GCSE Edexcel History The American West

Homestead Act 1862

Settlers could officially claim 160 acres of land to live on and farm

After 5 years settlers were sold a certificate of ownership for $30

Manifest destiny

A concept spread by the US government that made people think it was there destiny to live across the whole of America

1837 (Reason for moving west, push)

Banks collapse in the East thousands bankrupt

Religious reason for moving west (2)

• Missionaries wanted to convert Indians to Christianity

• People converted to Mormons wanted to go to the salt lake city

1848 (Reason for moving west, pull)

Gold discovered in California

Between 1840 and 1860 (journey west)

34,000 people died

Rail-road subsidies

The government gave land either side of new rail-road tracks to the rail-road companies.

Growth of towns (how did the government help settle the plains)

Railroad companies sold much of the 155 million acres they owned to help new planes towns grow

Pacific Railways Act 1862

This set up the Union pacific railway company to lay track east to west and the Central Pacific Rail-road Company to lay tack west to east

Why were the Black Hills of Dakota sacred to the Sioux (2)

• It is where they went to bury their dead

• Where medicine men would go for special guidance on important decisions

Amount of people digging for gold in 1849

90,000

Mid 1850's (Gold)

• Surface gold was exhausted and the "forty-niners" returned home

• Professional miners backed by inverters in the east came in and turned mining into a profitable business

What was wrong with vigilante groups

Innocent people could easily be executed for getting on the wrong side of an influential citizen

How did Brigham Young organize the Mormons on the journey to the Great Salt Lake

• Divided Mormons into manageable groups each with a leader

• Insisted on strict discipline, giving everyone a specific role to play

• Taught them how to form their wagons into a circle at night for safety

• Insisted on regular resting places

How did Brigham Young establish Salt Lake City

• He had total control over his community because they believed God inspired all his decisions

• Decided that now one owned any land, water or timber and that it would all be allocated fairly by the Mormon church

• Dug irrigation ditches so all the land could be irrigated

How did Brigham Young help the Mormons spread through Utah

• Surveyed every part of his territory and when a suitable area was found a area for a town was marked out

• Chose settlers to make sure there was a balance of skills, ages and occupations

• Made the boundaries secure by building towns along its border such as Las Vegas

How did Brigham Young encourage immigration

• Set up the perpetual immigration fund to provide money for poor Mormons living elsewhere to make the journey and bring with them a range of needed skills

Roles of women settlers on the plains

• Collected dried dung for fuel and other house hold roles such as cleaning and cooking

• Treated illness in the family

• Teach children living on the great planes in sod schools

• Worked to create a sense of community

How was the problem of ploughing the land on the plains solved

Factories in the east produced stronger steel ploughs also they came with spare parts which meant easier repair.

How was the problem of not enough water (average 30cm a year) on the plains solved

• The invention of the wind pump meant wells could be drilled and the the ground water could be transported to the surface

• Dry farming techniques were used

How was the problem of not enough land holdings on the plains solved

New government legislation allowed homesteaders to claim more land

How was the problem of failing crops on the plains solved

Started planting turkey red wheat which could survive harsh conditions

How was the problem of fencing on the plains solved

Invention of barbed wire meant homesteaders could fence their land quickly and cheaply

Reasons for government involvement in the construction of the transcontinental rail road

• Enable law and order to be brought into the western territories which would create a sense of national unity

• Transport exports to ports in the west that has trade links with the far east

• Help fulfil Manifest Destiny by making it easier to reach uninhabited areas

Benefits of the rail road for settlers

• The construction of the track provided lots of jobs

• Demand for railway materials meant large growth in those industries

• Government official and law enforcement could easily travel from coast to coast

• Things essential for the prosperity of farmers on the great planes such as wind pumps, drills and barbed wire could be transported

• Larger markets for cattle and agricultural produce

• Contact with relatives living far away

Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving

Instead of driving a few thousand cattle to the nearest railhead he drove them to Fort summer to feed the captive Indians and soldiers in the fort. This was the start of his profitable career in supplying the US army and reservations as far north as Fort Laramie

Joseph McCoy

Founded the first cow town called Abilene.

