◦ Secret ballots – prevent election ballot box corruption
(Tammeny Ring) ◦ 8 hour work day – appeal to the Eastern (urban) vote◦ Immigration control – stealing American jobs
Bryan and End of Populists 1896 election – modern tactics of traveling the
country and appealing to the common person William McKinley Rep – support base was urban
and upper class◦ Gold Standard
William Jennings Bryan-Dem/Pop ◦ Free Silver – Populist ideal not initially supported by
the democrats◦ “Cross of Gold Speech” – oppression of the American
farmer and worker should end McKinley wins election – beats Bryan again in the
next electionPopulism dies – Democrats; Bryan looses both
elections
Goal 4 Socratic Discussion Why did people move out West after the
Civil War and what problems did they face? (Motivations, Consequences, Success/Failure)
What impact did American settlement in the West have on the Native Americans?
What factors are related to Populist Movement?
What inventions/technology were used in dealing with the American West?
What are some of the people, events, and terms that are associated with a rise in nationalism in America in the1800s?
Free Silver Crusade Panic of 1893 – Overseas panic spreads to
America and the psychological effects created a panic◦Nation enters a recession – 4 years
Many people promote silver and gold standard for $ - solutions to the problem of not enough cash flowing
Would create a larger money supply – Silver widely available so high inflation
Gold standard only would decrease money supply – gold was less available and therefore the scarcity would make cash be more scarce as well; stability or deflation