2.1-2.3 Quiz Review Pt.1

Three Kingdoms of Great West

1. Mining (1848 - 1900)

2. Cowboys & Cattle Kingdom (1865-1890)

3. Farming Boom (1865-1890)

All grew with Railroad's connecting Eastern markets with Western Resources!

1848 - California Gold Rush

- thousands who rushed to California.

- Caused a booming population, thriving agriculture, and a corporate mining industry.

- was over by 1865

- other minerals still being mined - search moved inland

1859 -Comstock Lode

Nevada gold and silver mine discovered by Henry Comstock in 1859

Vigilante justice

was common - citizens take law into own hands

Ghost Towns

abandoned settlements

Boomtown

a fast-growing community

Mining Becomes Industrialized

Post-Civil War - fewer individual prospectors

More corporations

Pollution - Conflict w/farmers/ranchers

Origins of Cowboys

- Former Confed Soldiers

- African Americans.

- Most Mexican

- There before Americans

- "Vaqueros" - Worked for ranchers taking care of their cattle

Ranching in the West

- The activity or business of breeding cattle on a ranch.

- The westward expansion allowed for the development of large farms. Long Drive was the movement of cattle from Texas up to northern RR.

Ranchers: "19th C. Cattle Kingdom"

Free! Grazing the Great Plains

Texas longhorn cattle adapted to the harsh climate of the Great Plains.

open range- vast land owned by gov't

- free for grazing.

Ranching Becomes Big Business

"Range wars" broke out among ranchers, sheep ranchers, farmers competing for land.

Railroads Build the "Cattle Kingdom"

Beef in short supply due to Civil War.

RR's connect masses (demand) in E. to West (supply)

Ranching Dies

- In 1887 a massive blizzard hit the west - resulting in the "The Great Die-Up," - 90% of open range cattle died.

- Barbed wire..

- Harsh Winter's/ drought 1885-1889

- Competition overseas

Farmers In The West

Late 19th C. few live on GREAT PLAINS

- "Great American Desert"

- Treeless, arid, extreme temps, hostile N.A.'s

- ISOLATED!

1862 - Pacific Railway Act

- Build A Transcontinental Railroad

- Begun by Lincoln & Congress.

- Join the continent - Pacific / Atlantic

- May 1869 completed met in the middle -Promontory Point Utah

- Expanded railway system but led to corruption

Wheat Belt - Farming Became Successful Because...

Technological Innovations

McCormick- Reaper (1834)

John Deere - Steel Plow (1837)

Meikle- Threshing Machine (1834)

Farming Techniques

Dry Farming - deep seed planting - more moisture

Windmill - Water for cattle

Panic of 1873 in the West

Financial panic in which banks closed and the stock market crashed

Hard Times For Farmers & Cattle Industry

Hard Times For Farmers & Cattle Industry

1880s Disaster Severe Drought

Crops destroyed - soil = dust

Competition in other nations growing wheat = low prices

Farmers React

Grow more - drops $'s more

Take out mortgage on farm - $$ to operate

1/3 lose farms - become tenant farmers

Barbed wire, Joseph Glidden

- He marketed the first barbed wire, solving the problem of how to fence cattle in the vast open spaces of the Great Plains where lumber was scarce, thus changing the American West.

- Helps Kill the Long Drives North!

- Protects farm crops!

Long Drives North

The journey of cattle herds from Texas to northern railheads, led by cowboys. This practice facilitated the transport of cattle to markets in the northern United States.

Agrarian Crusade 1865-1900

Began as the Grange and ended as the Populist party. It essentially advocated the end of Laissez-faire and demanded government regulation.

Laissez-faire

Idea that government should play as small a role as possible in economic affairs.

Gilded Age 1865-1900​

Laissez-faire​

Monopolies - Trusts​

Bad for consumers​

Big Business Corruption of Government Officials ​

State and Federal (esp. Congress)​

Economic Panics - Depressions​

Granger Movement & Laws​ (1867)

the agrarian movement organized in the 1870s as a protest against railroad power over the farmers

Populist Party (1891)​

People's Party; political party formed in 1891 to advocate a larger money supply and other economic reforms

Understanding the Tariff (Basic Rule)​

Democrats - Down AND Republicans Raise​

National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry

- Founded by Oliver H. Kelley

- Sought to break hold of railroad owners and middlemen who kept raising the cost of farming by pocketing their profits.

- Origins: social, agricultural development​

- Success in (Midwest) Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minn.​

1870's - Granger Movement​

Social organization/gatherings​

- Dances, self-help - ag. education

Estab. "cooperatives"

- ​for producers and consumers​

- Farmer-owned & run not-for-profit!​

- Cut out the "middle-man" - merchant!​

Becomes political w/Panic of 1873​

- Elects people to state offices​

Pass "Granger Laws" promoting farm interests.​

- Regulation of Railroads (esp.) - rate control! ​

Panic of 1873

- Resulted in deflation during Grant's Pres. (1869-1877)​

​- Western mining states & farmers ​

- Want more silver to monetary system to create inflation.​

- Conservatives feared inflation & instituted deflationary policies

Crime of '73

- federal gov't demonetizes silver ​

- stopped coining silver.​

- Made depression worse

Bland-Allison Act (1878)

In 1878, this act allowed a limited coinage of silver each month at the standard silver-to-gold ratio of 16 to 1

1873 - New Political Parties Emerge!​

Ignatius Donnelly (Grange member)

1873 - called meeting of all Grange members. ​

- Create Anti-Monopoly Party ​

1874 - Partner w/MN Democrats - close to winning all state offices!​

1884- became a national party​

1874 - Greenback Party

- Response of farmer stress from Panic of 1873​

​- More "greenbacks" in the $$ supply!

Munn v. Illinois (1877)

Ruling: Established that states may regulate privately owned businesses (RR's) in the public's interest

Wabash v. Illinois (1886)

Declared state-passed Granger laws that regulated interstate commerce unconstitutional.

1886 - Granger Laws Unconstitutional! ​

Response: Granger's push for Fed. gov't to regulate RR's!

Interstate Commerce Act (1887)

- Law passed to regulate railroad and other interstate businesses

- Regulate rates BUT had limited power!

From Farmers to Political Party​

- 1870's/80's: Farm Alliances Grow​

- S / N / W regional networks of farmers​

- Very similar to Grange​

- Join into a National Alliance

1880's - Agricultural Depression Continues

Southern Farmers' Alliance & National Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union call for a meeting.​

1890 - Ocala (FL!) Demands

Call for both Dem's & Repub's to adopt demands for econ. & political reform​

1890 Elections - Demands Go Unheard​

Neither party responds to their demands​

1892- Omaha, NE​

- Alliance leaders call for a new party​

- Populist Party formed!​

- Choose frmr. Greenback Candidate James Weaver for President!​