1. APUSH II: Unit 1 Chapter 18: Conquest and Survival of the West, 1860 - 1900
Essential Question:
What economic, political, & migratory factors led to the end of the western frontier by 1890?
Lesson Plan for Thursday, November 20, 2008: Warm-up question, The American West notes

2. What is the “West”?
For each era, define what the “West” was & what role the West played in American life:
1750
1800
1850

3. American Expansion & Manifest Destiny
A Small Review

4. Trends in Antebellum America: 1800-1860
Greater democracy & the return of the two-party system
Emergence of a national market economy
Increase in federal power
New intellectual & religious movements
Social reforms
Further westward expansion

5. Trends in the Gilded Age: 1865 - 1900
Political and Business Corruption
Growth of the National Market Economy
The Railroad and the Second Industrial Revolution
New Grassroots Movements
Social reforms
The Concurring of the West

6. Manifest Destiny
The spread of settlers beyond U.S. borders led to widespread calls for annexation of newly-settled lands
The term “Manifest Destiny” was 1st used in 1845 by newspaper editor John O’Sullivan, who said:
God wants the USA (“His chosen nation”) to become stronger
Expansion of American democracy & economic opportunities were a good thing

7. “American Progress” by John Gast, 1872

8. The Oregon Trail – Albert Bierstadt, 1869

9. The Impact of the Civil War
1865
The Impact of the Civil War

10. The “New South”?
Few significant economic or political changes in the South took place until the 1940s
“Jim Crow” reigned supreme as whites legally segregated the South into 2 distinct societies

11. America in the Gilded Age: 1870-1900
The North:
Experienced a “2nd Industrial Revolution,” mass immigration, & urbanization

12. America in the Gilded Age: 1870-1900
The West:
Manifest Destiny continued after 1865 as miners homesteaders, & ranchers headed West

13. Effects of the War Political changes:
With no Southern opposition, Republicans passed new laws the often favored Northern industry and trade with the lucrative west: Morrill Tariff (1861), Homestead Act (1862), Morrill Act (1862), Pacific Railroad Act (1862), & Legal Tender Act (1862) and National Bank Act (1863), ie “Greenbacks”
Updated version of Henry Clay’s American System – Whig origins of CW Republicans
Strengthen the role of the federal government and brought more citizens into contact

14. Indian Peoples Under Seige
Section 1
Indian Peoples Under Seige

15. The Plains Indians
In 1865, 2/3 of all Indians lived on the Great Plains
Their culture was dependent upon the buffalo & the horse
Tribes of several 1,000 people were subdivided into bands of 100s which made it difficult for the U.S. to negotiate treaties

16. Searching for an Indian Policy
Before the Civil War, the West was “one big reservation”
The Indian Intercourse Act (1834) forbade whites from entering “Indian country” without a license
The Wagon trains to OR & CA, gold rush, transcontinental RR

17. Searching for an Indian Policy
But…rapid Western expansion in the 1850s brought a new Indian “concentration policy” with distinct boundaries for each tribe “as long as the waters run and grass grows”

18. Searching for an Indian Policy
Concentration did not last as whites ignored these boundaries:
Sand Creek Massacre (1864)—Col John Chivington attacked 700 sleeping Indians in CO after a peace agreement was signed
Sioux War ( )—gold miners wanted a Bozeman Trail (across Sioux hunting grounds) to connect mining towns; Sioux murdered 88 U.S. soldiers

19. Buffalo Soldiers - Civil Wars Vets
Following the tradition of raising all black regiments in the north during the Civil War, the “Buffalo Soldiers” US 10th Calvary Regiment was formed in 1866 as the first peacetime, all-black regiment
Participated in many of the Indian Wars as well as serving to protect the US Mail Service over hostile territory
Went on to serve in the Spanish American War (Battle of San Juan Hill) and WWI

