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Natives and Westward Expansion
What was the most powerful Plains Indian group?
Sioux
What did the Sioux do?
Hunted Buffalo
-Nomadic hunters= followed the buffalo as a way of life
What did Europe introduce to America at this time?
Horses
-Indians relied heavily on these for hunting
What caused a decline in the Indian population?
Disease
How did Railroad expansion alter Indian life?
The Indians lost land which led to the endangerment of the buffalo
Where did Chinese Immigrants settle?
In areas of the West
(mainly California)
-Lived in cities and worked there
Where did the Irish work?
In eastern factories
Where did the Chinese work?
-Worked in gold mines and Railroads of the West
What were Anti-Coolie Clubs?
Organizations that supported placing a ban on Chinese Employment.
-benefited Whites in the job market
What was the Working Man's Party?
It was a party that emerged based on hostility to Chinese
What was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882?
-It banned Chinese immigration
-Made it harder for those in America to become citizens
What was the Homestead Act of 1862?
160 acres of low cost land
-must live on it for 5 years and improve it
Usually not the best land = fraud by coroporations
Why was the year of 1864 significant?
Marked the completion of the Transcontinental RR
-signified the connection between the the East and the West
What was the Timberland Culture Act?
Permitted homesteaders to receive grants of 160 acres
-if planted 40 acres of trees
What was the Desert Land Act?
Provided that claimants could buy 640 acres for
$1.25 =acre
-if irrigation part of their land in 3 years
What did both the Desert Land act and the Timeberland Culture Act serve to do?
Provided opportunities for additional land if improvements were made
When Utah was admitted as a state it did what?
(1896)
-Abandoned its polygamy
Name ways the West was connected with the East?
Railroads, Cattle, Mining
What was the safety valve theory?
In tough economic times, one could move to the West and start a new
-Supported belief that the West was a place of new opportunity for all
How was labor in mines?
Arduous and Dangerous
Discuss the Cattle Business...
Large Business for some = others tried RR work
-could be unstable due to weather change
-Winters of 1885-86 and 1886-87
( killed cattle, dried up land, and froze streams)
Which place had higher women's suffrage? West or East.
West
Name the first state to guarantee women's suffrage.
Wyoming
What was the Rocky Mountain School?
Similar to Huduson river valley school
--Painted landscapes---
Why was the West so appealing?
The book (The Virginian) = romanticized the cowboy
West was seen as the "last frontier"
Who was Fredrick Jackson Turner?
-Stated the Western Frontier had defined American History.
-credited the western expansion for building individualism and democratic values in US citizens.
What was the significance of the West in history?
Frontier = ended in 1890 (Census system was used now)
-gave America a new identity
-promoted democracy
What did Helen Hunt Jackson write?
A Century of Dishonor
-chronicled (deceit, abuse, and broken treaties)
between Natives and fed government
What was the Indian Peace Commission?
It recommended to move Plains Indians to reservations in Oklahoma and the Dakotas
Why was the Bureau of Indian Affairs created?
To manage Indian removal to western lands
-distributed land and supplies
NOT SUCCESSFUL
Why did the Buffalo almost become extinct?
Railroad Companies
-took their grazing land
-Many ran over them
Who was Buffalo Bill Cody?
Popularizes wild west shows
-romanticizing the idea of a cowboy
What was the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864?
Fighting in Colorado between Indians and white miners
-Indians attacked many miners = Whites brought a militia
-The Indians camped out = whites killed many natives
What was the concentration policy?
In lands of Indian territory, each tribe was assigned an area of land to live on
-caused many conflicts
What was "Indian Hunting?"
The act of many Americans to track down and hunt Indians.
-In CA 5,000 killed (1850-1880)
What was The Battle of Little Bighorn?
Famous Conflict between Indians and Whites
(264 men and him =killed by natives)
What was Néz Percé?
An Indian tribe in Oregon = peaceful
-Leader Chief Joseph urged them to flee
-almost made it to Canada = caught by whites
What was the Ghost Dance?
