L king to the WestL king to the West

QuestionQuestion

• Who do you think is at fault in the Israeli vs. Palestine conflict?

• Do you think we will have peace in our life time? Why or Why not?

WHY?WHY?

• The American West seized upon people’s imagination- adventure and entrepreneurial spirit for profit and conquest

• People moved west because of Push-pull Factors- factors that forced them the west (push) or strongly attracted them (pull)

• Push- Civil War, Failed businesses, etc.

Pull FactorsPull Factors• Private Property Laws: Government practice

of surveying and deeding land gave people confidence that the land was theirs and prevented a free for all

• Pacific Railway Acts: Government gave the Union Pacific and Central Pacific RR huge tracts of land to lay tracks and develop = profit

• Morrill Land-Grant Act: Federal government gave state governments land to sell and establish agricultural colleges (Usually bought by land speculators- who bought large amount of land and then sold it)

Pull FactorsPull Factors

• Homestead Act: First signed under A. Lincoln, it called for the following

• Person to be 21 yrs. Old or head of families• Build a permanent structure of certain size• Live on land for 6 months out of year• Farm the land for 5 straight years• Will become their property• Act gave 372,000 farms and by 1900 gave up 80

million acres

ExodustersExodusters

• Name given to roughly 50,000 African Americans that followed Benjamin “Pap” Singleton to the west in 1867 to start over

• Name based on the Exodus led by Moses

Conflict With Native Conflict With Native AmericansAmericansCh. 7 Section 2Ch. 7 Section 2

The Great PlainsThe Great Plains

• Great Plains- vast grassland between the Mississippi River and the Rockies

Great Plains Native AmericansGreat Plains Native Americans• Great Plains- vast grassland between the

Mississippi River and the Rockies• Native American tribes on the Great Plains

subsisted on the Buffalo for their food, clothing, and shelter

• Horses from Spanish had profound affect:• Violence between tribes rose• Many tribes became nomads• Guns from French fur traders & early Americans

made the violence and hunting easier

Uneasy PeaceUneasy Peace

• Before the Civil War, Native Americans were able to live on their traditional home lands more or less without problems

• Occasionally violence erupted between RR companies laying tracks or settlers going to California in the 1840s

• However, soon after, Americans realized that the land was valuable and it was on like donkey Kong

Land OwnershipLand Ownership

• Settlers justified taking the land from Native Americans because they would make it more productive

• Native Americans saw them as invading their homeland and taking something that they shouldn’t and couldn’t own

TreatiesTreaties

• One attempt by the U.S. Government was to make treaties, or agreements, with the Native Americans

• These were done to restrict the movement of these nomadic tribes

• The government bought Indian land and placed them on Reservations- land set aside for them

Treaties & the BIATreaties & the BIA

• Most of the treaties signed were done in fraud• Federal agents would have people delegated as

“chiefs” sign, although they had no authority under Indian law

• Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)- part of the Interior Department- was to manage supplies to reservations but widespread corruption caused this system to fail

• Many whites still stole the land from the reservations

• Increasing violence took place

Battlefield ChallengesBattlefield Challenges

• Indian Wars last many years because of the following reasons:

• Lacked coherent strategy of how to achieve victory

• U.S. troops still in south focusing on Reconstruction

• Few major “battles”- more of a “hit and run” strategy

Major Battles: Major Battles: Sand Creek Sand Creek Massacre-Massacre- 1864 1864

• Following battle run ins with settlers- Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle agreed to camp at Sand Creek and to met and discuss

• Officer John Chivington- who had not gained a major victory- saw his chance and raided

• Black Kettle flew an American and white flag as he had been instructed to show peaceful intentions but this sign was ignored

• With 700 men, he raided the camp of Cheyenne Indians and killed around 168 (but possibly up to 500 Indians)- Mostly women and children

The SiouxThe Sioux

• 1865- Government angered the Sioux by building a road through their hunting grounds and spiritual land in the Bighorn Mountains

• Red Cloud launched 2 year war to block the project

• Sioux massacred 80 soldiers but later were allowed to remain on a reservation in the Black Hills

Treaty of Fort LaramieTreaty of Fort Laramie

• 1868• Temporarily, restored peace to the

region• Acknowledged U.S. defeat in the Great

Sioux War, and supposedly guaranteed the Sioux perpetual land and hunting rights in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana.

