the west - sewanhaka high school€¦ · web viewsome had been destroyed, only to be rebuilt as the...

The West

Social Studies 8

Mrs. Francis

Name: ____________________________________

How does the movement of people from one geographic area to another create both opportunity & conflict?

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The West SS8 Mrs. Francis

The Native Americans of the Great Plains

Aim:

Do Now:

1. Define Nomad: _____________________________________________________2. Identify TWO Native American Cultures in the Plains:

a. _______________________b. _______________________

The Importance of Buffalo

Uses of Buffalo

1. _________________________________________________________________2. _________________________________________________________________3. _________________________________________________________________

Movie: Dances with Wolves

While watching the movie clip, complete the chart below:

Plains Indians

Role of Men Role of Women

Traditions Following Buffalo

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Settlement of the West

“No women, no children, no gray and stooping veterans – none but bright eyed, quick moving, strong handed young giants – the strangest population, the finest population, the most gallant hosts that ever trooped down the startled solitudes of an unpeopled land.”

Mark TwainWhat picture does Twain give of the people who went west during the mining boom?

Why were there conflicts with the Native Americans?

1. ________________________________________________________________2. ________________________________________________________________

Designing a Magazine Cover Activity:You have just been hired by the Transcontinental Railroad to go out and explore the West and what is out there. Then you are to report back and tell America what you found. Design a Magazine Cover about what life in the plains is like. You must include a title to your magazine and then the title of five articles which we can expect to read in the magazine. Also you must include a picture. Make it attractive and catchy because you want people to want to read the magazine.

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The Importance of the Buffalo

Listen, he said, yonder the buffalo are coming,These are his sayings, yonder the buffalo are coming,They walk, they stand, they are coming,Yonder the buffalo are coming.

The staple of the Plains Indians’ economy was the buffalo. In the early nineteenth century, great herds of buffalo roamed the Plains. In hunting season, Native Americans would surround a herd on horseback or stampede them into a gully or ravine. They might kill more than 1,000 animals in a hunt.

The Indians would then eat some of the meat and dry and preserve the rest. They scraped and cured the hides, using them to make robes, leggings, mittens, tepees, punches, and saddlebags. They used sinews as strings for bows. They made the hair into rope and the horns into cups or spoons. Hooves became glue and fat became soap. Bones were made into tools.

In the 1850s and 1860s, professional white hunters began to come west to kill buffalo. New inventions that tanned hides quickly meant that hunters could get from $1 to #3 per hide. They skinned the buffalo and left the carcasses to rot. The photograph shows 40,000 hides awaiting shipment. The meat, the bones – everything else – had been left on the Plains.

In the next few years, buffalo hunting became a sport. Rich hunters from Europe and the eastern United states came to shoot buffalo, often leaving the dead animals behind. By the late 1800s, the buffalo was nearly extinct. Furthermore, thousands of Native Americans had died of starvation. With their main source of food and supplies gone, the Plains Indians who survived were forced to rely on economic system of their white conquerors.

1. How did the white hunters’ use of the buffalo differ from the Native American hunters’ use of the buffalo?

2. How did the loss of the buffalo contribute to the loss of Indian power?

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Mining and the Railroads

Aim:

Do Now:

Why travel West?

The west was an unknown land, why would you want to endanger yourself and your family to move west?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Comstock Lode

Where was the richest mines ever found? __________________________________________________

How did mining impact development of the west? ___________________________________________

What do you think are some of the hardships people looking for gold faced? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The makings of a boomtown

First _________________________________________ are discovered. Then people would come to supply the miner with items. Merchants would set up stores Soon wood frame houses, hotel, restaurants and stores replaced

_____________________. Once there was no more __________________________the town became a ghost

town.

Define vigilante: ____________________________________________________________________

Talk with the person next to you and WRITE your answers to the following questions below:

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1. What is one reason why people traveled West? _______________________________________

2. What did they do once they were in the West? ____________________________3. What is a boomtown?_______________________________________________4. What is a Ghost town?

