Unit 1 Notes• Great Plains• Homestead Act• Describe Native American Character• Describe American Settler Character• Treaty of Ft. Laramie• Assimilation• Dawes Act• Transcontinental Railroad• Reasons for demand for beef• Describe American Cowboy• Chisholm Trail• Reason cowboy era ended

Clash of Cultures

President Andrew Jackson and the removal of the Native

Americans• 1830 Congress passed the Indian

Removal Act forcing all Native Americans to move west and out of the lands wanted and needed by the white settlers

• Cherokee Nation resisted the move and fought for their rights in the U.S. Supreme Court

• Worcester v Georgia-The court ruled that the Cherokee Nation was a distinct political community and was not bound by Georgia or United States law.

• President Jackson refused to abide by the Supreme Court decision and said, “John Marshall (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) has made his decision now let him try to enforce it.” (1830)

President Andrew Jackson and the removal of the Native

Americans

• Trail of Tears-20,000 Native Americans were forced to move West (1838), most of them Cherokees from the South-

• By the end of the forced march more that ¼ of them had died

President Andrew Jackson and the removal of the Native

Americans

Plains IndiansPlains Indians

• In 1834, the American government In 1834, the American government passed legislation setting aside the passed legislation setting aside the Great Plains as one giant Great Plains as one giant reservation for Native Americans.reservation for Native Americans.

Plains Indians– Great Plains=The vast

grassland extending through the west-central portion of the U.S.

– Highly developed way of life existed

• Planting of crops and settled villages

• Nomadic tribes traded and produced goods

– Lived by code of tribal law.

– Horses introduced in 1598 by the Spanish changed the Plains Indians way of life

• Travel farther and hunt more efficiently• Farming was secondary to roaming the

plains

– Buffalo• Destroyed by tourists and fur traders• In just less than 100 years the number of

buffalo in the U.S. went from 65 million in 1800 to 1000 by 1870

• Buffalo was used as food, clothing, shelter and fuel

Plains Indians

Settlers push west (1850s-1890s)– Manifest Destiny, gold

(49ers), silver, pushed settlers into Indian Country

– 1862 Homestead Act -Free land (160 acres) to anyone moving west who would cultivate the land for 5 years.

• 400,000-600,000 settlers used this

– 1869-Transcontinental railroad finished (10 days to travel coast to coast)

– White man butchers buffalo

Cultural ConflictAmerican Character– Rugged Individual-tame

the land

– These characteristics were found in the frontier and its opportunities

– Character is formed by interaction with the environment. Use, settle, and improve the land.

– The measure of a person is economic

– It is a function of how much wealth is accumulated.

– The white man is looking to better his station in society, so as to turn new opportunity into prosperity

– Native Americans• Success is based on character• Character is created by bravery and

loyalty• Interaction with the land-very

religious/the land sustains them• Source of most conflicts:

– Whites felt that Indians used land inefficiently (underutilized)

– Thus the justification for taking it

Cultural Conflict

Clash turns to Conflict• By the 1850’s, government policy had By the 1850’s, government policy had

changed, and specific areas were carved out changed, and specific areas were carved out for each tribe.for each tribe.

• The major conflicts between settlers and natives:– Hunting of the Buffalo– Massacre at Sand Creek– Battle of 100 Slain– Battle of Little Bighorn (Custer’s Last Stand)– Red River War– Wounded Knee

Treaty of Ft. Laramie• After several bloody conflicts

with Native Americans over territory on the Great Plains, the government forced tribes to sign the Treaty of Ft. Laramie, in which they agreed to live on reservations lands.

• Native Americans still expected to be able to use other lands, especially traditional hunting grounds.

• Sioux leader Sitting Bull refused to sign.

Assimilation

• In trying to compromise on treatment of Native Americans, assimilation was proposed – forcing Native Americans to drop their cultures to fit into white society.

The Dawes Act• In 1887, Congress passed the Dawes

Act.

• To “Americanize” Native Americans, each head of household would receive 160 acres of land, and 80 acres to each unmarried adult. The government would sell any leftover land to give money to the tribes for farming. The property was owned by the government for 25 years, then the tribes would gain their deeds.

• “Private property stimulates social progress”

• The result was that Native Americans lost about 2/3 of their reservation lands, and received no money from their sale.

The Tamed FrontierThe Tamed Frontier

• As the As the Battle of Battle of Wounded Knee Wounded Knee marked marked the end of the Indian the end of the Indian wars, cattle and horses wars, cattle and horses roamed free, and settlers roamed free, and settlers moved west moved west unrestricted.unrestricted.

• The new era of the west The new era of the west was dominated by was dominated by economic opportunity economic opportunity for those who were able for those who were able to grasp it.to grasp it.

The Age of The Age of the the

RailroadsRailroads

The Age of the Railroads

• From 1850 – 1871 the government gave 170 million acres in land grants to the railroad companies.

• This program was designed to open up the western territory.