• *ADD TO TREATY SHEET

Battle of Little BighornBattle of Little Bighorn

• Government sent General George A. Custer to check out rumors of gold in the Black Hills

• He reported back that there was gold and the government offered to buy the land back- Red Cloud entered into negotiations

• Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, two Sioux chiefs that didn’t sign the treaty, left the reservations and violence started once again

Battle of Little BighornBattle of Little Bighorn

• Custer, attempting to round up the Indians, split his army up near the Little Bighorn River in what is now Montana

• His company was wiped out by nearly 2,000 Sioux- the largest war party known

• The Battle of Little Bighorn is also known as “Custer’s Last Stand”

Major Battles: Major Battles: Wounded KneeWounded Knee

• Native Americans are very spiritual• One cleansing, purification ceremony done is

the Ghost Dance- it was believed that this dance would return things back to the ways that it once was

• The dancing made the army nervous so they attempted to arrest Sitting Bull, who encouraged the dance

• In attempt to arrest him, shots were fired and he was shot in the side and head- so murdered by law enforcement

Major Battles : Wounded KneeMajor Battles : Wounded Knee• His grieving followers- 120 men and 230

women and children surrendered and were rounded up at the Wounded Knee Creek

• While being disarmed, some one fired shots and soldiers opened fire killing 200 Sioux.

• The Massacre at Wounded Knee was the last major episode of violence in the Indian Wars

Crazy HorseCrazy Horse• Crazy Horse was getting a lot of attention from the

military and made Red Cloud jealous- rumors that CH was going to flee the reservation began

• Chief Joseph, of the Nez Perce Reservation, had escaped

• They asked Crazy Horse to help find him since the Sioux and Nez Perce were enemies- Crazy Horse 1st said no, but later agreed and he stated he would fight until the “last Nez Perce are killed” but words were misinterpreted

• Prior to a scheduled meeting, Crazy Horse was supposed to have said that he would kill the general-he was arrested

• During the arrest, he attempted to escape and was bayoneted and later died

GeronimoGeronimo

GeronimoGeronimo

• Apache Native American whose family was murdered by Mexican troops/ Turned into a great warrior

• One of the last free Native Americans• Escaped to Mexico in attempt to avoid forced removal to

the reservations• Tired of running and fleeing he and the other Apache

surrendered in 1886, fearing for his life he escaped again,

• It took roughly 5,000 white troops and 500 Native American helpers to bring him in

• Forced to live on several reservations including in Florida • Died in 1909 of pneumonia at Fort Still, OK

ConspiracyConspiracy

• Secret society at Yale University

• Former members include Pres. George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and John Kerry

• Supposedly, George Bush’s grandfather, Prescott Bush, and others stole the skull and bones of Geronimo

AssimilationAssimilation

• Most believed that the Indians needed to be civilized= Give up traditions, learn English, adopt white dress & customs, etc.

• Schools were established to help meet this goal. This policy was assimilation- the process by which one society becomes part of another, more dominant society by adopting its culture

Assimilation: MormonsAssimilation: Mormons• The Edmunds Act, also known as the Edmunds Anti-

Polygamy Act of 1882, is a United States federal statute, signed into law on March 23, 1882, declaring polygamy a felony. The act is named for U.S. Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont.

• Edmunds-Tucker Act: The act disincorporated both the LDS Church and the Perpetual Emigration Fund on the grounds that they fostered polygamy. The act prohibited the practice of polygamy and punished it with a fine and imprisonment. It dissolved the corporation of the church and directed the confiscation by the federal government of all church properties valued over a limit of $50,000. The act was enforced by the U.S. marshal and a host of deputies. Repealed in 1978.

Dawes ActDawes Act

• 1887- Law dismantled the Native American idea of community land sharing (ownership) and replaced it with America’s prized private land ownership concept

• The Dawes Act divided Reservations land into individual plots of land- usually 160 acres.

• Wanted to force them to be farmers and accountable to laws of America

• In some cases, this severely limited their culture and beliefs

Opening of Indian TerritoryOpening of Indian Territory• During the 1880s, squatters overran the land of

the Indians and Congress bought out the Indians

• In 1889, tens of thousands of settlers lined up at the border to flood the land and lay claim. These people were the Boomers

• Some boomers got there and realized some land was already taken by the Sooners- people who slipped past the government and laid claim sooner than allowed

Mining, Ranching, and Mining, Ranching, and FarmingFarming

Chapter 7 Section 3Chapter 7 Section 3

MiningMining

• California Gold Rush 1848-49

• More gold and silver was discovered in the Rockies- Near Denver, Black Hills, etc.