_________________________________________________________________5. What were some of the dangers of going West?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Do you think it was worth going west? Explain your answer

Railroads

What did the Railroad mean for people who lived in the West or who were miners? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transcontinental Railroad

The ______________________________________ built a rail line westward from Omaha, Nebraska

The ______________________________________ built a rail line starting in Sacramento, California and traveled east.

The two railroads met at ____________________________ Utah in May 1869.

The Government helps in building of Railroads

Why do you think the Federal Government would help in the construction of Railroads?

Subsidy-

Congress gave the railroad companies twenty sections of land for each mile The Railroad companies sold some of the land to pay for the construction of the

RR What is the problem with this?

____________________________________________________

Who worked on the Railroads? ___________________________________________________________

Why was labor scarce? __________________________________________________________________

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Western Mining and Boomtowns

As the rich mining ores found in the 1849 California Gold Rush began to decline, prospectors moved by the thousands to new strike sites.

The first gold rush following that in California was in the territory of Colorado. In January 1859, George Jackson discovered gold in the Rockies about thirty miles west of the small town of Denver. Soon rumors spread and Denver filled with prospectors. By April 1859, over 50,000 would be millionaires were in, or enroute to, the area around Denver and the South Platte River. The miners’ famous slogan was “Pikes Peak or Bust.” With Jackson’s strike and the gold rush that followed, a new wave of mining and prospecting opened in the West, and eventually spread from Arizona to Alaska.

By 1866, there were around 600 mining district in the West. By the year 1900, over one hundred thousand such districts were being actively worked. Many of these strikes were short-lived and died out quickly. A few sites, however, did develop into prosperous cities such as Denver, Colorado, and Virginia City, Nevada.

Silver also became a valuable mining metal. A huge deposit of silver, known as the Comstock Lode, was discovered in the Washoe Mountains of Nevada in June of 1859. This strike is said to have yielded about $400 million in gold and silver by 1890. Virginia City grew at this site.

In the Dakota black Hills in 1876, a prospector name Moses Manuel and his brother discovered the Homestake Mine. Considered the largest gold mine in the United States, it still operates today and had produced roughly #1 billion in gold.

Perhaps the densest concentration of gold ever located was discovered in 1890 at Cripple Creek, Colorado. In an area of six square miles, 475 mines produced $340 million in twenty-five years. Industrialists such as John T. Milliken were active in the area. Milliken controlled not only a great deal of the production of gold, but also the mill that processed the ore.

Such mining discoveries helped to expand the economy of the west. Also aided was the national economy. With the increases supply of bullion, gold or silver in bars, coins were minted by the government.

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The Cattle KingdomAim:

Do Now:

After the Civil War the demand for beef increased. Longhorns were perfect because they could travel far with little water and

required no extra feeding in the winter. Define open range:

______________________________________________________________ Define Cattle drive:

______________________________________________________________Life on the TrailWhat dangers did Cowhands face on the Cattle Drives?

1. _____________________________________________2. _____________________________________________3. _____________________________________________

Cowhands learned most of what they knew about riding, roping, and branding from the Spanish.

Define Cattle Kingdom: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The End of the Cattle Kingdom

Farmers began moving out west and fencing in their fields. The open range had disappeared.

Diseases killed herds, harsh weather and limited grass killed off many of the Longhorns.

The Cattleman’s Prayer

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Author – unknown, circa 1890

Now, O Lord, please lend Thine ear,The prayer of the cattle man to hear;

No doubt many prayers to thee seem strange,But won’t you bless our cattle range?

Bless the round-up year by yearAnd don’t forget the growing steer;Water the land with brooks and rills

For my cattle that roam on a thousand hills.

Now, O Lord, won’t you be goodAnd give our stock plenty of food;

And to avert a winter’s woeGive Italian skies and little snow.

Prairie fires won’t you please stop?Let thunder roll and water drop;It frightens me to see the smoke-

Unless it’s stopped, I’ll go dead broke.

As you, O Lord, my herds behold-Which represents a sack of gold-

I think at least five cents per poundShould be the price of beef year ‘round.

One more thing and then I’m through-Instead of one calf, give my cows two.I may pray different than other men,

Still I’ve had my say, and now, Amen!

