1. Which argument for expansion probably had the greatest appeal among Americans, and why?

2. Colonial America: How the West was Lost

3. I. Visions of the West A. Turner’s Frontier "The Significance of the Frontier in American History," 1893: "The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward explain American development." Frontier  "that coarseness and strength combined with acuteness and acquisitiveness; that practical inventive turn of mind, quick to find expedients; that masterful grasp of material things... that restless, nervous energy; that dominant individualism" = Americanism

4. Rugged Individualism Farm life on Plains is very difficult: hard work, essentials (water, fuel) are scarce Weather is unpredictable (heat, storms, blizzards, floods, prairie fires), plus insects 98 Meridian

6. Democracy for women (compare early South Carolina + slaves) Homestead Act (1862) disperses settlement and creates social isolation Also lonely because many were bachelors; many abandon farms for cities (late 1800s) Isolation diminished by mail-order companies and extension of RFD post service

7. B. Cowboys and Indians William “Buffalo Bill” Cody “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” (1883) –Buffalo hunt w/ real buffalos, Indian attack on the Deadwood stage with real Indians, Pony Express ride, and presentation of Custer’s Last Stand w/Lakota who had actually fought –Toured Europe, great acclaim ½ circus, ½ history lesson Annie Oakley, Sitting Bull 1,700 dime novels  violent, gunfighting, gambling, get-rich-quick, lawless hedonism= “Wild West”

8. II. Realities of the West A. Rugged Cooperation Massive gov’t assistance throughout (and today) Pacific Railway Acts (1862, 1864): US 180 million acres to rail companies; States 50 million acres Morrill Land Grant Act (1862): “land grant” colleges Homestead Act (1862): 160 acres, small fee if: 1) 21 / head household, 2) citizen or imm. seeking, 3) build house, 4) farm 5 years  372,000 farms, 80 million acres –50 years post-CW more land than since Jamestown –Cheap land immigrants + blacks (50,000 Exodusters)

9. Expansion  tension w/ Indians  violence  cavalry  removal + massacre [Sand Creek (500), Wounded Knee (200)]  “Indian Emancipation Act” –“Disappearing Indian” –Indian “monopoly” on land  stymie competition  break- up Dawes Act (General Allotment Act), 1887 1) 160 acres of land to head of each family; single over 18: 80 acres; under 18: 40 acres 2) same legal protection as whites’ 3) Federal government, for 25 years, would hold land in trust: Indians could not sell land for 25 years 4) Full citizenship rights 5) Fed sell all remaining land not allotted

10. Unsuitable for farming; choose land for culture > economics; refuse farm; not enough land  debt to whites (sharecropping / debt peonage)  lose 2/3 land  1934 Indian Reorganization Act

11. Destruction of the Buffalo 1) Weather 2) Indians 3) Competition horses/cattle 4) Bill Cody

12. Mechanization agriculture + need for irrigation (environment) + boom/bust cycle  concentration in large, commercial farms –Also true (diff. particulars) for ranching + mining

13. B. Mild West 1) Not as violent: more died violently in RxR accidents than gun –1889: 50 gunmen Wyoming Stock Growers Association vs. small ranchers + farmers: 3 days shooting, 1 death (shot self); Feds save gunmen 2) Violence often socio-economic conflict: competition for land, resources, power 3) Violence usually not personal conflicts but rather conflict between social groups (e.g. pan miners vs. capitalists’ goons—see Pale Rider) Cleaned up quickly as big biz moves in

14. The Ranching Frontier Population growth + RxR (bulk transportation)  cattle ranching mushrooms after 1860s Penny press claims 25-40% profit Drive cattle 1,000+ miles from TX to rail link, but soon move to raising herds near rail link (long drives inefficient) –Mexican + black cowboys Profitable open-range ranching w/ massive use gov’t lands; dominated large ranchers w/ backing (London, NYC)

15. Grazing Wars Massive cattle ranching conflicts commercial farms + sheep herds (“wooly critters”) West lacks materials for traditional fences: who owns what?  Mass production barbed wire solves conflict Wire accelerates farming (protect); ranching moves toward big business, away from open-range (large-scale isolate) Winter 1887-88  Small ranchers out, most cowboys wage-earners