• Soon there after, the mining of these precious metals became more advanced and corporations became involved

CattleCattle• Mexicans taught Americans cattle ranching• 1/5 of all cowboys were African Americans or

Mexicans• Prior to the Civil War, Pork was the meat of

choice but later beef would become it. Cattle sold for $3 – 6 before the war and $40 after the war

• Shipping the cattle to the east on railroad was expensive until the refrigerated car was invented and they could slaughter the animals before shipping

Destruction of the BuffaloDestruction of the Buffalo• Buffalo were nearly hunted to extinction• 25 million in 1840 – 1,100 in 1889• Buffalo fur robes were popular in the East,

their leather made strong belts for machines in factories, Buffalo hunting became a popular sport

• Government also encouraged the destroying of buffalo to force Native Americans to grow their own food and assimilate

Chisholm Trail & Cow TownsChisholm Trail & Cow Towns• Abilene, Kansas was the first town built

specifically for receiving cattle • Many used the Chisholm Trail (from TX to

KS)- roughly 2 million animals made the journey from good land in San Antonio to Cow towns

• Cow towns were the wild part of the West until the farmers came in wanting to make it better

• Cattle business then shifted to Wichita but was, liked Abilene, fenced in

• Dodge City became known as the Cowboy Capital of the World

• 1/5 of all cowboys were African Americans or Mexicans

Tombstone: Shoot Out at the OK Tombstone: Shoot Out at the OK CorralCorral

• Wyatt, Morgan, Virgil Earp and Doc Holiday vs. Frank and Tom McLaury, Billy Claiborne, and Ike and Billy Clanton

• The Earps represented law and order and the other represent lawlessness

• The “Cowboys” were actually liked in the town for the most part

• Some felt the Earps were corrupted police• Supposedly, Wyatt Earp tried to bribe Ike Clanton to win

election but Clanton backed out• Also, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday were suspected of

robbing a stage coach of the Wells Fargo Company so they could become more popular

The ShootoutThe Shootout• Didn’t become known as the Shootout (Gunfight)

at the OK Corral until a 1950s movie• Some of the cowboys had guns and the Earps

and Holiday attempted to get them to surrender and take them

• The cowboys drew guns• Shootout lasted about 30 seconds with 20-30

shots fired• 3 were killed. Wyatt Earp was unhurt and the

others were hit in various locations

Ike Clanton

Virgil Earp Morgan Earp

Wild West MythsWild West Myths• Romantic views of the west began as early

as the 1870s in dime novels• The stories promoted stereotypes-

exaggerated or oversimplified descriptions of reality

• 1883- Will F. (Buffalo Bill) Cody created his Wild West Shows that further played on the stereotypes by having roping contest, battle recreations, and even featured Sitting Bull

PopulismPopulism

Chapter 7 Section 4Chapter 7 Section 4

Tough Times for FarmersTough Times for Farmers

• Tariffs- Little competition from foreign markets allowed businesses to raise prices

• Money Supply- Government took money out of circulation after the Civil War making each dollar more valuable- causes deflation – drop of prices

• 1873- Worst economic panic in U.S. history

SilverSilver

• Many farmers favored Free Silver- the unlimited coining of silver dollars to increase the money supply

• Bland-Allison Act- Called for the government to coin more silver and increasing the money supply but it was vetoed

The GrangeThe Grange

• The Grange was set up in response to the isolation of farmers

• The Grange formed farming cooperatives so they could buy supplies more cheaply and lobbied for government to regulate businesses that the farmers depended on such as grain elevators and rail roads

The PopulistsThe Populists

• New Political Party built their platform (beliefs) around these issues

• 1.) Increase circulation of money• 2.) Unlimited Minting of Silver• 3.) Progressive Income Tax- Rich get hit

harder• 4.) Government ownership of

communications and transportation systems• (Interstate Commerce Act- was first time

Congress attempted to regulate a business)• 5.) 8 Hour Work Day

William Jennings BryanWilliam Jennings Bryan

• Was nominated for President by both the Populists and Democrats in 1896 election

• Gave his famous “Cross of Gold” Speech in which he opposed the use of the gold standard

• He will lose the election

End of PopulismEnd of Populism

• By 1900, more gold discovered had increased the supply and the United States went back to the gold standard

• To the surprise of many, the crop prices began a slow rise and this help end the movement for free silver and Populism