The 1 st Step towards becoming Modern for the US…

The 1st Step towards becoming

“Modern” for the US…

INTERACTIVE PPTNeeded Today:• Lance• Herbert• Duke• Civil War Vet Buck• Immigrant Andy• Former Slave Tom• John Denver• Monopoly Man• Farmer 1, 2, and 3• Rich Dude• Nancy• Frontier Fred (southern accent please)

WE GO WEST…AGAIN!in the1880s

Ooooh! I want to

go to the West!

You Got it Baby!

NORM Ethel

WHY WEST?Lance: I was Tired of the

North v. South Drama!

Herbert:AA’s must have left because of

KKK

Duke: I

wanted some

Gold & Silver!

THINK ABOUT THE CHANGES YOU LEARNED

ABOUT YESTERDAY…

What new “Invention” could help them move to the west?

RAILROADS!HUGE expansion

1850-’71

1871…130 Mil acres given to

RR!

1890…200,000 miles long!

Goes from “Sea to Shining Sea”Goes from “Sea to Shining Sea”

TRANSCONTINENTAL RR

1. Central Pacific (go East)

- Sacramento

1867 = “race to lay”

2 Companies compete:

2. Union Pacific (go West)

- Omaha

THEY MEET!

1st time a RR goes cross country!

“Transcontinental RR”

WAIT A MINUTE….

WHO DO YOU THINK BUILT

ALL OF THOSE TRACKS?

It takes A LOT of man power to

build a RR!

WELL, WHAT “TYPE” OF PEOPLE DO YOU SEE BELOW?

IMMIGRANT ANDY:I provide cheap labor & because I’m

Chinese they think its fine to treat me like crap! My Irish Friend Patty is in

the same boat!

Frm Slave Tom:

I had to escape

the crazy KKK!

Civil War Vet Buck:

There’s no jobs

anywhere else…what

other choice did I have?

This work Stinks!• Treacherous Terrain

– Chinese have to dig a tunnel through a granite mountain.

– Took 5 months, they lived in a camp surrounded by 40 ft of snow!

• Many accidents – they’re not trained for this!– Fall over hills, cliffs, Hundreds Buried in

avalanches, found frozen Still clutching shovels or picks.

• Diseases

• Long hours, Backbreaking work– Think of how heavy RR ties are!

Hard Work… NO PAYLow Wages!

– AAs & Immigrants make less than whites!

Whites = $40 a day for 10 hours + Free meals!

Immigrants = $35 dawn to dusk, no meals

Malnutrition– “We eat our hard bread & tainted meat

2 days old on sooty cars up the road, and when we get home, find our children gnawing on bones & our wives complaining that they cannot even buy food. Life is awful, but better than East.”

By ‘88:

2,000 killed

20,000

injured!

POSITIVE EFFECTS OF RRs:

1. Linked distant markets2. Increased communication3. Increased Industries:

Iron, steel, & lumber 4. Shaped culture…

we’re obsessed w/ it!

Art, Lit, music, jokes, sayings

♫ I’ve been working on the railroad ♫

“Getting sidetracked”

John Denver: I adore

RR songs!

Sing along

with me!

NEGATIVE Effects…

1. Encouraged bribery & corruption

Erie RR gave 1 million to NY politicians – shady!

2. RR set a fixed rate = farmers in debt!

-Farmers lose their farms

3.Cost to ship grain = Cost to buy

Cost more to ship grain on RR from

MINN to Chicago than by boat to ENGLAND!

Monopoly Man:

Ps, I’m corrupt!

F2: This

stinks!F1:

We’re so poor

Rich Dude:

Suckers!

F3: Bye bye pretty crops!

So, RR make it easy to go to the West…

BUT why would people pack up their entire lives to move to a

strange, unsettled place?

That’s a great

question!

NEW OPPORTUNITIES!1. Gold & Silver! (still)

2. Homestead Act

160 acres free IF after 5 years they have:

(1) established residency

(2) improved the land!

1862-’00 1.3 million families go West.

only 320,000 actually keep the land

SHADY!

Nancy: How did they decide

which HOMESTEADERS

get what land in the West?

Nancy: SO WHAT TYPE OF

WORK DID “HOMESTEADERS” DO IN THE WEST?

DRY LAND = CATTLE FARMERS

Grew to be HUGE industry

Cities want Beef!You’re only cool if

you eat beef

Ship on RR

Sorry Pard’ner,This here frontier is

closed,No more land for

anyone, why don’t you go move to the city with the rest of

‘em

1893 The Frontier Closes

FRONTIER FRED

LIVE FOOTAGE…

THE

HOMESTEAD ACT

Isn’t it strange that someone from 1893 looks like Tom Cruise?!?!

Please put your notes away…

And answer this question…

Who would be upset about this great migration

to the West?

NAs! Remember…

They own most of the land!

Whites think:

Their land isn’t “settled” or improved SO…Get off!

Huge Battles – NA Massacred

“I want no peace until the Indians suffer more”

-Col. SR Curtis

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