American History Chapter 13-3

Farming the Plains

Motivations to Farm the West• 1862 Homestead Act: Gave 160 acres of land to the

head of the household.– Had to build on the land & farm it for 5 yrs to own it.

• 1862 Pacific Railway Act: Granted land to RR companies to construct railroad & telegraph lines.

• 1862 Morrill Act: Granted land to states to build or finance colleges for the agricultural & mechanical arts.

Further Motivation to Farm the West• 1889 Oklahoma Land Run: 2 million acres of land,

previously believed to be Indian Territory, was opened up to white settlement.– 50,000 settlers rushed into Ok. to stake their claims.

End of the American Frontier

• 1890 – U.S. Census Bureau declared that the American frontier was closed.– Historian Frederick Turner believed that it was the frontier

that had made the U.S. distinctive.– Today’s historians list other factors as being more

important to the development of the U.S., (ie: slavery, immigration, industrialization.)

Frederick Jackson Turner

Migration West• Benjamin Singleton: Former slave who encouraged

Af. Am. to build their own communities in the West.– Exodusters: 15,000 + African Americans moved to Ks.– Many blacks left the South to avoid segregation & the KKK.

Changes in Farming

• Many were forced to irrigate.– Constructed windmills.

• Lumber was scarce on the plains.– Farmers built dugouts & sod houses.

Other Farm Changes• James Oliver: Invented a plow with a sharper edge.– Combine harvesters were invented.

• Bonanza farms developed:– Large companies bought up land & ran farms like factories.– Struggled with the boom-and-bust cycles of farming.

James Oliver

TheEnd