Amount of cattle passing through Abilene between 1867 and 1881

Nearly 1.5 million

John Iliff

• First person to graze cattle on the plains which was the beginning of ranching

• Breed a cattle with a sweeter meat

• Sent his beef to cities with the newly invented refrigerated carriage

What contracts did John Iliff win

• Supply meat to Union Pacific Railroad construction gangs

• Supply beef to Red cloud and over 7000 Sioux Indians who had been moved by the US government to land near Fort Laramie

Reasons for the bust of the cattle industry

• Overstocking - Too much pressure put on grass

• Demand- Too much beef, also peoples taste changed to fat

• Climate-Hot summers and cold winters meant 15% of farmer livestock died

The Fort Laramie Treaty 1851

Indians agreed not to attack people on the Oregon trail trail and allow the government to build roads and military posts and in return they were promised land along the foothills of the rocky mountains and receive protection and $50,000 a year for ten years from the government.

Cause of Little Crow's War

In 1861 Little Crow and his tribe of Santee Sioux were living on a reservation and the crop failed. The compensation they were promised did not arrive leaving 12,000 Sioux facing starvation

Little Crow's War

Little crow lead warriors to attack the agency building take the provisions and burnt it to the ground

Attacked a party of soldiers coming to deal with the inccident

Outcome of Little Crow's War

Santee Sioux that were left moved to a smaller reservation which was barren, had undrinkable water and scarce food

How was the Fort Laramie Treaty broken

Gold was discovered in the Rocky Mountains and white men settled onto the Indian lands

The Sand Creek Massacre 1864

• On 29 November 1864 Colonel Chivington and his men massacred 450 men, women,children and babies even though they were waving white flags of surrender

• Black Kettle escaped and carried the message of the massacre to other tribes

• In October 1865 a deal was made in which the Indians agreed to give up their land claims and stop violence and in return they received money and land in Oklahoma

Events that lead to The Sand Creek Massacre 1864

• The Cheyenne faced starvation and under their leader Black Kettle started attacking wagon train taking only food and leaving travellers unharmed

• After 3 years of raids Black Kettle, government officials and army commander tried to reach an agreement

• Believing he was under army protection Black Kettle set up camp at sand creek

Red Cloud's War 1866-68

• The Indians led by Red Cloud started attacking traveller along the Bozeman trail

• In 1866 the government set up peace talk with Red Cloud however he stormed out when he learnt two more forts were planned to be built along the trail

• He started attacking soldiers and other workers building forts and was joing be other Sioux leaders, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse

Cause of Red Cloud's War 1866-68

• The descovery of Gold in montana meant that there needed to be a new connection between the new gold fields and the Oregon trail

• This led miner John Bozeman to establish the Bozeman trail

• However this ran through the hunting grounds of the Sioux which broke the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851

Fetterman Massacre (Red Cloud's War)

• In 1866 Captain William Fetterman and a group of eighty soldiers left Fort Kearney to provide protection for a wagon bringing wood for building

They road into a trap and everybody was killed this was later called "Fetterman's Trap"

• The Indians surrounded Fort Kearney in a ring with armed warriors so the US army couldn't move outside the fort and travellers could not move along the Bozeman trail

Why was Red Cloud so successful

• Managed to unit several Sioux bands as well as some of the Arapaho and Cheyenne

• Got them to fight during winter when they were not accustomed to fighting

How was the stalemate resolved

• In March 1867 the US government set up the Peace Commission to try and solve the Indian problem once and for all

• It was agreed that the peace treaties made with the Indians had not worked so the government split the Indian tribes up and put them on separate smaller reservations