Questions: 1. Why do you think the author is praying? What is the author worried about?

2. In what way does the author rely on his cattle?

3. In your opinion, does this poem describe and easy or rough life?

Evaluating Written Sources

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How to evaluate written sources

1. Identify who is writing.2. Identify the context.

When was it written? How was it written? What was its purpose?3. Analyze the point of view. What was the message? How does the writer feel?4. Evaluate the validity How true is this account? Why do you think so?

Read the two written sources and answer the questions.

In his novel The Big Sky, the newspaperman and author A.B. Guthrie,Jr (1901 -1991) wrote the following description of life in the west:“This was the way to live…A body got so’s he felt everything was kin to him, the earth and sky and buffalo and beaver and yellow moon at night. It was better than being walled in by a house, better than breathing in spoiled air and feeling like a caged varmint.”1.

2.

3.

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The following was written by Teddy Blue Abbot, a famous cowboy in the 1880s.“The cattle drifted down on all the rivers…On the Missouri we lost I don’t know how many that way. They would walk out on the ice and the ones behind would push the front ones in. The cow punchers worked like slaves to move them back in the hills, but as all the outfits cut their forces down every winter, they were shorthanded. No one knows how they worked themselves. They saved thousands of cattle. Think of riding all day in a blinding snowstorm, the temperature fifty and sixty below zero, and no dinner.”1.

2.

3.

4.

Directions: In the past few classes a vivid picture has been painted for you of the West and what it was like and how it has changed up to the Cattle Kingdom. Your job is to create a mural below showing the changes in the west up to the Cattle drive. Take your time and be creative.

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Cowboys and Cattlemen

Before the advent of the “American Cowboy” there were the vaqueros, or Mexican cowboys in the Southwest. These men roped and branded cattle in Spanish California and in Texas. On the early ranches, cattle were raised for hides and tallow. Beef was just a by-product.

After the Mexican War of 1846, many Mexican ranches came under American control. Some had been destroyed, only to be rebuilt as the meat market grew during the California gold rush.

With the growth of the railroads into the West, the beef and cattle industry boomed. Cattle were driven north from Texas to the Kansas railheads of Abilene, Ellsworth, Dodge City, and Wichita. From there they were shipped out by rail to meat-packing plants in Chicago, Omaha, and later, Kansas City.

The men who drove these cattle to Kansas were the first of the American cowboys. Life on the range was seldom a romantic adventure. More often it was rugged and filled with hardships. The long days were spent in the hot sun of the prairie, the air filled with clouds of dust raised by the cattle and the prairie wind. The clothes cowboys wore became standard and utilitarian: wide-brimmed hat to shade the eyes, bandana to keep the choking dust out of their noses, and chaps to protect their legs from cactus.

The Chisholm Trail was one of the most famous of the “long Drives.” It spanned a treacherous 1,000 mile trek from Teas, crossing Indian Territory and the plains of Kansas, until finally it reached destinations in Abilene and Ellsworth.

Problems the herders might have prepared to meet each day included stampedes, unpredictable weather, Indians, and the endless search for water. During the period of the “long Drive,” which lasted roughly from 1870 through 1890, millions of longhorn steers were herded to the northern railroads.

Within this twenty-year span, conflicts over the use of the open range, or public grasslands, plus several severe winters in the late 80s, combined to hasten the end of the drive days of the cowboy. More permanent, fenced-in ranches sprang up across the Southwest. Large ranches of this type did, however, keep the American cowboy at work. With beef now a staple of the American diet, cattle raising had becomes a major industry.

1. What were some advantages and disadvantages of being a cowboy in the American West?

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Treatment of Native Americans

Aim:

Do Now:

How the Changing West affected the Native Americans

Directions: How do you think the railroad, the discovery of gold and the cattle kingdom affected Native Americans in the West? Talk with the person next to you and write down your answer.

War on the Plains

Due to conflicts between White settlers and the Native Americans on the Plains, the US government established reservations.

