The American West

US History

Standards

• QC-C1F -Compare and contrast the experiences of African Americans in various U.S. regions in the late nineteenth century.

• QC-C1G - Identify and evaluate the influences on the development of the American West.

• QC-C1H - Analyze significant events for Native American Indian tribes, and their responses to those events, in the late nineteenth century

• QC-C2A - Identify and explain significant issues and components of the Populist movement and their impacts

I. Settling the West

A. Geography1. The Great Plains

A. Averages less than 20 inches of rain per yearB. Home to vast herds of buffalo that grazed the prairie

grasses.C. Scarcity of wood and water

The Great Plains

I. Settling the West

B. Gold1. January 1848 – traces of gold found in sutters

mill in Sacramento, CA led to thousands of “forty niners” flocking to CA in hopes of striking it rich.

2. Mining towns sprang up over night.

I. Settling the West

C. Railroads1. Government contracted two major railroad

companies to build the transcontinental railroad.

A. Union Pacific – Irish laborersB. Central Pacific – Chinese immigrants C. Golden Spike – last spike in the transcontinental

railroad1. Promontory Summit, Utah – May, 1869

I. Settling the West

D. Beginnings of Settlements1. Construction of railroad provided easy access to

the Great Plains.2. Low prices of land and availability of credit made

the Plains seem prosperous.

I. Settling the West

D. Beginnings of Settlements3. Government also began to support settlement

in the Great Plains region by passing the Homestead Act.

A. Homestead Act (1862) – for a $10 registration fee an individual could file for a homestead. After living there for five years, that individual could purchase that land from the government.

Settling the West

I. Settling the West

E. Closing the Frontier1. Oklahoma Land Rush – Last territory open for

settlement, within hours 10,000 people raced to stake claims.

A. Sooner

2. The brisk pace of settlement led many to report that the “American frontier” was closing.

I. Settling the West

E. Closing the Frontier3. The frontier had provided a “safety valve of social

discontent” 4. Many settlers faced hostile, harsh conditions

while settling the West.

I. Settling the West

E. Closing the Frontier5. Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis

A. The American Frontier has been essential in forming an American identity.

B. The Frontier has been a safety net for AmericansC. Democratic ideals are able to thrive along the frontierD. Frontier is what separates the US from Europe.

I. Settling the West

F. Inventions1. Barbed wire – closed the open range and led to

over supply of cattle on ranches.2. Dry farming – plant the seed deep enough for

the crop to grow3. Bonanza farms –

A. New machinery led to substantial harvest on wheat farms.

B. Bonanzas were large farms the yielded big profit.

Western Technology

I. Settling the West

G. Entertainment1. Buffalo Bills’ Wild West Shows

A. Interactive shows that romanticized the wild west and depicted relationships between cowboys and Indians.

B. Annie Oakley – star of shows

I. Settling the West

H. Discrimination1. Chinese Exclusion Act – Prohibited Chinese

immigration for ten years after westerners were upset about Chinese settlers.

2. Buffalo Soldiers – all black “peace time” army that faced discrimination after the civil war. Fought in several battles throughout the Great Plains, including the Indian wars.

Discrimination in the West