What do you know about What do you know about Westward Expansion?Westward Expansion?

Write down your responses.Write down your responses.

What do you know about What do you know about Westward Expansion?Westward Expansion?

Write down your responses.Write down your responses.

Analyze this painting. What do you think it means? Write down your response

Topics of discussionTopics of discussionTopics of discussionTopics of discussion

Native

American

s

Railroads

Ranchers

Farmers

Miners

Myth vs.

Reality

Native American Culture• Tribes relied on the buffalo to

survive– Native Americans on the

Great Plains would follow the herds across the land (nomadic).

– They used these animals for food, shelter, and clothing.

– White settlers were hunting these animals for sport.

U.S. Government’s Response to N.A.

• In the beginning, the U.S. government offered peace– In 1851, the Treaty of

Fort Laramie guaranteed Native Americans land rights on the Great Plains.

U.S. Government’s Response to N.A.

• The belief of manifest destiny encouraged countless Americans to pick up their belongings and head out west in search of a better life– This caused the U.S.

government to rethink its policy of dealing with Native Americans.

U.S. Government’s response to N.A.

• The government set up the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to manage Native American issues.– The chief of the agency,

Luke Lea, supported the system of reservations.

– Reservations: land set aside for Native Americans to live on and farm.

Intro Questions:

•Was it a necessity for the United States due to the concept of “manifest destiny” or not? •What else could the United States have done other than the reservation system? •Do you think the idea of placing Native Americans on reservations is an idea that many Americans do not care about today? If so, do you think that is wrong?

Voices of Protest

• Horrific treatment of Native Americans led to the formation of organizations to protest such treatment.

• In addition, Helen Hunt Jackson wrote the book, A Century of Dishonor, which criticized the government for its years of broken promises and mistreatment of Native Americans

Assimilation is the process by

which minorities gradually adopt

patterns of the dominant culture.

Assimilation represents

one way of dealing with

social differences. There

are several ways (each way more extreme than

the previous):

Multiculturalism

Assimilation

Discrimination

Segregation

Genocide

Native American Assimilation

• In the late 1800’s, the U.S. government felt the long-term solution to a peaceful existence with Native Americans was assimilation.

• The government:– Set up “Indian schools”

– Passed the Dawes General Allotment Act

Do you think people are assimilated into American society and they don’t even realize it? Explain your answer.

Government lures people out Government lures people out WestWest

Government lures people out Government lures people out WestWest

• Homestead Act: permitted “any citizen or intended citizen to select any surveyed land up to 160 acres and to gain title to it for five years’ residence” if the person cultivated (farmed) the land.

• Morrill Act: granted more than 17 million acres of federal land to the states and ordered the sale of this land to finance the construction of agricultural and engineering colleges.

Other ways to gain landOther ways to gain landOther ways to gain landOther ways to gain land

• Citizens could also gain land from events called “land rushes.”– One of the most famous

was the Oklahoma land rush

WaterWater

• Water was always in short supply in a large portion of the West.

• Some solutions were irrigation systems and windmills

TreesTrees

• Trees were also in short supply on the Great Plains

• Farmers needed the wood from trees as a fuel source or for building materials.

Solutions to the lack of treesSolutions to the lack of trees

• As a substitute for wood, they used dried buffalo manure for a fuel source.

• They used heavy layers of soil to build homes, which were called sod houses

ClimateClimate• Blizzards and brutal cold

gripped the Great Plains during the winter while summer brought soaring temperatures and drought.

• Insects ran rampant on the Great Plains and devoured almost everything in their paths, ruining a harvest.

The Government steps in to help The Government steps in to help farmersfarmers

• U.S. Department of Agriculture was created in 1862 to help farmers adjust to their new environments.

Farmers, have no fear, the

government is here!!!

New Farming Methods of the WestNew Farming Methods of the West

• New plows with durable blades helped to easily cut through tough soil.

• Many of the new devices utilized the steam engine.– Many of these new

devices were extremely expensive and plunged farmers into massive debt.

• Large companies practiced large scale farming called bonanza farming.

People flood the west looking to get People flood the west looking to get richrich

• Gold was discovered in Pikes Peak, Colorado in 1858 and was invaded by western settlers.

