America at the Turn of the Century SS5H3 The student will describe how life changed in America at the turn of the century.

America at the Turn of the Century

SS5H3The student will describe how life changed in America at the turn of the century.

The Turn of the Century

The end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th marks a time known as the turn of the century.

Time of great changePeople moved west to claim land and seek

opportunitiesUS took more and more land away from

the Native Americans, territory became available for white settlers.

These settlers became farmers, miners, or ranchers

Native Americans in the late 1800’s

The US moved Native Americans from their land many times.

This caused several wars to break out between the US Army and Native Americans.

The US usually won because it was stronger and had more advanced weapons.

Native Americans had a few victories; the largest being Battle of Little Bighorn.

Battle of Little Bighorn

1876George Armstrong Custer thought he could

surprise and defeat a band of Sioux warriors. Custer had only a few hundred men while the

Sioux had thousands.After rushing recklessly into battle, the Sioux

quickly surrounded and killed them. The battle became known as Custer’s Last Stand.It was the last major victory for Native Americans.By the end of the 1800’s, the US controlled all the

land between Mexico and Canada, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

Cowboys and Cattle Drives

Cowboys became legendary figures in the late 1800’s.

Cowboys drove large herds of cattle from ranches to towns and markets where they could be shipped and sold.

Cattle drives- journeys taken to drive herds to market

Many of these cowboys were African American. These men were freed slaves who made their way west following the Civil War.

Black Cowboys were common in places like Texas.

Cattle Trails

A number of cattle trails developed during the late 1800’s.

The Chisholm Trail

The Chisholm Trail ran from Texas , north through Oklahoma and into Kansas. Texas cowboys used it to drive herds to Kansas towns where the cattle could be loaded onto trains and shipped east to market.

The Great Western Cattle Trail

The Great Western Cattle Trail ran from Texas to Kansas, ending in Dodge City. Cowboys relied on this trail to get their herd to railway stations so that the cattle could be transported by train.

Cattle Trails

Why did they develop?

Ranchers needed to get the cattle to the railroads in Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri

Cattle were worth much more in the North and East.

“Cow Towns”

Towns located near railroads to ship cattle.

The End of the Cattle Drives

By the end of the 1800’s, land owners began using barbed wire to fence their property making it hard to drive cattle across large open plains

Railroad owners constructed more and more railways ending the need for long drives to get to train stations.

The cowboy days ended by the early 1900’s.

Inventions and Innovations

The Wright Brothers

Inventors of the airplane

Alexander Graham Bell

*Scientist*Inventor*Invented the telephoneA form of communicationthat was introduced in the 19th century and is still widely used today.

Thomas Edison

Inventor*Invented the light bulb

The light bulb changedAmerican economy by making it easier for businesses to operate at night.

George Washington Carver

Former slave

Chemist

Developed products from the peanut

His discovery had the greatest impact on the South.