Do you know what ASSIMILATION means?  What would you do if the government forced you to move from your home? You had 1 day to pack and head to a place you have never seen. When you get there you have no resources to continue your lifestyle.(no shopping malls, grocery stores, cell phone service, internet, etc.) How would you react? Would you Assimilate into American culture, like the government wants you to? Would you secretly plot leave your new home or try to make it on your own? Would you band together and fight the US army officials in charge of watching you?

Tuesday August 11, 2015 This Day in History

The Gilded Age: ■After the Civil War, the U.S. entered an era known as the Gilded Age when America experienced rapid changes

Overview of the West ■After the Civil War, the area west of the Mississippi River was settled: –Miners, ranchers, farmers flooded into the “frontier” looking for economic opportunities –Transcontinental railroads connected the country –Plains Indians were forced to assimilate & move to reservations ■By 1890, the frontier was closed

The Mining Bonanza ■Mining was the 1 st magnet to attract settlers to the West: –Before the Civil War, miners discovered gold in California, Colorado, & Nevada –After the Civil War, miners resumed their migration into the West to find more gold & silver

John Mackay became the richest man in the world & earned $25 a minute from his “Big Bonanza” in Sierra Mountains $306 million in gold & silver was discovered at the Comstock Lode Mining Regions of the West Silver miners in Leadville, CO Mining towns were formed in the West; Needed gov’t, law enforcement, & businesses

Corporations had the expensive machinery (“hydraulic mining techniques”) to extract most of the gold in the West

■Chinese & Latin American immigrants came to find gold Chinese Exclusion Act ■Nativism led Congress to pass the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 which ended Chinese immigration

Ranchers & The Cattle Boom ■After the Civil War, the demand for beef skyrocketed ■To meet this demand, ranchers drove Texas longhorns across the open “range” to railroad towns: –Cattle bought in Texas for $4 could be sold for $40 in Kansas –Cattle drives created new towns

Ranchers & The Cattle Boom Ranchers used the “open range” to graze longhorns during the 3 month “long drive” By 1867, ranchers started using trains to ship cattle to meatpacking cities like Chicago

Ranchers & The Cattle Boom ■By the 1880s, cattle ranching was difficult because: –The “open range” was closed as farmers used new barbed wire fencing to close off their farms –Overgrazing & drought left little grasslands for grazing cattle –Competition from sheep herding

Homesteads & Farmers ■The U.S. gov’t offered incentives for farmers to settle the West: –Homestead Act –Homestead Act (1862) gave 160 acres to citizens who pledged to “improve the land” for at least 5 years –Other gov’t acts helped develop western lands by planting trees & building irrigation systems

By 1900, 600,000 Americans claimed homesteads

Homesteads & Farmers ■Life in the Plains was difficult: –There were few trees so homesteaders built sod houses –60% of homesteaders failed ■But many homesteaders adapted: –Used dry farming techniques –Planted tough varieties of wheat –Used harvesting machinery

By 1890, the U.S. became a major crop exporter

Exodusters ■Exodusters were black farmers who moved West to escape crop liens & Jim Crow laws in the South

Exodusters

Homestead Sales, In 1890, the western frontier “closed”: There were no more unorganized territories in the West

Rails Across the Continent ■In 1862, Congress authorized the first transcontinental railroad:transcontinental railroad –Union Pacific worked westward from Nebraska (Irish laborers) –Central Pacific worked eastward from CA (Chinese immigrants) –On May 10, 1869 the 2 tracks met at Promontory Point in Utah

The 1 st transcontinental railroad connected the west coast to eastern cities in 1869 Chinese workers made up a large percentage of laborers on the western leg Irish workers made up a large percentage of laborers on the eastern section

Federal Land Grants to Railroads by 1871 The national gov’t gave out $65 million & millions of acres to railroad companies to connect the East & West coasts with railroads

The Transcontinental Railroad

Railroad Construction,

The Plains Indians In 1865, 2/3 of all Indians lived on the Great Plains Their culture was dependent upon the buffalo & the horse

The Importance of the Buffalo in Indian Culture

America’s Indian Policy ■America’s Indian policy changed: –In the 1830s, Indians were moved across the Mississippi River into “one big reservation” –In the 1850s, (due to Manifest Destiny), Indians were moved into concentrated reservations –In the 1860s, reservations were violated by farmers & miners

Indian Wars In 1876, Americans flooded into Sioux territory in South Dakota when gold was discovered The Sioux, led by Sitting Bull, retaliated by ambushing Colonel Custer & all 197 soldiers in the Seventh Cavalry at Little Big Horn

Assimilation and the Dawes Act: ■A plan which would force Native Americans to give up their beliefs and way of life and become a part of white culture ■In 1887, Congress passed the Dawes Act aiming to “Americanize” the Native Americans (160 acres to INDIVIDUAL heads of household)

Indians Wars When the U.S. army tried to stop Sioux “ghost dances,” 200 men, women, & children were slaughtered during the Battle of Wounded Knee The Battle of Wounded Knee in 1890 was the last Indian war in American history

The End of Tribal Life ■The final blow to Indian culture came with annihilation of buffalo: –Began with the construction of the transcontinental RR in 1860s –From 1872 to 1874, 3 million buffalo were killed each year

Lands Lost by Native Americans (1894) The Cession of Indian Territory

Conclusions ■By 1890, the frontier was closed: –Miners, ranchers, & farmers flooded West at the expense of Indians –But, Westerners began to grow frustrated due to their dependency on Eastern railroads, banks, & politicians

■What was the American “West” in 1750? 1800? 1850? 1900? ■Now that the United States has acquired & occupied all lands between the Atlantic & Pacific, what’s next? Closure Activity