• There were two major There were two major companies/each companies/each receiving rights to receiving rights to public land ownership public land ownership surrounding their surrounding their tracks.tracks.

•Union PacificUnion Pacific

Central Pacific RailroadCentral Pacific Railroad

• By 1869, the By 1869, the transcontinental railroad transcontinental railroad was connected at was connected at Promontory Point, Utah.Promontory Point, Utah.–The Central Pacific came The Central Pacific came from Sacramento eastfrom Sacramento east

–The Union Pacific came The Union Pacific came from Omaha westfrom Omaha west

The First Trans-continental Route

•15 years later there were five transcontinental connections

• The railroads got rich The railroads got rich quickquick–Many farmers and Many farmers and European immigrants paid European immigrants paid top dollar for the landtop dollar for the land

–There grew a need to There grew a need to transport livestock like transport livestock like never before.never before.

Texas Shipping Texas Shipping YardsYards

•Eastern food Eastern food markets realized markets realized the demand for the demand for beef and needed beef and needed the beef from the the beef from the western rancheswestern ranches

Root of the Cowboy

• Growth of Growth of citiescities + demand + demand for for beefbeef = more = more cowboyscowboys

• This demand to move This demand to move herds of animals herds of animals from the West was from the West was the direct root for the the direct root for the creation of the true creation of the true American cowboyAmerican cowboy

The Roots of the CowboyThe Roots of the Cowboy

The settlers learned the The settlers learned the skills needed to become a skills needed to become a cowboycowboy

1. That knowledge 1. That knowledge came from Mexicanscame from Mexicans

2. Texas longhorns 2. Texas longhorns came from Spain originallycame from Spain originally

3. Horses and 3. Horses and longhorns were brought to longhorns were brought to the new world for food and the new world for food and transportationtransportation

A current cowboy’s A current cowboy’s food, clothes, and food, clothes, and vocabulary came vocabulary came directly from the directly from the

Mexican vaqueros.Mexican vaqueros.

Things such as: Things such as: Spurs, chaps, Spurs, chaps, broncos, jerky, broncos, jerky, mustangs, corral, mustangs, corral, ranch, and rodeo.ranch, and rodeo.

Vaqueros with their familiesVaqueros with their families

The skills that made up the The skills that made up the cowboy would be vital for cowboy would be vital for his survival on the trail:his survival on the trail:

1.1. Unlike their Mexican Unlike their Mexican counterpart, the counterpart, the American cowboy would American cowboy would be required to travel long be required to travel long distances with their distances with their herds.herds.

2.2. The abilities of the The abilities of the American cowboy would American cowboy would be essential for the be essential for the survival of the American survival of the American cities.cities.

Growing demand Growing demand for beeffor beef

First realized to be First realized to be profitable during profitable during the Gold Rushthe Gold Rush

The Civil War also The Civil War also created a demand created a demand for beef in the for beef in the East.East.

The bigger the cities, the greater the The bigger the cities, the greater the demand for meat. Cites like demand for meat. Cites like Chicago, St. Louis, and New York.Chicago, St. Louis, and New York.

During Reconstruction, food was During Reconstruction, food was needed for the rebuilding process.needed for the rebuilding process.

Stockyards were created in the big Stockyards were created in the big cities near the rail lines to house cities near the rail lines to house animals as they waited to be animals as they waited to be shipped.shipped.

Cattle Trails and Cattle Trails and RailroadsRailroads

Texas ranchers Texas ranchers originally traveled originally traveled through farmland through farmland into Sedalia, into Sedalia, Missouri to get Missouri to get their stock to their stock to market.market.

Due to conflict Due to conflict with farmers, with farmers, new routes new routes

were createdwere created

1867 the 1867 the Chisholm Chisholm Trail Trail was was

established to established to avoid avoid

problems and problems and make travel make travel

more efficientmore efficient

Cowboys at work on the Chisholm TrailCowboys at work on the Chisholm Trail

Early SaloonEarly Saloon

Other new trails spurred the Other new trails spurred the overnight creations of overnight creations of Cow Towns.Cow Towns.

1.1. It would be the cow towns It would be the cow towns that the myth and legend that the myth and legend of the American cowboy of the American cowboy would be developedwould be developed

2.2. Cowboys needed to Cowboys needed to spend their money and spend their money and thus saloons created a thus saloons created a place for that to occur.place for that to occur.

End of an eraEnd of an era

As fast as cattle As fast as cattle herds multiplied and herds multiplied and ranching was big ranching was big business, the cattle business, the cattle frontier met its end.frontier met its end.

Over grazing of the Over grazing of the landland

Bad/Unpredictable Bad/Unpredictable weatherweather

Joseph Joseph Glidden Glidden invention of invention of Barbed Wire Barbed Wire created a created a series of series of fenced-in fenced-in ranches ranches owned by few.owned by few.

The era of the cowboy and the open The era of the cowboy and the open west was ended as fast as it started.west was ended as fast as it started.