APUSH Unit 6.1- (+AMSCO)

AMSCOs chapter 16; 1865-1900

Homestead Act of 1862

• 160 acres of public land to all settlers who agreed to work, improve, or settle on it

• Passed by Republicans; Democrats weren’t in Congress at the time & didn’t like homesteads

• Farmers from old agricultural states began to look west; small farmers couldn’t compete with large-scale farms

• Native Americans were displaced and over farming led to Dust Bowls (dust storms)

Significance of the Frontier in American History

• 1893; An essay written by Frederick Jackson Turner

• The experience of westward expansion fostered democracy and individualism

• The West embodied the two; Turner argued that the West was a “safety valve” for struggling people in the East

• Turner was largely concerned over the frontier closing; no more “safety valve”

Dawes Act / Impact of the Dawes Act

• Organized to move Native Americans to reservations

• Trained Native Americans to work in American farm life

• Sent children to school for citizenship & to teach American values

• Native Americans lost their land and culture as a result

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