First Things First... Discuss the following question with your partner… Why would people want to move West? What might hold people back from moving west?

The Homestead Act Americans move West

8.94 Explain the impact of the Homestead Act. (E, H, P) 8.95 Analyze how significant inventors and their inventions, including barbed wire, the six shooter, windmills, sod housing, and the steel plow changed life in the West. (C, E, H, P) Clear Target: Students will be able to explain the impact of the Homestead Act and the new technology of the West.

What is the Homestead Act? 1862 - Congress passed the Homestead Act to encourage settlement in the Great Plains Gave up to 160 acres of land to any head of a family who paid $10 filing fee Family would live on the land for 5 years Homestead = to earn ownership of the land after settling on it Women could claim land if they were single or widowed ● Analyze the factors that made the Great Plains appealing to immigrants ○ railroads ○ Homestead Act – granted 160 acres to any man who farmed it for 5 years

Homesteaders A lot of homesteaders were African Americans trying to escape segregation & violence By 1881 - over 40,000 African Americans migrated to Kansas Immigrants were also able to buy homesteads Not all settlers in the Great Plains were homesteaders - some bought their land outright (RR sold cheap land)

Life in the Great Plains Life was difficult Not many trees to build houses...BUT there was a lot of grass

Make a Prediction... How would you build a house if there wasn’t enough wood to build one?

Life on the Great Plains Poor land - dry, dusty, but available Plowed & irrigated correctly = great crops of wheat and other grains Soddies - houses made of sod Difficult Climate - flooding & drought Harsh winters - isolated communities Grasshoppers & Locusts = devastating to crops Farming = all hands on deck ● Identify the hardships faced by the Great Plains settlers Poor land generally – dry, dusty, but available – if plowed correctly and irrigated could produce great crops of wheat and other grains Grasshoppers/locusts ○ building materials – substituted sod for wood ○ isolated communities

Think - Pair - Share Have you ever farmed before? What would it be like to have to help your family farm instead of going to school?

Life on the Great Plains Sodbusters = farmers that developed new farming methods & tools Dry farming = farmers took steps to trap the limited moisture in the soil (ex: plowing after each rainfall) Deep wells, windmills, barbed wire, steel plow (further discussion to come) Few farmers succeeded - many went into debt

Oklahoma By 1880’s - one large region of the Great Plains was closed to settlers = Indian Territory Part of this territory was not assigned to any Native American group...pressure for government to give this land Eventually cave and open land to homesteaders

Oh wait...that’s a problem April 22, 1889 - over 10,000 people lined up to claim land in Oklahoma They found out people had snuck in earlier to claim land = “sooners” - fights break out 1890’s census showed that there was no longer a region where Americans hadn’t settled = frontier is closed

Barbed Wire 1873 - Joseph Glidden gets patent for a better design of barbed wire Glidden’s had two wires to hold the sharp bur Barbed wire = cheaper solution to wood Necessary - kept cattle out of farmer’s crops

Six Shooter 1836 - Samuel Colt - got patent for the revolver mechanism that allows guns to fire multiple shots Made it easier to defend oneself on the frontier

Windmills Converted force of wind into power Allowed farmers to draw water from super deep wells

Steel Plow Invented by John Deere - 1837 Saved farmers time when they plowed Cast iron before - dirt and grass would stick - didn’t stick to steel