Ch. 2: Settling the West

Bell Work…

Complete the following task with a partner:

Make a list of items to take as you prepare to move to the Great Plains to begin a new farm. Keep in mind that the year is 1848.

How does that list differ if you were moving there in the year 2017?

Growth of the Mining Industry1. Demand for minerals rose dramatically after the Civil War

2. Comstock Lode- Nevada gold and silver mine discovered in 1859

3. Boomtowns- tiny frontier towns transformed into small cities, sometimes overnight

4. Placer Mining- searching for gold by using pans or other devices to wash gold nuggets out of loose rock

5. Hydraulic Mining- method of mining that uses water under high pressure to blast away gravel and dirt to expose the minerals underneath

6. Hard-rock Mining- mining that requires cutting deep shafts in solid rock to extract the ore

Vigilance Committees- group of ordinary citizens who organize to find criminals and bring them to justice

Your Task…

Interactive Whiteboard Activities:

Map- Mining Helps Build a Nation, 1848-1890

Image- “Old West” Miners

Ranching and Cattle Drives

1. First ranchers in the west were the Spanish

2. Spanish and English cattle were interbred to make the Texas longhorn

3. Open Range- vast areas of grassland owned by the federal gov’t

4. Ranchers hired cowboys to drive cattle to railheads to be shipped

5. Chisholm Trail- ran from San Antonio, TX to Abilene, KS

6. Barbed wired helped cattle owners keep track of their cattle, ending open range

7. Haciendas- huge ranch

Your Task…

Interactive Whiteboard Activity:

Miners and Ranchers Crossword Puzzle

Your Assignment…

Using at least 5 of the words from the Miners and Ranchers Crossword Puzzle, write a short essay describing the settlement of the American West.

Bell Work…

Watch the video, Settling the West.

Think about the geographic factors that affected the way humans settled the Great plains.

Write a list of 5 questions you would have asked these settlers about their experiences and why they chose to settle where they did.

Sod House- home built from squares of turf and soil of the prairie, stacked up like bricks

Homestead Act- gave settlers 160 acres of government owned land; had to pay a small fee and live on the land for 5 years

Pacific Railway Act- gave land to RR companies to help facilitate the construction of the RR and telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean

Morrill Act- gave land to western states to encourage them to build colleges

Dry Farming- way of farming dry land in which seeds are planted deep in the ground where there is some moisture

Migrating West

1. White settlers moving west were typically middle-class farmers or businesspeople

2. Exodusters- African Americans who settled western lands in the late 1800s

3. Economic opportunity attracted thousands of Europeans to the west

4. Chinese immigrants came for the Gold Rush and RR jobs

Dugouts- shelter dug out of the sides of hills

Bonanza Farms- large scale farm with expensive machinery, professional managers, and hired laborers working at specialized tasks

Your Task…

Interactive Whiteboard Activity:

Slide Show- Farming Technology

Your Assignment…

Complete the DBQ packet and essay: Settling the West.

Bell Work…

Copy and answer the following question into your notebook:

Why do you think the gov’t and the RRs used special policies to attract settlement in the Great Plains?

Setting the Stage for Conflict

1. NA and white settlers fought over control of land

2. Gov’t began to send NA to reservations

3. Buffalo numbers began to decline

4. Policies were aimed at destroying the Native American way of life

Sand Creek Massacre- US Army’s killing of about 150 Cheyenne elderly, women, and children at Sand Creek Reservation in CO Territory

Battle of Little Big Horn- battle in which Sioux forces led by Chief Sitting Bull defeated a US Army troop led by Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer

Your Assignment…

Read the article, Where the Buffalo No Longer Roamed, and complete the Somebody Wanted But So.

Life on the Reservations1. US gov’t wanted to control western territories

2. Americanization- process in which Native Americans were forced to abandon their traditional cultures and adopt the culture of white America

3. Bureau of Indian Affairs- federal agency that managed the NA reservations

4. Boarding schools were created where students could only speak English and were banned from wearing traditional clothing

5. Dawes Act- legislation passed by Congress that split up Indian reservation lands among individual Indians and promised them citizenship

Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Pennsylvania

Your Assignment…

In your groups, read the article, Ghost Dance at Wounded Knee, and complete the Double-Entry Notes. Cut and glue these notes into your notebook.

Bell Work…Copy and answer the following question in your notes:

How was the stage set for conflict between white settlers and Native Americans in the West?

Your Task…

As you watch Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, complete the video questions. Be prepared to participate in a class discussion about the events depicted in the movie.

Why does this matter?

By watching this movie, we can begin to understand how Native Americans were treated by the U.S. gov’t as the country expanded and how that impacts their current living situation.

Understanding how Americans perceived and treated a culture very different than their own will help you gain insight into how we treat different cultures today.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: Discussion Questions1. Should the removal of the Native American’s by the US

Government be considered genocide? Is it legitimate to compare it to the Holocaust?

2. Do you think the American government made a legitimate attempt to help assimilate the Native Americans into white American culture?

3. Do you think Senator Henry Dawes genuinely cared about the affairs and condition of the Native American? Explain.

4. Were the actions of the US Government necessary for the “new” American Nation to develop?

5. What alternatives to the “Indian problem” could have been used by the US Government?

6. What is the difference between a battle and a massacre?