What impact did this new lifestyle have on the Native American’s culture? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Topic: The Dawes Act

Read the following lyrics from the song “Don’t Drink the Water” by Dave Matthews band Underline powerful lines or write down images that come to mind while you read the

lyrics

“Don’t Drink the Water”

Come out come outNo use in hidingCome out come outCan you not seeThere’s no place hereWhat were you expecting No room for both Just room for meSo you lay your arms downYes I will call this home

Away awayYou have been banished

Your land is gone and given meAnd here I will spread my wingsYes I will call this homeWhat’s this you sayYou feel the right to remainThen stay and I will bury youWhat’s that you sayYour father’s spirit still lives in this place I will silence you

Here’s the hitchYour horse is leavingDon’t miss the boat It’s leaving now

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And as you go I will spread my wingsYes I will call this homeI have no time to justify to youFool you’re blind, move aside from me

All I can say to you my new neighborIs you must move on or I will bury you

Now as I rest my feet by this fireThose hands once warmed hereI have retired themI can breathe my own airAnd I can sleep more soundlyUpon these poor souls I’ll build heaven and call it home

Cause you’re all dead nowI live with my justice

I live with my greedy need I live with no mercyI live with my frenzied feedingI live with my hatredI live with my jealousyI live with the notion That I don’t need anyone but me Don’t drink the waterThere’s blood in the water.

Time for Change

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Aim:

Do Now:

Helen Hunt Jackson wrote “Century of Dishonor” – what was it about? _________________________________________________________________________________

Identify the Dawes Act: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Promises Made and Broken (The History of Native Americans and Americans)

Fort Laramie Treaty (1851)

The US government met with Indian Nations near Fort Laramie Wyoming. THE PROMISE: “If you keep to the land we assign you, we will give you

_________________, ____________________, __________________, and other goods.”

They agreed.Fort Laramie Treaty is Broken

In 1858 ______________ was discovered in Colorado and miners rushed in.

The Government told the ________________________to get out. The Native Americans refused and ______________________the white

settlers.

The Government urges them to “Follow American Ways” In 1867 the Native Americans sign a New Treaty – they agreed to live on Indian

Territory because they knew they had no choice and it was easier than fighting. Established Reservations.

Chivington MassacreDescribe what happened to the Cheyenne Village in 1864 by John Chivington and his men.

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Custer’s Last Stand and the Victory at Little Big Horn1. What was found in the Black Hills?

2. What happened at Little Big Horn?

Chief Joseph and Nez PerceWhy did Chief Joseph lead the Nez Perce to Canada? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Indian Way of Life ChangesGhost Dance - ________________________________________________________________________What happened at Wounded Knee? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ReformersHow did reformers try to help Native Americans? ____________________________________________Were they successful? __________________________________________________________________WHAT DO YOU THINK? How does the treatment of Native Americans make you feel? Do you want to change your mural now?

Farming in the WestAim:

Do Now:

Homestead Act (1862)___________acres of land to anyone who paid a small fee and promised to farm the land for _________years.

Problems they faced o _______________________________________________________________o _______________________________________________________________o _______________________________________________________________o _______________________________________________________________

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Exodusters Were a group of ___________________________ who moved west and called

themselves exodusters after Exodus. The book in the bible that tells about the Jews escaping from slavery in Egypt.Land Rush in Oklahoma

Land was going fast and on April 22, 1889 people lined up to get the last land in Oklahoma after the Native Americans had been kicked off of their land.

Hard Life on the Plains __________________was scarce on the plains. People needed shelter so they built it out of SOD which was hard and thick soil which

was held together by grass roots. SODBUSTERS plains farmers who had to cut through the SOD to get to the soil below.

Sometimes the SOD was so hard that it could break a plow that was not made out of steel.

More crops = Less money- Despite harsh weather the West began to produce a lot of goods like wheat and corn.

However, the more they produced and sent east, the less money they were paid for it.

.

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Questions to answer:

1. Why does the farmer want to move?

2. Who will benefit from the move? Why?

3. How would you describe the farmer in this song?

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Aim:

Do Now:

Farmers and the Homestead ActFollowing the Civil War, a steady stream of settlers moved west to occupy the recently

opened lands. Besides the lure of adventure and of a new way of life, many were motivated to move by the Homestead Act. With support from Lincoln, this act was passed by Congress in 1862. It allowed settlers to occupy government land (160 acres per settler) by paying little for it except the filing fees. The land had to be occupied for a certain amount of time, usually a five-year period.

