Changes on the Plains

Chapter 7

Lesson 1 Link East to West Timeline: 1844-1869Vocabulary: transcontinental, prejudice

Main Ideas: Telegraph made it faster to send messages over long distances.

Transcontinental railroads made traveling and shipping easier and faster.

Samuel Morse Created Morse Code making messages

normally sent by horse or boat easy and fast

Telegraph is a machine that sends electric signals over wire lines

Morse Code is a series of dots and dashes that represent letters (see page 222)

Reporters, bankers, war generals, family and friends used Morse Code and the telegraph

Railroad Settlers were searching for gold on long, dangerous

expensive tripsTranscontinental railroad linked the east to the

westPacific Railway Act-law allowed government money

to be loaned to the Union Pacific and to the Central Pacific

1869 Promontory Point, Utah the two railroads were joined with spikes of gold and silver

1,800 miles of railroad was announced using the telegraph

Parades and celebrations were in honor of the finale

Effects of the RailroadFirst of several railroads across the U.S. Easier and faster to move people and goods Helped settlers earn money by transporting

goodsGave immigrants jobs by building the railroadConnected east to west permanently

Summary: Improvements in communication and transportation helped unite the country and made the economy grow.

Lesson 2 Great Plains Timeline: 1862-1890Vocabulary: homestead, exodusters,

drought, sodbusterMain Ideas: Large numbers of settlers

moved onto the Great Plains and started farming.

Settlers had to learn new ways of farming the Great Plains.

Life on the Plains Middle of the country with flat grassy land1862 Homestead Act-offered 160 acres of

land to adults-had to pay small amount and farm the land for 5 years-then they owned the land

Europeans also wanted to farm the Plains – Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands

African Americans in the south wanted to farm the Plains- exodusters-trying to find a place to be free

Difficulties on the Plains Harsh climate-drought is a long period of

time without rainCold wintersFloodsFiresGrasshoppers killed crops Water and food were scarceMany homesteaders thought life on the

Plains was too difficult and they moved away

How did they adapt? Sod homes since there was little wood-

sodbusters cut through the thick roots (see page 236)

Finding crops that would grow in the hot dry climate-Europeans brought wheat seeds that grew well

Carried or irrigated water from streams New and improved farming machines like plows

Summary: Sodbusters turned the Plains into large fields of wheat.

Lesson 3 Cattle Ranchers Timeline: 1865-1890Vocabulary: demand, supply, railhead,

barbed wireMain Ideas: Ranchers in Texas raised and

sold longhorn cattle. Cowhands led cattle to railroads where

they were shipped everywhere.

Supply and DemandVaquero-Mexican cowhand skilled at herding cattle1845 Texas became part of the U.S. instead of

MexicoSupply and demand- Many cattle in Texas with few

people to buy them made cattle cheap ($4) but when shipped away to places that cattle were in demand made the same cattle more expensive ($40)

As supply increases, demand decreases and vice versa (see chart on page 239) When demand is high, prices go up; when supply is high, prices go down.

Cattle Drives Ranchers would transport cattle to areas where

they sold for more money-used the railhead-town where railroad begins or ends-railheads were usually far away from each other

Cowhands led cattle to railhead on cattle drivesDrives took weeks or months to complete and

were very dangerous, boring, and dirtyCowhands spent 10-14 hours a day on

horsebackStampedes may cause them to loose cattle

which meant loosing moneySlept on ground and were sometimes robbed

End of the DriveLasted about 20 yearsEnded because of barbed wire, growth of

the railroads/railheads, baron ranges, freezing temperatures killed cattle

Summary: Still today, when people think of the west, they think of wild wild west and cattle drives.

Lesson 4 Conflicts on the Plains Timeline: 1860-1890Vocabulary: reservation, habitat, extinct,

assimilateMain Ideas: American Indians and soldiers

fought on the Great Plains. U.S. government tried to force American

Indians to change their way of life.

WarAs settlers travelled west, they built towns

and dug minesGovernment built railroads on this land to

help settlersTried to convince Plains Indians to sell land

and move on reservation where they could farm

But Indians were nomads that followed buffalo and didn’t want to farm

So fighting began……

Battle of Sand Creek1864- Colorado-U.S. soldiers attacked

Indians in their sleep despite the surrender white flag

Peace was no where in sight Battle of Little Bighorn-1876-South Dakota

and Wyoming- George Custer found gold but Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull killed most of the soldiers (see page 252)

But within a few years, most American Indians were forced onto reservations

Wounded KneeGhost Dance-religious activity by Indians

but government feared they were preparing for war

Huge battle on creek called wounded knee where soldiers killed men, women and children

Life on the reservation was not the same

ReservationsRailroads killed buffalo habitat and Indian livesGovernment tried to assimilate or change the

culture of the Indians by making Ghost Dance/religious ritual illegal, by sending kids to schools where they couldn’t dress or speak their native language

Dawes Act of 1887-Law to split land and make American Indians farmers on poor land

The Indian was forced to depend on the government for food and survival

Today, traditions are preserved on Indian reservations.

Complete the review on page 254, study workbook pages and know

vocabularyI EXPECT A’S

Test Time