An Industrial Nation

An Industrial NationThe American West – Chapter 5 Sec. 1

Conflicts with native Americans

White settler – farmers/town dwellers◦Land should be divided & claims given to

people◦Native American lands available to take

if not settled inNative Americans

◦Did not believe that land should be bought or sold

◦Most tribes consist of 300-500◦Well being of the tribe is more important

than individual needs

Government Indian PolicyPrior to mid-1800’s

◦Native Americans moved from the East further and further West

Mid-1800’s onward◦Native American lands seized and

Native Americans sent to reservations

◦Goal was to break up the power of the Plains indians

The Indian WarsSettlers/Army most often broke

treatiesSand Creek Massacre – 1864

◦Cheyenne are convinced to stop raiding farms and move back to a reservation in Colorado

◦Attacked by Colonel Chivington while under army protection on the reservation, and flying the American flag

◦Approx. 150 killed including men, women and children

Battle of Little Bighorn – 1876◦Settlers moving into Sioux territory

are being raided by Indians Sioux are ordered to leave and resettle on

reservation

◦Sitting Bull – Sioux leader Gather people with other tribes along

Little Bighorn river Est. 12,000 camp on the river

◦Col. George Custer arrives early with his 600 men Orders attack of Sioux camp which results

in the massacre of Custer and his men

Wounded Knee – 1890◦Sitting Bull and his followers are

captured in South Dakota trying to escape to Canada

◦Soldiers demand rifles in surrender and fighting breaks out Women and children who flee are gunned

down in the snow

◦over 300 men, women, children killed

End of Resistance1877- Nez Percé

indians forced to move to smaller reservation in Idaho

Angry young men killed settlers on the way

Nez Percé flee towards Canada & are forced to surrender

Chief Joseph – “I will fight no more forever”

Reservation lifeGoal was to abandon indian

traditions and live like white Americans

Bureau of Indian Affairs◦Est. government schools for children

Must speak english Traditional clothing forbidden

Dawes ActEnded reservation act

◦Best reservation land is broken up and sold 160 acres to head of family; 80 acres to

single adults or orphans

◦Remaining land given to IndiansWanted to place Indians into

white society as farmers and small property owners

Mining & Ranching1859 – Carson River Valley

Nevada◦$500 million in silver over 20 years

of mining1896 – Yukon territory, Klondike

River◦Last large gold rush◦On Canadian Alaskan Border

Mining CommunitiesMostly menCamps were typically tents or

shacks◦Eventually grew into towns

Arriving families changed the outlook of the camp

Mining as a businessIndividual prospectors worked

with hand tools◦panning for gold – washing gold out

of loose soil or sand1880’s – large companies

dominate miningWorkers dug mine shafts, built

tunnels, dug out ore◦Cave-ins, explosions and flooding

made mining a dangerous business

RanchingSpanish were the first

ranchers in the west in the 1500’s◦ New breed of cattle, the

Texas Longhorn is breed to thrive in the plains

Sheep ranching is taken up by the Pueblo and Navajo Indians

Barbed wire allowed ranchers to close in their land with easy fencing

Cattle DrivesDemand in the East for beef

drives the price up to $40 for a steer worth $4 in the west

Cattle drives led cattle to a near railroad town

Cattle taken to meat-packing centers in Chicago

Chisholm Trail – one of the most important cattle drive trails in the West

Farmers on the Great PlainsHomestead Act

◦Any head of household over 21 can claim 160 acres of land Were required to build a home, make

improvements, and farm the land for 5 years

Nearly 2 million attempt to claim land

Pacific Railway Act◦Gave millions of acres to RR

companies for tracks and telegraph lines

◦Railroads sold much land to settlers

Morrill Act◦Gave states land to build colleges to

teach “agricultural and mechanical arts”

◦First federal government assistance for higher education

Oklahoma Land RushApril 22, 18892 million acres of unclaimed land are

opened to the American public50,000 people rushed into Oklahoma

staking their claim the land11,000 homesteads established

overnight

Push vs. Pull factorts

Push vs. Pull factorts

Western SettlersWhite Settlers

◦Came from Mississippi valley states◦Middle class farmers or business

peopleAfrican American Settlers

◦Many left the south with its black codes and KKK violence

◦Exodusters

Western Settlers (cont.)European settlers

◦Land poor Europeans drawn by economics prosperity

◦Irish came to work on the railroads◦Mennonites from Russia bring

farming experience to the PlainsChinese Settlers

◦Immigrated for gold rush and railroad jobs

◦Helped establish California’s fruit industry

New InnovationsWater well pumps powered by

windmillsEarth/sod housesNew plows & combine harvesters