Once out west, many settlers found their work to be difficult, and at times hazardous. On the Great Plains, life was very different from that in the East. Water supply, soil, wind, and weather posed new problems. This meant that new ways of farming had to be developed. The soil was mostly tough, with a thick piece of crust which stuck to wooden plows. Fortunately, the answer to this situation was not long in coming, for by 1877 a new iron plow had been developed.

The scarcity of trees on the plains proved an additional problem. While pioneers did not have to clear the land, they missed the trees that had always provided them with material to build their homes and keep them warm. As a result, farmers used the tough sod to construct their houses. They called these dwellings “soddies.”

Water was another problem. The annual rainfall was only about one-half of the rate regularly received back east. Wells had to be dug and windmills built to pump water up to the surface. For planting, farmers plowed deep into the soil to help it retain more moisture for longer periods of time.

These problems and others caused many of the original homesteaders to fail. In fact, two-thirds of those farming the land under the Homestead Act folded and abandoned their claims. Still, the westward migration of farmers populated the prairie states of western Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas.

1. What were some of the problems of the farmers on the Great Plains?

2. What solutions (if any) did the farmers have for these problems?

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Graph Skills: During which 10 year period did the population of the West grow by about 3

million people?

The Frontier – Kansas 1874

Characters: Martha Duff, Politician, Banker, and Railroad Owner

Martha Duff: Yes, sir. We farmers are slaves, and you gentlemen are our masters.Politician: Mrs. Duff, aren’t you exaggerating? This country fought a bloody war to put an end to slavery. There are no slaves in America today.Martha Duff: Oh, no? Well, we farmers certainly feel like slaves. And unless we’re set free, this country just might fight another bloody war!Railroad Owner: Mrs. Duff, just who do you think is holding you in slavery?Martha Duff: The railroads for a start. You’re nothing but robbers. You force us to store our products in your warehouses, and you charge us a healthy price for this service. Then your charge us as much as you like to ship our goods. We don’t work for ourselves. We work for you.Railroad Owner: Without us, you couldn’t get your crops to market.Martha Duff: We both know that. You’ve got us over a barrel.Railroad owner: Look, Mrs. Duff. It’s true that we charge farmers higher rates to ship goods than we charge other customers. But we send empty cars out west to pick up your farm products this is very expensive for us.Martha Duff: I understand. You come here with empty cars, and you leave with full pockets.Banker: Now, Mrs. Duff. Don’t be so hard on these fellows. Without railroads, you farmers would be out of business. They make it possible for you to keep your farms. And we bankers do our share, too.

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Martha Duff: Don’t you mean you take your share?Banker: How can you talk that way? Without our loans, you couldn’t live another day on your farms. Martha Duff: You talk as if loans were some charity you give farmers. Well, they’re not. They’re a hard-nosed business deal. God help those who can’t pay the bank on time. You swoop down on them like a vulture and take away farms that have been irrigated by their sweat and tears. Yes, it’s true that you lend us money. But we put our lives in your hands. You are well paid for your loans. Too well paid!Banker: But farmers are poor risks. We have to charge high interest rates. One month of dry weather, one hailstorm, one insect attack can ruin your crops for an entire season. It’s a wonder that we gamble by lending you any money at all.Martha Duff: You gamble with your money, and we gamble with our sweat and hard work. We risk everything we have to feed the world and to make you rich. Your gamble is small compared with ours.Politician: Please, Mrs. Duff, be reasonable. Railroad owners and bankers are in business to make money, just like farmers. They take risks, just as you do. Aren’t they entitled to a profit?Martha Duff: Just as I would expect – you’re defending the money interests. It would seem that we farmers are not important enough for you to pay attention to us.Politician: That’s not so, Mrs. Duff. The government listens to farmers. Why, there are many policies aimed at helping people like you. Didn’t you get your land as a free homestead from the government?Martha Duff: As a matter of fact, my family did. The government lured us out west with its promise of 160 acres of free land. Big deal! By the time most of us homesteaders arrived here, the railroads had taken the best lands. We had to settle for leftovers. You can’t fool me. The government serves bankers, railroad owners, and big business – not farmers.Politician: What sort of things do you think government could do for farmers? Surely you’re not arguing that farmers should get special favors from government?Martha Duff: Not special favors – just a fair chance. Why not start by setting rules that would keep railroads from gouging every penny they can get from farmers? Or by coining more money so people can afford to pay higher prices for our farm products?Railroad Owner: Whoa! Government can’t set rules for railroads. That would be unconstitutional! It would interfere with free enterprise!Banker: And government can’t go turning out too much money. Sound business depends on sound money.Politician: As you can see, Mrs. Duff, your ideas can stir up a powerful lot of argument. But I’m sure that we politicians are willing to listen to your views. We must of course consider them in the light of the Constitution and of sound business principles –Martha Duff: (interrupting) And of getting elected next time around! I might remind you, Mr. Politician, that the railroads and bankers may have plenty of money to pour into your next election campaign, but we farmers have plenty of votes. You’ll be hearing from us!

