1. Growth in the West 1860-1900 Chapter 19, Section 4
Farming and Populism
Growth in the West
Chapter 19, Section 4

2. Essential Questions:
What factors should determine the cost of something?
Are advances in technology helpful or hurtful?
When citizens are faced with problems, what are some of their options for creating solutions?

3. Push and Pull Factors For Immigration (1865-1900)

4. Olaf Olsson
“We do not dig gold with pocket knives, we do not expect to become… rich in a few days or a few years, but what we aim at is to own our own homes… The advantage which American offers is not to make everyone rich at once, without toil or trouble, but… that the poor… can secure a large piece of good land almost without cost, that they can work up little by little.”
Olaf Olsson, The Swedish Americans, by Allyson McGill

5. The Homestead Act (1862) Offered 160 Acres
of Land Out West to Anyone for FREE!
Deal Was, “You Had to Live On & Improve the Land for 5 Years”
Any Idea What 160 Acres in NY Costs Today?

6. Land Available!

10. The Exodusters
African Americans Who Fled West After the Civil War in Hope of A Fresh Start
Compared Themselves to the Ancient Hebrews Escaping Egypt (The Book of Exodus)
Over 50,000 African Americans Settled in Kansas, Missouri, Indiana & Illinois

11. The Exodusters

12. Exodusters

13. European Immigration
Swedes, Germans, Norwegians, Ukrainians & Russians Immigrated to the Great Plains for FREE Land (Homestead Act)
Learned Of the Homestead Act from Traveling American Railroad Salesman
Advertising in Europe!
Why Do Railroad Companies Want Settlers to Go Out West and Get FREE Land?

15. U.S. Government Assists Railroad Companies Settle the West
U.S. Government Gave Millions of Acres of Land to Railroad Companies for FREE
Wanted Railroad Companies to Build Tracks Out West (Help Encourage Settlement)
Railroad Companies Resold the Land to Settlers on Both Sides of the Tracks Built (New Customers for the Railroads $$$)

17. Sodbusters Settlers Faced Many Problems on the Great Plains:
No Trees (How Do You Build a House?)
No Firewood (Had to Use Buffalo Chips)
No Water (Had to Dig Wells 280+Feet)
Weather (Blizzards, Fires, Tornadoes, Hailstorms, Drought
Life Was Miserable on the Great Plains

21. New Inventions Help Farmers
New Inventions Helped Farmers:
Steel Plow (Invented by John Deere, Sliced Through Tough Sod)
Windmills (Pumped Water From Wells)
Barbed Wire (Fence in Land and Livestock)
Reapers (Make Harvesting of Crops Easier)
Threshers (Separated Grain/ Seed from Straw

22. Overproduction
Too Much Production = Lower Prices!

23. The Laws of Supply and Demand
Demand = The Amount of People Who Want a Product
Supply = The Amount of Products Produced
How Much Would Someone Pay for Playstation 4?
Playstation 2?

24. 4 Problems Farmers Faced (1870’s)
Overproduction:
Farmers Were Making Too Much! Prices Dropped!
New Farm Inventions Were Very Expensive!
Railroad Rates to Carry Crops to Market Were Very Expensive $$$
Railroads Owned Grain Elevators to Store Crops
Charged Farmers High Rates to Store Crops!

25. Grain Elevators

27. Grange Movement (Patrons of Husbandry)
Farmers Gathered Together to Protest Against Economic Problems
Farmers Were Angry!
Political Movement
Demanded Government Regulation
Wanted the Government to Interfere and Pass Laws to Help Farmers
Aligned Against the Railroad Companies
Transportation Costs Too High
Storage Costs Too High (Grain elevators)

28. Grange Movement Formed Cooperatives
Organizations Owned & Run by its Members
Farmers Joined Together Too:
Buy Their Own Grain Storage Elevators
Sell Their Crops Directly to Merchants (Their Own Stores)
Share Farming Equipment
Made More $$$, But Not Enough!

29. Grange Movement Farmers Continued to Pressure the Government for Help!
Asked States to Have Railroad Companies Lower Their Storage & Freight Rates
Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa Helped the Farmers!
Railroad Companies Were Angry! Sued the State Governments!

31. Munn vs. Illinois (1877)
#3 of the 7 Supreme Court Cases You MUST Know!
Railroad Owner Munn Sued the State of Illinois (1877) for Lowering Railroad Rates to Farmers
Claimed that Private Companies/Businesses Can Charge Whatever Price They Want! (It’s a Private Company)

32. Munn vs. Illinois (1877) Ruling
U.S. Supreme Court Disagreed!
Court Ruled that States & the U.S. Government Can Regulate Railroad Rates Because it was in “THE PUBLIC’S BEST INTEREST!”
A Victory for the Farmers!

33. The Populist Party A.K.A. = The People’s Party
Wanted the Free Silver Policy
Wanted the U.S. to Make ALL $$$ Out of Silver (Not Gold) and Make More of It!
Wanted to Cause Inflation (The Rise of Prices)

34. Time Out!
One Major Problem That We Have in this Country is Homelessness!
In Your Groups, You Have 5 Minutes to Brainstorm and Come Up With a Solution to this Problem!

35. What is $$$ Made Out Of?

36. Solution???
Why Don’t We Just Cut Down A Bunch of Trees and Print Up More $$$?
We Can Replant the Trees!
Give Everyone in the United States $10 Million Dollars Each!
Good Idea?

37. What Costs $1

38. Inflation What is the Cost of a Pretzel in the Cafeteria Today?
What Would be the Price of that Pretzel if Everyone Received $10 Million?
Why So Much?
What Happened to the Value of Your Original $1?

39. Free Silver Policy Farmers Wanted to Make ALL $$$ Out of Silver
Wanted to Put More $$$ Into Circulation
Wanted to Cause Inflation to Raise Prices of Their Crops
Problem is, What Happens to the Value of the $$$?

40. The Gold Standard
Government Backs Every Dollar with a Certain Amount of Gold
Gold is Limited  Less $$$ in Circulation
Protects the Value of $$$. Keeps Prices Down!

41. Election of 1892 Usually Republicans vs. Democrats in Elections
Populist Party was a 3rd Party that Ran for Election:
Want Free Silver Policy
Want Government Ownership of Railroads
Want Shorter Working Hours
Populist Party Loses  But Puts Up a Good Showing!

43. Election of 1896 William McKinley was the Republican Candidate
William Jennings Bryan was the Democratic Candidate
Populist Party Combined with the Democratic Party
Republicans Won! Populist Party Collapsed!

45. The Closing of the Frontier
By 1889, No More Frontier Left – No More Land!
In Oklahoma, About 2 Million Acres of Indian Territory Was Left
Thousands Rushed Out to Grab What Was Left!

49. Essential Questions:
What factors should determine the cost of something?
Are advances in technology helpful or hurtful?
When citizens are faced with problems, what are some of their options for creating solutions?