The Forty Laramie Treaty 1868

• US government agreed to abandon three forts and the Bozeman trail

• Red Cloud agreed to take his people to a reservation in Dakota

The Dawes Act 1887

• Divided reservations into farms of 160 acres for each adult and 80 acres for each child in a family

• The rest was sold to white settlers

The Oklahoma land race 1889

2 million acres in the former Indian territory of Oklahoma was opened up to settles

Mistakes made by Custer in the The Battle of Little Big Horn 1876

General Custer instead of waiting for reinforcement attacked the largest Indian camp ever seen on the great plains

He split his men up into three groups (Lead by himself Major Reno and Captain Benteen) in order to surround the Indians

How did the Indians defeat whites in the Battle of Little Big Horn

• However one group (Reno) was swarmed by Indians at the start and another group (Benteen) went to support them but ended up being kept at a hill top by hundreds of Indians

• This left Custer alone and without support they engaged in a fight to the death they retreated to comparative safety only to attacked by 1000 Indian warriors with the latest Winchester repeating rifles

Causes of the Great Sioux War

• Thousands of gold prospectors were swarming over the sacred Black Hills of Dakota looking for gold breaking the second Fort Laramie peace treaty

• Sitting bull had a vision of white men falling into a Sioux camp which he interpreted as victory

• December 1975 the government ordered the Sioux to return to their reservation within 60 days after which they would be considered hostile. However appalling winter weather made the command impossible to follow even if the wanted to

• Many Indians could not settle onto smaller reservations where their nomadic life was over

Reasons why there were problems with law and order in the west

• Law enforcers could not travel around quickly

• New towns (mining and cow) sprang up quickly government didn't have enough trained law enforcers

• Conflict between people following different occupations on the same land (miners and mountain men)

• Conflict between different ethnic groups

• After the civil war many ex-soldiers roamed the west

• Rugged Individualism: looked after themselves sorted out own problems many owned guns

How was law and order kept in mining towns

• Far from federal law officers minder set up their own courts which dispensed rough justice and were often corrupt until professional miners moved in and it became more formalised with appointed sheriff and recorded land claims. However trial were quick and justice was rarely fair.

• Vigilante comities were set up to deal with crime

How did the government take away the power of the chiefs

• 1871 US government stopped signing treaties with tribal chiefs

• Early 1880s set up special councils among tribes which took over chiefs power

• 1883 special courts set up took over chiefs powers to judge and punish Indians

• 1885 Indians came under federal law

How did the American Civil War lead to the end of Plains Indians lifestyle and encourage migrants?

- Slaves and soldiers needed homes, cheaper homes with farming land to start a new life.

- Soldiers withdrawn from Plains > lawlessness

- Land grants given to those who didn't fight against the North or US. So more land given to whites and less land for Indians.

- North could make decisions so signed the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 and built the railroad. > buffalo hunters came, transport cattle easily (less grass for buffalo) > cheaper travel so more moved to the Plains > more towns set up so less land > more cattle drives > buffalo have to move away from railroad and Plains land >

How did the spread of cattle ranching lead to Plains Indians losing the Plains?

Ranchers wanted land to graze their cattle. Cattle drives scared away game (buffalo on pasture and hunting lands). Cut down PI living space.

How did development of homesteading lead to end of PI's lifestyle?

Homesteaders wanted land to farm so fenced off land. Land that had been buffalo pasture and hunting land was now restricted so cut down living space. US army move Indians onto reservations to keep them same. Settlers scared away buffalo.

How did the Transcontinental Railroad lead to end of Indian way of life?

- 6,400 acres were given to each company for every mile. Less land

- government payed $16,000 per mile so people were being highly paid for this work, more settled or worked.

- brought in buffalo hunters for food.

- brought in more cattle so scared away buffalo with less land for grazing

- created more towns (more settlers, less land for Indians)

- made travelling easier and cheaper for white settlers.

- connected east and west together so west integrated into US and manifest destiny achieved.