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Questions: What problems does Martha Duff complain about?

What actions does Martha Duff suggest the farmers take to solve their problems?

Why were the farmers forced to organize?

How successful do you think they were in solving their problems?

PopulismFarmers in the late 1800s faced many difficulties. Crop prices had been dropping since

the end of the Civil War. Competition from farms in other nations had increased. Tariffs made farm equipment more expensive. Finally, many farmers were heavily in debt. Farmers argued that the government was wiling o help eastern businesses, but was doing nothing to help western farmers.

Farmers began to organize into groups and work together to change government policies. The Grange helped farmers work together. In large groups, farmers were able to buy goods more cheaply and fight for lower rates from the railroads. In the late 1880s, as many as three million farmers joined a national network called the Farmers’ Alliances. Alliance members called for the government to pass laws protecting farmers from the power of big business.

In 1890, the Farmers’ Alliances started a new national political party called the People’s party of the Populists. The Populists fought to increase the power of farmers and factory workers, white and black, should work together to improve conditions for all poor people. In the Presidential election of 1896, both the Populist and the Democratic Party nominated Populist leader William Jennings Bryan. Bryan won strong support throughout the South and West, but lost the election. Still, the goals of populism lived on.

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Answers:1.

2.

The Populist PartyAim:

Do Now:

The GrangeIn 1867, farmers get together and form the _______________whose goal was to boost farmers national profit and reduce the rates railroads were charging.

Farmers AllianceVery similar to the National Grange but allowed ________________________ and _____________________to join.

The PopulistsA group of farmers who form their own political party and demand the government help the farmers by ____________________________ and regulating the ____________________________.

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William Jennings Bryan supported the Populist ideas. He ran and lost the presidential election in 1896.

Populist Platform:1. Cheap Money –

2. Graduated Income –

3. One term presidency –

4. Restricted Immigration –

5. Secret Ballot-

6. Government Ownership of RR –

7. Direct election of Senators –

8. Shorter Workday –

ActivityWrite a paragraph answering the following below: Suppose you could travel back in time to 1880 and visit a sodbuster family. You are able to take one modern invention with you to help make life easier for the farmer. What would you take and why?

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Study Sheet

Part I: All students must be able to identify the following

Exodusters Wounded Knee Massacre

Chief Joseph Helen Hunt Jackson

The Transcontinental Railroad Cattle Drives

Cattle Kingdom Open Range

Promontory Point Utah Homestead Act

Native Americans The Reservation System

Homesteaders Vaqueros

The Battle of Little Big Horn Sodbusters

Col. George A. Custer Dawes Act

Chief Sitting Bull Chisolm Trail

Part II: All students must be able to answer the following questions.

1. How did Railroads help to open the West?2. Why was the buffalo important to the lives of the Plains Indians?3. What was the “cattle kingdom“?4. What hardships did farmers face on the plains?5. How did the farmers attempt to fix the problems they faced?

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