1. Why head west?

2. Push  Factors that PUSHED people West Economy Slavery Land Opportunity Law Over population

3. Pull  Factors that PULLED people West Homestead Act Morrill Act Open Range Opportunity Freedom

4. Homestead Act  Gave Government owned land to small farmers A homesteader had only to be the head of a household or at least 21 years of age to claim a 160 acre parcel of land Had to build house, improve land and live on land for 5 years to “prove up” Cost $18  One of the greatest pieces of legislature in American history  Signed into law in 1862 by Abraham Lincoln after the secession of southern states  10% of the area of the United States was claimed and settled under this act  Stayed in affect until 1976, used until 1986 in Alaska

6. Morrill Act  Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on July 2, 1862  Granted more than 17 million acres of federal land to the states  Act required each state to sell land and use money to build colleges for agriculture and engineering Known as ‘Land-Grant Universities”

7. Jim Crow Laws  Laws that enforced segregation  Segregation Forced separation of whites and A.A. in public places  1883 Supreme Court ruled that Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional  Allowed private individuals and businesses to practice segregation  Plessy v. Ferguson “separate but equal” facilities were provided

8. Jim Crow Laws con’t  Examples Nurses: No person or corporation shall require any white female nurse to nurse in hospitals, in which negro men are placed Intermarriage: The marriage of a person of Caucasian blood with a Negro, Mongolian, Malay, or Hindu shall be null and void No colored barber shall serve as a barber [to] white women or girls Parks, baseball, circuses, prisons, hospital entrances, bathrooms, water fountains, textbooks Any person who shall be guilty of printing…matter urging or presenting for public acceptance, arguments or suggestions in favor of social equality or of intermarriage between whites and negroes, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to fine or not exceeding five hundred (500.00) dollars or imprisonment not exceeding six (6) months or both

9. Populism  1860-1900 US population more than doubled  Number of farmers tripled  This led to overproduction which causes lower prices for crops  Many farmers blamed “big-business”  This combined with one of the worst depressions in history to form a politica and social movement  William McKinley (republican) Presidential victory in 1896 marked the end of the Populist Party