The Great Plains and the New South

Flashcards covering the settlement of the Great Plains, federal policies, the rise of industrial farming and mining, the cattle boom, and the development of the 'New South' including Jim Crow laws.

Great Plains

A region with yearly rainfall sufficient to sustain grassland but not many trees, originally considered by some as a "perpetual desert."

John Wesley Powell

Official who issued a report questioning whether the land beyond the easternmost portion of the plains could support small farming.

Charles Dana Wilber

Author who rejected the idea of the Great Plains as a desert, claiming there is no desert anywhere except by man's permission or neglect.

Transcontinental railroad

Considered the gateway to the West, it linked the East and West coast of North America and was completed in May 1869.

Union Pacific Company

A railroad company that utilized Irish workers for construction and was later involved in the Crédit Mobilier scandal.

Promontory Point, Utah

The meeting point where Central and Union Pacific crews connected the transcontinental railroad in May 1869.

Crédit Mobilier

A fake construction company created by the Union Pacific to funnel money into their own pockets, exposed in 1872.

Homesteaders

Migrant farmers named for the agricultural "homestead" they hoped to establish on land west of the Mississippi River.

Homestead Act

Legislation that granted free $160$-acre lots to settlers, many of whom were unaware the land was difficult to farm in harsh climates.

Sod houses

Homes built of dirt and grass by plains settlers due to a lack of trees; they often hosted bugs and rodents.

Patrons of Husbandry (The Grange)

An association founded by Oliver H. Kelley in 1867 to provide educational and social activities for isolated farmers; it later formed cooperatives.

Munn v. Illinois

A court case where the victory for railroad price regulation was held, though it was later reversed by the Supreme Court.

Wabash v. Illinois

Supreme Court case that reversed earlier victories by striking down state regulatory laws concerning railroads.

Julia Robinson

Campaigner for women's suffrage in Kansas who was taught by her parents that girls had as much right to help the government as boys.

Comstock Lode

Discovered in 1859, this was the first major discovery of silver, yielding around $350$ million worth of silver.

The Gilded Age

A term for the era coined by Samuel Clemens, who turned to writing after failing to find a fortune in Nevada mining.

Western Federation of Miners

A labor union formed in 1893 that attracted $50,000$ members but excluded Chinese and Mexican workers.

Fredrick Weyerhauser

A lumber mogul who bought $900,000$ acres of timberland to end the chaotic competition of small logging firms.

Chisholm Trail

A $1,500$ mile long route used by cowboys to drive cattle from Texas to Oklahoma for rail shipment to Chicago.

Jim Perry

A Black cowboy who expressed frustration with racial discrimination, noting his race prevented him from becoming a division boss.

Refrigerated railroad cars

An innovation that guaranteed meat could reach eastern consumers without spoiling, facilitating the rise of the cattle industry.

Convict lease system

A southern labor system where prisoners, mostly African Americans, were hired out to private companies for industrial work.

Jim Crow Laws

Legally sanctioned segregation and disenfranchisement techniques used in the South, including poll taxes and literacy tests.

Plessy v. Ferguson

The 1896 Supreme Court case that legalized segregation under the doctrine of "separate but equal."