Chapter 13“Changes On The Western

Frontier”

~ 1865 – 1896 ~

Cultural Differences

• Native Americans (NA)• No formal leadership• Land to be used/not

owned

• Polytheistic

• White Settlers• Elected representatives• Land is to be developed

since NA’s not developing land not using it.

• Monotheistic– Christianity

1834 the US designated Indian Territory

www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/.../maps/it-1834.gif

The Great Plains: Called the Great American Desert, Whites thought land was not farmable because the ground was too hard for wooden plows to break the surface

Settlers Push West

• Gold and Silver: California, Dakotas, Arizona

• Farming (American Dream)

• Railroad after 1860

• Mormons (Utah)

Steel Plow

• The steel plow was strong enough to rip through the compressed top layer of earth.

• Very fertile soil

• This land was now desirable and whites began moving in (ignoring the treaty of 1834)

• Government does not stop settlers giving tacit approval.

Transcontinental Railroad (TCR)

• In the 1860s Congress authorizes the building of the first TCR

• Extending from Missouri to California• Right through NA land• Allows for easy movement across the country

(more settlers) 6 days instead of 4 months (on foot)

www.tcrr.com

Expansion Post Civil War

• Despite the advances from 1830s to 1865, most of west still open

• One of the first casualties of expansion was the Bison/Buffalo

• As settlers were riding west they would shoot them from the train

• The destruction of the herds would have a huge impact on NA tribes across the GP

www.clemson.edu/.../lec124/shootingbuffalo.jpg

Importance of Bison/Buffalo

• Food Source

• Clothing and shelter

• Tools

• Without it the NAs were at the mercy of the government to provide them with meat.

• 1865: 15 million

• 1885: Less than 1,000

Broken Treaties

• The Gov tried to make treaties to move NA tribes to other areas.

• Both sides disregarded treaties

• NAs: They did not recognize the people who made treaties as their leaders (whites assumed “chiefs” spoke for tribe)

• Whites simply took land if they wanted it whether treaty existed or not

Indian Wars

• As more whites took more land, killed more bison, broke more treaties

• Some NA tribes began fighting back in battles lasting from 1868-1890

• Battles of diminishing returns, even if they won, they could not replace dead warriors quickly enough, whites could simply send more soldiers by train in a week.

Key Conflicts

• 1864: Sand Creek Massacre

• Colorado Regulars and volunteers slaughter hundreds who believed they were under the protection of the army.

• 1866 Sioux warriors kill 81 soldiers and civilians who were building the Bozeman trail

Little Big Horn

• Col. Custer discovers gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota

• Thousand rush to the Sioux reservation

• Sioux go on warpath• Destroy Custer’s 7th

Calvary

bcm.bc.edu

http://www.idea2ic.com/FUN_PICTURES/CustersLastView_Humor.jpg

“I shall fight no more, forever”• Chief Joseph of the

Nez Perce’• The government

shrunk their reservation by 90%

• After bitter fighting Chief Joseph surrendered saying

• The tribe was forced from Oregon to Oklahoma forced to abandon their way of life

us.history.wisc.edu/.../indian_chief_joseph.jpg

What to do with Native Americans

• A Century of Dishonor, by Helen Hunt Jackson exposed the plight of the NA

• Well meaning whites wanted to help them “Walk the White man’s road”

• Others: “The only good Indian was a dead Indian”

• None of the whites really cared about what the NAs wanted

Massacre at Wounded Knee

• White missionaries urged the government to outlaw the “Ghost Dance” and force conversion on NAs

• NAs began a peaceful dance, soldiers fearing an uprising went to arrest Sitting Bull (died in the attempt)

• Others led the tribe to the reservation at Wounded Knee where they were slaughtered by the US Army

“Now we have avenged Custer’s death.”

~Unnamed Army Officer

Evans, Harold. The American Century,(14). Alfred A. Knoph, New York, 2000.

Dawes Severalty Act 1887

• Formally abolishes all NA tribes

• Reservation land was to be divided into parcels for each family

• Any land not given out went to the Railroad

• If NAs lived the white mans life for 25 years they could receive full citizenship

Assimilation

• The giving up of one’s own culture to take on that of another

• NAs had to sacrifice everything: Way of life, clothing, religion, language, even their hair style

• Children would be separated from families and sent to white schools to become Americanized, not apart of either world

Why were the NAs so “easily” defeated?

• Loss of Bison/Buffalo

• Loss of warriors

• Railroad to send more troops and supplies quickly

• Better weapons

• White man’s disease

• No support for NAs in Government

The Cowboys

• #1: Most people like meat

• #2: Most people live in the East

• #3: Most meat lives in the West

• #4: 1,000 miles is a long way to travel for a steak

• #5: If the people can’t come to the meat. . .

• Bring the meat to the people

TCR and the Long Drives

• The job of the cowboys was to move the cattle from Texas to rail yards/slaughter houses

• Trains moved meat East but also moved settlers West

• Soon the great plains would become populated by farms using barbed wire to “close-off” the open plains

The End of the Cowboys

• #1 Farmers close off the routes to the rail yards

• #2 Severe blizzards in the winter of 86-87 covered up the grass, cattle starved

• #3 it was cheaper and easier to bring the railroad to the meat instead of the other way around.