20. Section 2
The Internal Empire

21. The Mining Bonanza
Mining was the 1st magnet to attract settlers to the West
CA (1849) started the gold rush, but strikes in Pikes Peak, CO & Carson River Valley, NV (1859) set off wild migrations to the West:
Comstock Lode = $306 million
John Mackay’s Big Bonanza made him richest man in world

22. Mining Regions of the West
Corporations had the expensive machinery (“hydraulic mining techniques”) to extract most of the gold in the West
Individual “placer miners” took little skill or money to start, but could not reach deep lodes
Mining Regions of the West ;
Discoveries of gold & silver led to overnight mining towns

23. Mining Bonanza ¼ to ½ of the mining population was foreign born:
Latin American miners brought experience & new techniques
Chinese brought a tireless ethic
Led to hostility & riots:
Foreign Miners’ Act in 1852 charged a monthly mining fee

24. Immigration Control Exclusion Act (1882) Burlingame Treaty (1868)
allowed congress to suspend Chinese immigration
Chinese immigrants were permanent aliens
Originally intended to only be used for 10 years
Not repealed until 1943
Excluded Chinese from marrying Whites
established friendly relations with China
granted China “most Favored Nation” status
encouraged Chinese immigration

25. Exodusters
Exodusters were black farmers who moved West to escape Southern crop liens & Jim Crow Laws
Led by Benjamin “Pap” Singleton
1878: 6,000 African Americans fled to Kansas
1879: 15,000

26. Sutter’s Mill and the 49ers
California

27. The California Gold Rush
The discovery of gold in 1848 led to a massive influx of prospectors in 1849 (the “forty-niners”):
Few miners struck it rich
The real money made in CA was in supplying miners with food, saloons, & provisions
The gold rush led to a population boom, increase in agriculture, & multicultural Californian society

28. Gold Rush 1848 - James Marshall at Sutter Mill
Most Americans did not start traveling west until 1849…hence the name “49ers”

29. San Francisco before the gold rush
San Francisco after the gold rush

30. Section 3
The Open Range

31. The Cattle Bonanza In the 1860s, cattle ranching boomed
Ranchers used the “open range” to graze longhorns
By 1867, ranchers started using trains to ship cattle to Chicago

32. Cattle and the West Birth of ‘cow towns’ across the west
Abilene, Dodge City, Kansas City

33. The Cattle Bonanza ½ of all cowboys were black & ¼ were Mexican
By 1880, the “open range” was ending:
Wheat growers, homesteaders, & barbed wire blocked the range
Many switched to raising sheep

34. Community and Conflict
Personal violence was commonplace in the cattle towns and mining camps.
Horse theft rose rapidly during the peak years of the cattle drives.
During the 1870s, range wars turned violent when farmers, sheep ranchers, and cattle ranchers battled over the same land.
By the mid-1880s the cattle business went bust.
Overstocking led to herds depleting sparse grasslands.
Bad weather from 1885 to 1887 killed 90 percent of western cattle, and prices plummeted.

35. Cowboys Originated in Mexico (where cowboy tools came from)
Former slaves used skills from plantation to be good cowboys
End of the open range and refrigerated train ended practical cowboys by 1886

36. Farming Communities on the Plains
Section 4
Farming Communities on the Plains

37. The Farming Bonanza
The U.S. gov’t offered incentives for farmers to settle the West:
Homestead Act (1862)—gave 160 acres of land if families pledged to live there for 5 years
Other gov’t acts helped develop western lands by planting trees & building irrigation systems
Due to land grants, RRs were the largest western landowners

38. Work, Dawn to Dusk
Farm families survived and prospered through hard work.
Men’s work tended to be seasonal.
Women’s activities were usually more routine.
Children worked running errands and completing chores by about age nine.
Community was an important part of life.
People depended on neighbors for help in times of need and for a break from the hard work and harsh climate.
The barter system developed due to lack of cash.