An Indian ritual that believed the buffalo would return
and whites would leave natives alone
-Government wanted to end dance because it unified the tribes
What was the Battle of Wounded Knee?
Fighting between soldiers and Natives in South Dakota
-40 soldiers
-300 and more natives were killed
-Whites won = turned into a native massacre
What was the Dawes Act?
-Assimilated or Americanized Natives
-eliminated tribal lands
(provided 160 acres of land for individuals)
-Some Children sent to Boarding School
-Promoted Christianity
What did Congress do with transcontinental routes?
(1862)
-authorized and subsidized them
What did state governments encourage?
RR development, financial aid, and land
What did Joseph Glidden and IL Ellwood do?
developed and marketed barbed wire
-hurt ranches
What happened to Farmers?
-Farms produced so much
-prices dropped
-bankrupting farms
Name some Farmer's Grievances
-Railroads -unfair pricing and warehouse facilities
-High Interest Rates by banks
Why did Farmers advocate for increasing money supply?
It would cause inflation = they would be free from debt
What were the key economic policies in the post-Civil War era?
The creation of a national banking system and the institution of a protective tariff, favored by Republicans to protect American industries.
What was the Treaty of Kanagawa?
A treaty signed in 1854 between the United States and Japan, allowing American ships to refuel and trade in Japan.
What was Seward’s Folly?
The purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, initially seen as a waste of money but later proven valuable for its natural resources.
How did the Transcontinental Railroad impact the national economy?
It integrated the national economy by connecting the East and West, supported by federal loans, subsidies, and land grants.
What did the Homestead Act of 1862 provide?
It offered 160 acres of land to individuals willing to move West and improve the property.
What was the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862?
It allowed states to sell land and use the proceeds to establish colleges and universities.
What was the environmental impact of the expansion of cattle ranching and the use of the steel plow?
It significantly altered the environment of the Great Plains, helping farmers grow crops in difficult soil and leading to the use of barbed wire.
How did the Civil War affect Native American relations?
Native American land was taken, and tribes like the Dakota Sioux and Nez Perce were forcibly removed from their territories.
What environmental challenges did homesteaders face?
Blizzards, tornadoes, grasshoppers, and soil erosion due to the removal of grass for farming
What was the significance of Yellowstone National Park’s establishment in 1872?
It marked the government’s involvement in environmental conservation, influenced by the Northern Pacific Railroad’s efforts.
What happened during the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864?
The militia attacked Cheyenne Indians in Colorado, killing over 100, mostly women and children
What is assimilation in the context of Native American policies?
The process of Native Americans adopting American culture, often by giving up their own traditions, encouraged through Indian boarding schools.
What was the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887?
It granted Native American families 160 acres of land to encourage farming, leading to significant land loss for Native Americans.
60% of native land lost
What was the result of the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876?
It was the last successful resistance of Native Americans against US forces, led by Sitting Bull
Cluster and all his men died in battle
What occurred during the Battle of Wounded Knee in 1890?
The US government ordered the end of the Ghost Dance, leading to the massacre of 300 Native Americans.
What was Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis?
Turner argued that the frontier was key to American development and identity, and its closure in 1890 marked the end of a unique era in US history.
stated that it contributed to American Identity
What role did the US government play in Westward expansion?
The government promoted expansion through railroads, land grants, and policies like the Homestead Act.
What was the significance of the Ghost Dance movement?
It was a religious movement among Native Americans hoping to return the buffalo and eliminate whites, leading to the Battle of Wounded Knee.
Burlingame Treaty
protected US missionaries and Chinese laborers when coming to the US (because of cheap labor)
Munn v. Illinois
states could control small businesses such as railroad but this was later overturned
Why did the US shift to Gold Standard and what did this lead to?
Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock
A Century of Dishonor (1881)
Sioux Wars
Nez Perce War
The Census (1890)
for the first time, the frontier was’t visible
Comstock Lode
a large silver deposit in Nevada
Blizzard of 1886-87’
lef many cowboys broke
Exodusters
Africans who moved from Mississippi and LA to Kansas
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Flashcard (25)