1. CHAPTER 5: CHANGES ON THE WESTERN FRONTIER
AMERICA SETTLES THE WEST-
LATE 19TH CENTURY

2. 5.1: CULTURES CLASH ON THE PRAIRIE
Plains Indian Culture was not well known to Easterners
The Osaga & the Iowa had hunted & planted the area for 100s years
Tribes such as the Sioux & Cheyenne depended on buffalo
“THE PLAINS”

3. BUFFALO WERE USED FOR FOOD, SHELTER & CLOTHING
The Horse & The Buffalo
Introduced by the Spanish (1598), Horses (and later guns) meant natives were able to travel & hunt
Horse = speed + mobility, it was the Buffalo = fulfilled basic needs
BUFFALO WERE USED FOR FOOD, SHELTER & CLOTHING

4. FAMILY LIFE ON THE PLAINS
Men--> hunters, while women helped butcher the game & prepare it
Tribes: very spiritual & land was communal
OSAGE TRIBE

5. SETTLERS PUSH WESTWARD
The white settlers who pushed westward had a different idea about land ownership
Concluding that the plains were “unsettled”, thousands advanced to claim land
Gold discovered in Colorado = rush for land
A COVERED WAGON HEADS WEST

6. THE GOVERNMENT RESTRICTS NATIVES
As more settlers headed west: The U.S. Gov’t increasingly protected interests of the settlers
Railroad Companies influenced government decisions
RAILROADS GREATLY IMPACTED NATIVE LIFE

7. NATIVES & SETTLERS CLASH
1834: Gov’t set aside all of the Great Plains as “Indian lands”
1850s: Gov’t changes policy, giving natives much smaller land = Conflict
Massacre at Sand Creek; US Army attack killing 150 native women & children

9. THE DARK AREAS DEPICT NATIVE LANDS BY 1894

11. FAMOUS DEPICTION OF NATIVE STRUGGLE
THE DAWES ACT
The Dawes Act attempted to assimilate natives
Broke up of reservations & forced American culture unto Native Americans
By 1932, 2/3rds of the land committed to Natives had been taken
FAMOUS DEPICTION OF NATIVE STRUGGLE

12. DESTRUCTION OF THE BUFFALO
The worst hit to tribal life was the destruction of the buffalo
Tourist & fur traders shot buffalo for sport
1800: 65 million buffalo roamed the plains
1890: < 1000 remained

13. OTHER CONFLICTS & BATTLES
Custer’s Last Stand  early Colonel Custer reached Little Big Horn
Led by Crazy Horse & Sitting Bull, the natives crushed Custer’s troops
ONE OF THE FEW NATIVE VICTORIES WAS LITTLE BIG HORN

14. HUNDREDS OF CORPSES WERE LEFT TO FREEZE ON THE GROUND
BATTLE OF WOUNDED KNEE
December 29, 1890, Custer’s old regiment rounded up 350 Sioux & took them to Wounded Knee, S.D.
A shot was fired – within minutes the 7th Cavalry slaughtered 300 unarmed Natives
This event brought the “Indian Wars”– and an entire era to a bitter end
HUNDREDS OF CORPSES WERE LEFT TO FREEZE ON THE GROUND

15. BLACK ELK SPEAKING ABOUT WOUNDED KNEE
“I did not know then how much was ended. When I look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people’s dream died there. It was a beautiful dream... The nation’s hoop is broken and scattered. There is no center any longer, and the sacred tree is dead.”
BLACK ELK

16. Homework
Pg #1 & 3

17. 5.2: SETTLING ON THE GREAT PLAINS
The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad = fast settlement of American west
1862 – Congress passed Homestead Act  160 free acres to any “head of household”

20. The transcontinental railroad was completed in 1868
The transcontinental railroad was completed in The Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads met in Promontory Point, Utah and laid a Golden Spike

21. EXODUSTERS MOVE WEST
African Americans who moved from the post-Reconstruction South to Kansas (west) were called Exodusters
Many exodusters took advantage of land deals

