Settling the West

Settling the West

Theme: After the Civil War, whites overcame the Plains Indians’ fierce resistance and settled the Great West, bringing to a close the long frontier phase of American history.

Theme: The farmers who populated the West found themselves the victims of an economic revolution in agriculture. Trapped in a permanent debtor dependency, in the 1880s they finally turned to political action to protest their condition. Their efforts culminated in the Populist Party’s attempt to create an interracial farmer/labor coalition in the 1890s, but William Jennings Bryan’s defeat in the pivotal election of 1896 signaled the triumph of urbanism and the middle class.

I. Challenges with Native Americans

A. The Great West1. Geography

a. Plains, Mountains, Great Basin, and water features

2. Migration of cultures a. Spanish-Americanb. African-American

B. Overview NA-Govt policies1. Pre-1830: Treaties with

each tribe2. 1830: Concentration 3. 1860: Relocation

a. Bureau of Indian Affairs4. 1887: Assimilation 5. 1934: Semi-Autonomy

a. Indian Reorganization Act

Current Population Density of Native Americans

I. Challenges with Native Americans (cont.)

C. Warfare with Native Americans, 1868-1890

1. Highlightsa. Sand Creek, 1864b. Sioux War of 1876-1877c. Chief Joseph and Nez Pierced. Apache Warse. Battle of Wounded Knee, 1890f. Greater danger than whites: RR

and disease

2. Indian Reforma. H.H. Jacksons A Century of

Dishonor, 1881b. Assimilation with Dawes

Severalty Act, 1887

II. Impact of RailroadA. Mining

1. Pike’s Peak, 18582. Comestock Lode, 18593. Women suffrage

B. Cattle1. “Long Drive”2. Challenge: weather and J. Glidden

C. Farming1. Homestead Act, 1862

a. 160/52. Challenge: Lack of water

a. Dry farming3. Growth of Great West

a. New states and OK

D. Fading of Frontier1. Superintendent of Census 1890 and

F. J. Turner, 1893a. Safety Valve?

2. Urbanization of the west3. Farm becomes factory through

“crop-lien” system

General Mills, the parent company ofPillsbury, was founded during this timeIn 1860 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

III. Political Highlights 1890’s

A. Rise of Populism, chapter 21. Leaders

a. William Harvey Coin’s Fin. Sch.

b. Ignatius Donnellyc. Mary Lease

2. Discontenta. Panic of 1893b. Coxey’s Armyc. Pullman Strike

B. Election of 18961. McKinley (Hanna) v. Bryan

and 2 VP’s2. Issues: Currency, campaign

finance, radicalism

Shot twice by Leon Czolgosz in Buffalo, NY in 1901

Map Questions(use the maps and charts in chapter 26 to answer the questions)

1. In the election of 1892, which three western states had no countries that backed the Populist party?

2. Which four southern states had the most Populist support in the election of 1892 (that is, at least three countries that went Populist)?

3. In the election of 1896, how many electoral votes did McKinley win from states west of the Mississippi River?

4. How many electoral votes did McKinley win in the southern states of the old Confederacy?

Map Answers

1. Montana, Washington, and California

2. Texas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Georgia

3. Thirty-seven

4. none