Settlers on the Great Plains• Homestead Act 1862• 160 acres of land for $30.00 and a pledge

to live on the land for 5 years• Or for the rich folk?• $1.25 per acre after 6 months on the land• 4,840 square yards about the size of a

football field end line to end line (the amount 2 oxen could plow in a day)

• The government was essentially giving land away to encourage settlement

Too Good to be True?• Half a million families take advantage offer

• Problems were many

• Land might not be good for growing

• 160 acres was often not enough land to support a family

• Lack of necessities

• Weather: Tornadoes, Droughts, Blizzards

• Illness/Injury: Every person needed to work everyday (also lack of care)

What attracted the settlers?• #1 The American Dream to be a land

owner

• #2 Importing of a Russian variety of Wheat ideal for the great plains (made growing crop easier)

• #3 World markets were down meaning high prices for wheat (Law of Supply and Demand: High supply and low demand = low prices, low supply and high demand = high prices) Farmers move west for profit

Needs/Priorities

• #1 Water. If your land didn’t have a stream then you needed to dig a well.

• #2 Shelter. Soddy: no wood to be spared for house.

• #3 Food. Growing food takes time.

• #4 Winter time? Food, Clothing, Heat?

Technology Aid the Farmers

http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/74/8374-004-FADAAB82.jpg, http://www.freefoto.com/images/13/04/13_04_14---Barbed-Wire_web.jpg, http://www.irwinator.com/126/w266.JPG, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txpecos2/CanonRanchRailroadEclipseWindmill.jpg

Steel Plow: Able to break hard soil

Barbed Wire: could fence in large areas without much wood

Reaper: Allows 1 farm hand to do the work of 14

Windmill: Allows for the pumping of water from wells. Man over nature.

Fraud and Abuses

• Many families took advantage of the Homestead Act but . . .

• 10x’s the amount of land given to families went to land speculators (people who buy a product expecting the value to increase so they can sell it for profit later (buy low, sell high)).

• Told gov. there was 12x14 dwelling on the land.

• There was 12x14 inches.

Results of Homestead act

• #1 increased tension with NAs

• #2 large influx of population to Mid and Western states leading to statehood for all but 3 continental US territories by 1900

• #3 Closing of the frontier: land was not infinite, leads to the formation of first national parks: Yellowstone (1872), Yosemite and Sequoia (1890)

Populism

• By the 1880s the plight of the farmer was terrible

• #1 World wheat markets rebound, high supply means less money for farmers

• #2 Drought, grass hopper swarms (eat crops) and extreme heat weaken farms

• #3 Local, state and federal government gouge farmers (high taxes)

• #4 Railroads charged high prices to move goods because farmers had no other options

• #5 “Middle-men” took huge cuts (People who do jobs between product and market place (load and unload trucks, transportation and stores))

• #6 General stores: the only place to buy products in a given area no competition means higher prices

The Grange

• Founded in 1867• Oliver Hudson Kelley• Purpose: provide

social, educational and fraternal opportunities to the isolated farmers

• 1875: 800,000 members across Midwest

http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/ohkf/images/Kelleydrawing1875.jpg

Origins of the Movement

• When people get together they complain about their lives.

• Farmers realized they had mutual problems and “enemies”

• Individually they were easy targets but banded together they were a force that could not be ignored.

The Enemies and What They Wanted to Defeat Them

• Railroads: Price Gouging

• Banks: High Interest loans from Eastern “power banks”

• Government: High taxes

• Nationalization of the RR’s if Gov is controlling them then prices will be fair

• End national bank in favor of local banks

• Graduated Income Tax: the more money one earns the higher their taxes are.

•Would become a major part of the election in 1896 and win small concessions from the late 1870’s until 1896

Election of 1896

• William McKinley• R, Ohio• Conservative• Laissez faire: No

government regulation of business

• Gold Standard: Backing US dollars with gold only

http://www.historyplace.com/specials/calendar/docs-pix/mckinley.jpg

• William Jennings Bryan

• D, Nebraska• Bimetallism: Using

silver and gold to back dollars

• Became the choice of both Democrats and Populists after “Cross of Gold Speech”

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/SCOPE10.JPG

Importance of Election of 1896

• First election to be decided on economic class rather than politics.

• Rich/Business support McKinley

• Poor/Farmers support Bryan

• Election would be decided by the emerging Middle Class

• The main issue was Bimetallism

Money• #1 Why is money “worth” anything?

• Because we and others value it.

• #2 Why does it have value?

• Because there is a limited supply.

• #3 How is someone rich?

• Because they have more of the limited supply than everyone else.

• #4 So why don’t we just make more of it?

• Greater supply means less value.

Why does Bimetallism matter?

• Gold standard means we only have as much cash in circulation as we have gold to back it up ($100 in gold $100 in cash).

• If we print money based on the amount of gold and silver, there will be more money in circulation decreasing its value.

• This would be good for farmers but bad for banks.

Example

• $50 in gold standard money = $50 dollars in gold

• Paid back in Bimetallism money $50 = $50 in gold and silver.

• NOT EQUAL IN VALUE

• On paper $50 loaned - $50 paid back = 0 owed

• Therefore, good for farmers bad for banks

On the Stump• Campaign speeches made at various

stops. Speakers used to literally stand on a stump to see over the crowd.

• Republicans sent speakers all over the country saying a vote for Bryan will make you less wealthy because the value of your money would go down.

• Who wants less money?

Results

• McKinley wins easily taking the heavily (and wealthier) populated East and Upper Midwest

• Bryan won the less populated (and poorer) South and West

• In the end, the Middle Class voted to maintain their status/Wealth over helping those who needed it.

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