39. Women in the West Few women worked on the open range.
Some 50,000 women worked as prostitutes in the West during the second half of the nineteenth century.
There were few jobs for women and many resorted to prostitution simply to pay the bills.
Their life was quite harsh and seldom paid well.
Refer to “Curly Wolves Howled on Sunday Night,” p. 530

40. Soddies
In 1887, Lizzie Chrisman filed the first homestead claim in Nebraska
"Soddies" were constructed of stacked layers of cut prairie turf, fortified by a thick network of roots
The roofs, often supported by timber, were usually covered with more sod, straw, and small branches

41. The Farming Bonanza
In 1870, homesteaders pushed West & adapted to the harsh farming conditions:
Farmers used dry farming techniques & planted tougher varieties of wheat
New machinery sped harvesting & planting; led to bonanza farms
By 1890, the U.S. became a major crop exporter

42. Range Wars Reduced access to grassland
Ethnic and religious prejudice toward Mexican-American, Basque and Mormon shepherds
Fence-Cutter’s War

43. Rails Across the Continent
In 1862, Congress authorized the transcontinental railroad:
Union Pacific worked westward from Nebraska (Irish laborers)
Central Pacific worked eastward from CA (Chinese immigrants)
May 10, 1869 the 2 tracks met at Promontory Point in Utah
By 1900, 4 more lines were built to the Pacific
1869 is same year as Suez Canal completion—similar effects; both opened access & tie two worlds together 7

44. Rails Across the Continent
Railroads held great power in developing and settling the West.
Railroads delivered crops and cattle to eastern markets and brought back goods.
Railroads put communities “on the map.”
Railroads in the West preceded settlement.
Towns along the railroad lines flourished.
Refer to “Soddies” p. 532

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

46. The End of the ‘West’ By 1890 the Frontier was gone
1880s had seen a severe drought, a harsh winter, and the enclosure of the cattle routes
1896: The Klondike Gold Rush opened a new frontier in Alaska
The heyday of the “Wild West” was actually a short lived period in American history
Turner’s Frontier Thesis
Turner’s “rugged individualism” became the prevailing view

47. The World’s Breadbasket
Section 5
The World’s Breadbasket

48. New Production Technologies
Preparing western lands for cultivation was a difficult process because of the tough sod.
New technologies greatly increased the amount of land that could be farmed
Development of the Combine – combined the reeper and the harvester
Through federal aid, land-grant colleges, and other sources of scientific research, farmers developed new techniques for cultivation.
Refer to “Hand v. Machine Labor on the Farm,” p. 535

49. Timber Cultures Act, 1873 Supplement the Homestead Act
160 additional acres for $30
40 acres must be planted with trees
Environmental Planning

50. National Reclamation Act, 1902
aka Newland Act
Build dams to create irrigation for farmland in the West
(Signed into law by Roosevelt)

51. The Toll on the Land
Farmers destroyed existed plant and animal species and introduced new ones.
Replacing buffalo with cattle and sheep, introduced animals that ate grasses down to the roots and created the possibilities of huge dust storms.
Commercial agriculture took a heavy toll on existing water supplies.
The federal government created the Forest Service to safeguard watersheds.

52. Competition
The high cost of improving land let many farmers to be in debt for decades despite the low initial land costs
Western farmers increasingly saw themselves at odds with Eastern manufacturers and railroad tycoons

53. Section 6
The Western Landscape

54. Nature's Majesty
Writers described in great detail the wonder of nature’s majesty in the West.
The federal government created national parks in 1871, and sent a team of scientists and photographers to record the region’s beauty.
Landscape painters from the Rocky Mountain School piqued the public’s interest in the West.
Refer to “Bierstedt,” p. 539

55. The Legendary Wild West
More popular presentations emphasized the West as a source of “vigorous manhood.”
Thousands of “dime novels” appeared that portrayed the region in romantic, heroic terms.
Wild West show promoters like “Buffalo Bill” Cody brought the legendary West to millions of people around the world.
Refer to “Wild, Wild West Show,” p. 540

56. The “American Primitive”
The West continued to captivate American imagination.
The public sought depictions of bold cowboys and exotic savages.
Charles Schreyvogel, Charles Russell, and Frederic Remington helped to shape Americans’ perception of the region.
Scholars like Alice Cunningham Fletcher studied Indians and began to develop a scientific understanding of their lives.
The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts incorporated a large dose of tribal lore into their character-building programs.