23. SETTLERS ENCOUNTER HARDSHIPS
The frontier settlers faced extreme hardships – droughts, floods, fires, blizzards, locust plagues, & bandits
Despite hardships, the # of people living west of the Mississippi grew from 1% of the nation’s pop. in 1850 to almost 30% in 1900
LOCUST SWARM

24. DUGOUTS & SODDIES
Pioneers often dug their homes out of the sides of ravines or hills (Dugouts)
Those in the flat plains made freestanding homes made of turf (Soddies)
DUGOUT
SODDY

25. INCREASED TECHNOLOGY HELPS FARMERS
1837: John Deere invented a steel plow that could slice through heavy soil
1847: Cyrus McCormick mass- produced a reaping machine
Other inventions included a grain drill to plant seed, barbed wire & corn binder
INCREASED TECHNOLOGY HELPS FARMERS
JOHN DEERE’S STEEL PLOW HAD TO BE PULLED BY A HORSE OR MULE

26. 5.3: FARMERS & THE POPULIST MOVEMENT
In the late 1800s, many farmers were struggling
Crop prices were , debt
Mortgages were being foreclosed by banks

27. Decreasing Wheat Prices
YEAR
Bushels Grown (millions)
Price per bushel (dollars)
1866
170
$2.06
1875
254
$1.04
1880
502
$.92
1885
400
$.77
1890
449
$.84
1895
542
$.51
1900
599
$.62

28. ECONOMIC DISTRESS HITS FARMERS
B/t the price of a bushel of wheat fell from $2.00 to 62 ¢
Railroads conspired to keep transport costs artificially high
Farmers got caught in a cycle of debt

29. Price Indexes for Consumer & Farm Products: 1865-1913

30. FARMERS ORGANIZE FOR CHANGE
1867 – Oliver Hudson Kelley started The Grange: an organization for framers
By 1870, the Grange fights the railroads
Soon the Grange & other Farmer Alliances numbered over 4 million members

31. THIS POLITICAL CARTOON SHOWS A POPULIST CLUBBING A RAILROAD CAR
POPULIST PARTY IS BORN
Leaders of the farmers realized they needed to build a base of political power
Populism – the movement of the people: born in w/ the founding of the Populist, or People’s Party
THIS POLITICAL CARTOON SHOWS A POPULIST CLUBBING A RAILROAD CAR

35. POPULIST REFORMS Proposed economic reforms included;
increase of money supply,
a rise in crop prices,
lower taxes,
a federal loan program
Proposed political reforms included; direct election of senators, single terms for presidents
Also called for an 8-hour workday & reduced immigration

36. FRED AND PHIL VOTED FOR THE PEOPLE’S PARTY
POPULISTS MAKE GAINS
In the Presidential election, the Populist candidate won almost 10% of the vote
In the West, the party elected 5 senators, 3 governors & 1,500 state legislators
FRED AND PHIL VOTED FOR THE PEOPLE’S PARTY

38. THE STOCK MARKET CRASHED IN 1893
THE PANIC OF 1893
Nationwide economic problems took center stage in America in 1893
Railroads  bankrupt & stock market lost value, 15,000 businesses & 500 banks collapsed
3 million unemployed: unemployment at 20%
THE STOCK MARKET CRASHED IN 1893

39. SILVER OR GOLD?
The central issue of the Presidential campaign was which metal would be the basis of the nation’s monetary system ?
Bimetallism (those who favored using both) vs. the Gold Standard alone

41. BRYAN & THE “CROSS OF GOLD”
Republicans = Gold standard & nominated William McKinley
Democrats = Bimetallism & nominated William Jennings Bryan
Despite Bryan’s stirring words, “You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold,” McKinley won the election
BRYAN’S CROSS OF GOLD SPEECH

45. Compare & Contrast how the American Settlers were portrayed in the Video & the Comic.
Compare & Contrast how Native Americans were portrayed in the Video & the Comic.
Compare & Contrast how the Railroads were portrayed in the Video & the Comic.