Chapter 13

Migration and IndustrializationChapter 13

Migration and Industrialization Photograph pages 406-407

““The West”The West”

Themes of Western Settlement The American Dream

Native Americans, White settlers, Immigrants

Cultural Diversity Cowboys

Economic Opportunity Western frontier, railroads

Women in America Played a crucial role in western settlement

Native Americans, Whites, and the West Great Plains Indians

Importance of horse and buffalo Horses better hunting/mobility Buffalo clothing, food, tepees,

tools Lived in communal family

groups Land was held in common, not

owned Hunting/gathering

White settlers Wanted to claim and own as much land as

possible in the West Mining

Filthy mining camps became boomtowns

Native Americans, Whites, and the West

The Government and Native Americans The government attempted to get tribal

treaties defining tribe boundaries Most tribes refused to sign the treaties

Sand Creek Massacre: U.S. military attacked a Cheyenne tribe that had previously surrendered and lived in peace

Custer’s Last Stand: George Armstrong Custer went to attack the Cheyenne at the Little Bighorn River Custer underestimated the number of natives Custer and his men were dead in 20 minutes American people were outraged by Custer’s

defeat and demanded revenge

The Government and Native Americans

Skeletal remains of horses in the battlefield one year after Custer’s Last Stand. (1877)

New tactics for forcing natives to surrender Killing the buffalo

Many tribes began to starve

The Government and Native Americans

Assimilation: Native Americans expected to give up ways of life and beliefs for white culture Dawes Act: split reservation land into a number

of acres given to individual natives Attempt to assimilate natives into white culture Never fully worked

The Government and Native Americans

Navajo children outside a Methodist mission. (~1905)

The Ghost Dance The dance was performed with the belief that the

white people would disappear and the buffalo would return Many white officers were frightened by the dance Attempted to arrest Sitting Bull (Sioux leader),

however a shootout occurred, resulting in the death of Sitting Bull

The Ghost Dance Battle of Wounded Knee:

A group of Sioux were taken to Wounded Knee camp and asked to hand over their weapons When the natives refused, the military men fired and

killed 300 of 350 natives

The Battle of Wounded Knee ended the era of Indian wars

American Migration Homestead Act (1862): 160 acres of land free

to anyone who would live on it and cultivate it for 5 years

Exodusters: African-Americans who moved from the South to Kansas after being freed

Pacific Railroad Act (1862): gave land and loans to railroad companies

American Migration Transcontinental Railroad

Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad Companies met in Utah in 1869 to complete the first trans. railroad

The Legend of the American CowboyChapter 13

Cowboys Original cowboys were Aztec prisoners of the

Spanish, as well as the Spanish ranchers All of what is known of the American cowboy

was heavily influenced by the Mexican ranchers Spurs, clothing (chaps, boots, etc), stirrups Language: rodeo, bronco, corral

The Cowboy American influence

Pointed toe of boots bandanna guns

Importance of the cowboy: demand for beef in cities

ship cattle on newly built railroads

page 391, “The Cowboy’s Life”

The End of the Wide Open West overgrazing natural disasters (drought, blizzards, etc) invention of barbed wire

led to the fencing off of the frontier

Populism – The People’s Party

Chapter 13

Development of Populism As a result of the hardships farmers faced

(weather, debt due to rising shipping costs, etc), they felt they needed some political representation

The Grange: a group of farmers who took action on the political reforms they wanted

Populist Party Populist (People’s) Party —formed to help lift

the burden of farmers and other workers

Populism Supported a number of reforms

Increase in the money supply Graduated income tax Federal loan program Elect U.S. senators by popular vote Secret ballot 8 hour workday and restrictions on immigration

Populist Ideas Free silver: a movement to

get U.S. money backed more by silver than gold

William Jennings Bryan

Populist Ideas Bimetallism: gold or silver given in exchange for

paper money There was more silver than gold, making more money More money=more expensive goods and services

Good for farmers, bad for consumers

Populism ended because many consumers feared the free silverites Goods would be more expensive

Legacies of Populism Showed that people could organize and have

political impact

And brought certain reforms to the limelight These are brought up again in the early 20th

century