57. Transformation of Indian Societies
Section 7
Transformation of Indian Societies

58. Reform Policy and Politics
The federal government’s tradition of treating Indian tribes as separate nations ended in 1871.
Reformers like Helen Hunt Jackson advocated policies designed to promote Indian assimilation and eradicate distinct tribal customs.
The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 was a disaster for most Indians and undermined tribal sovereignty.
Individuals were granted land if they chose to sever from their tribes.
Indian religions and sacred ceremonies were banned along with the telling of Indian myths.
“Indian schools” forbade Indian clothing styles, language, and even hair fashions.
Refer to “Major Indian Treaties and Legislation,” p. 541

59. The Ghost Dance
A Paiute prophet, Wovoka, had a vision that a divine judgment was coming and led the Sioux to practice the Ghost Dance.
White authorities grew fearful and demanded an end to the practice.
An incident led whites to gun down 200 people at Wounded Knee.
Refer to photo, p. 543

60. Searching for an Indian Policy
In 1867, the U.S. formed the Indian Peace Commission :
Ended Bozeman Trail plans
Made “small reservations” in the Dakota & Oklahoma territories
Few Native Americans settled into these reservations peacefully:
Red River War (1874)
Little Big Horn (1876)
Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)
The discovery of gold in South Dakota led a Sioux army of 2,500 to ambush & kill Lt Col Custer & his 197 soldiers

61. Indian Wars
Battle of Litter Bighorn (1876): The discovery of gold in South Dakota led a Sioux army of 2,500 to ambush & kill Lt Col Custer & his 197 soldiers
“Custer’s Last Stand” set off demands for revenge among Americans
Wounded Knee (1890): The U.S. army was ordered to stop Sioux “ghost dances” & machine gunned 200 men, women, & children
Black soldiers in the U.S. army called “buffalo soldiers” were used to fend off Indian attacks in the West

62. The End of Tribal Life
In 1871, the U.S. adopted its 4th Indian policy: Assimilation
U.S. citizenship was offered to all Indians who farmed, lived away from their tribe & “adopted the habits of civilized life”
Dawes Severalty Act in 1887 offered farms (160 acres to families & 80 to men) & the protection of U.S. laws

63. 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

64. The Final Fling
In 1889, Congress responded to demands to open the Oklahoma Territory to white settlement
On April 22, 1889, about 100,000 “Boomers” & “Sooners” flooded into the last “Indian land”
White migrants claimed 2 million acres in Oklahoma homesteads
Moved out Creeks & Seminoles

65. Lands Lost by Native Americans (1894)
Indian Reservations Today

66. Conclusions: The End of the Frontier
By 1890, the western frontier ended
Miners, ranchers, & cowboys flooded West at the expense of Indians who were restricted to smaller & smaller reservations
Westerners were commercially connected to Eastern markets but would grow increasingly frustrated by the economic & political concentration of power in the East

67. Conclusions

68. The Myth of the Wild West

69. Horatio Alger
1987 FRQ #4: “Popular fascination with the cowboy, the pioneer, and the stories of Horatio Alger in the period reflected Americans’ uneasiness over the transition from an agrarian to an industrial society.” Assess the validity of this statement.

70. Frederick Jackson Turner
The Significance of the Frontier in American History
Frontier Thesis
Spirit and success of the US was tied to westward expansion
Evolutionary Model
Unique and Rugged American identity
American Exceptionalism?

71. The Costs of Expansion The impact of territorial expansion:
Historian Fredrick Jackson Turner noted in the 1890s that expansion shaped Americans into an adventurous, optimistic, & democratic people
But, expansion created sectional conflicts between the North & South, especially over slavery

72. Essential Question:
What economic, political, & migratory factors led to the end of the western frontier by 1890?