• The Carson River valley (in present day Nevada) offered miners a new place to get rich when it yielded gold as well as the Comstock Lode, one of the world’s richest silver veins.

• U.S. miners pushed all the way into western Canada in search of riches.– One of the results of this

was the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867.

Mining LifeMining Life• Mining communities

were almost entirely male.– Families did not

accompany the miner.

• The atmosphere in mining camps was one of extreme competition as everyone was looking out for themselves.

Mining ViolenceMining Violence

• Deadwood, South Dakota was legendary for its violence.

ProspectingProspectingProspectingProspecting

Mining Centers: Mining Centers: 19001900

Mining Centers: Mining Centers: 19001900

Mining (“Boom”) Towns--Mining (“Boom”) Towns--Now Ghost TownsNow Ghost Towns

Mining (“Boom”) Towns--Mining (“Boom”) Towns--Now Ghost TownsNow Ghost Towns

Calico, CACalico, CACalico, CACalico, CA

Big Business MiningBig Business Mining• In the early years of

mining, the individual miners had exhausted much of the easily accessible minerals from the mines.

• Getting to minerals deep beneath the surface would require new technology that could only be supplied by large corporations.

Ok little miner, we’ll take it from

here

Corporate Mining Corporate Mining TechniquesTechniques

Hydraulic mining: water shot at high pressure ripped away gravel and dirt to expose the minerals beneath.

Hard-rock mining: involved sinking deep shafts to obtain ore locked in veins of rock.

Dangerous Working Dangerous Working ConditionsConditions

• Temperatures

sometime rose to 150

degrees.

• Poor ventilation caused the air to be dangerous to breath.

• There was also a risk of injury or even death due to cave-ins, rockfalls, and the use of dynamite.

History of Ranching in the History of Ranching in the WestWest

• The Spanish were the first to introduce cattle to the American West.

Yeah we brought cattle to

America!!!!!!!!!

History of Ranching in the History of Ranching in the WestWest

• Eastern cities of the United States grew in population and ensured a strong demand for beef.

MMMM….. Beef

History of Ranching in the History of Ranching in the WestWest

• The demand and price of cattle increased as the buffalo began to die out.

Hey, where are all my friends????

The Economy of CattleThe Economy of Cattle

• The workers who took care of a rancher’s cattle were known as cowboys.

NOT

CowboysCowboys• Cowboys were also in

charge of herding as many as 3,000 cattle to the railroad stations sometimes hundreds of miles away.

• These trips were called long drives.

TheThe

CattleCattle

TrailsTrails

TheThe

CattleCattle

TrailsTrails

Problems for CowboysProblems for Cowboys• A sudden sound could

spook the cattle into a stampede, which would endanger not only the cowboys but also the herd.

• Cowboys worked for little pay in all types of weather conditions.

Cattle (Cow) TownsCattle (Cow) Towns• Long drives ended at

places called cowtowns, towns located along railroads where cattle would be shipped to the east.

• Famous cowtowns were Dodge City, Abilene, and Wichita.

Cattle (Cow) TownsCattle (Cow) Towns• These towns became

synonymous with drinking, gambling, and lawlessness.

• It was in these towns that famous law enforcers like Wyatt Earp became American legends.

The Open RangeThe Open Range• As the U.S.

government acquired more Native American land, they allowed cattle ranchers to use public land as open range, or free grazing land for their cattle.

• Huge corporations took advantage of this offer and utilized millions of acres for ranching.

The RoundupThe Roundup

• During the spring and fall months, hired cowboys would “roundup” the rancher’s cattle from the open range.

• They would distinguish between different ranchers’ cattle by the various branding marks left on the skin.

Land Use: 1880sLand Use: 1880sLand Use: 1880sLand Use: 1880s

The Range WarsThe Range WarsThe Range WarsThe Range Wars

SheepHerders

CattleRanchers

Reasons the Cattle Boom Reasons the Cattle Boom EndedEnded• Greedy ranchers

overcrowded the open range with too many cattle, i.e. there was too high of a supply thus the price dropped.

• The invention of barbed wire by Joseph Glidden limited cattle access to land and water.

• Drought and a horrific blizzard decreased the number of many herds.