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The Last West and the New South (1865-1900)

Post War Expansion

• Regions of settlement:

  • Great Plains

  • Rocky Mountains

  • Western Plateau ("Great American Desert")

  • Average rainfall: Less than 15 inches annually

• Impact on American Indians:

  • Loss of land

  • Changes to way of life

  • Decline in buffalo population

The Mining Frontier

• Key Events:

  • Pike’s Peak, CO (1859) – Gold rush leading to 100,000 settlers

  • Comstock Lode (1859) – $340 million in gold and silver, leading to boom towns:

    • Homestead Mine

    • Black Hills, Dakotas - "Billion Dollar Mine"

    • Notable boom towns: Homestead, SD; Virginia City, NV (associated with Mark Twain)

• Economic Impact:

  • By the early 1860s, all easily extractable gold and silver was gone (placer mining led to ghost towns)

  • Urban centers like San Francisco and Denver grew

  • Introduction of big business and dynamite changes the mining sector in the 1870s

• Social and Political Impacts:

  • Social: Nativism bad experiences for immigrants

  • Political: Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)

  • Economic impact: Tensions over gold vs. silver, inflation fueling the Populist Movement

The Cattle Frontier

• Texas as a Model:

  • Use of Mexican tools and cultural influences

  • Longhorn cattle thrived in dry conditions

• Economic Transformation:

  • Disappearance of buffalo and soaring population increased demand for beef

  • Introduction of refrigerated cars enabled shipping beef to major cities like Chicago & St. Louis

  • Prices for cattle increased from $3-5 antebellum to $30-50 postbellum

• Influential Trails:

  • Cattle drives from Texas via Chisholm and Goodnight-Loving Trails

  • The “Long Drive” and the Open Range (2/5 of Texas used for cattle grazing)

• Decline Factors:

  • Invention of barbed wire

  • Severe winter losses in 1885-1886 (85% cattle loss)

  • Drought and harsh winters in 1886 & 1887

The Farming Frontier

• Homestead Act (1862):

  • Provided 160 acres of free land to families that farmed it for 5 years and established residency for 6 months

  • Result: Over 500,000 families settled on homesteads

• Challenges Facing Settlers:

  • Severe weather, lack of water, cold, high disease rates

  • Innovations to address issues:

    • Barbed wire for fencing

    • Windmills for water access

    • Dry farming techniques to utilize available moisture

    • Dams and irrigation systems

  • Economic Difficulties:

    • Falling crop prices and rising costs led to failures

The Closing of the Frontier

• Opening of the Oklahoma Territory (1889):

  • Land Rush initiated with "boomers" and "sooners" rushing to claim land

• End of the "frontier":

  • Turner’s Frontier Thesis (1893) theorized that settling the frontier was a social leveler that encouraged democracy

  • Reactions to the thesis raised concerns about potential class divisions similar to Europe

• Lasting Effects:

  • Movement to urban areas and industrialization increased

  • Decline of rural America alongside the closing of the western frontier

American Indians in the West

• Demographics:

  • 2/3 of remaining western tribes lived on the Great Plains

• Impact of the Horse:

  • Transformation in lifestyles and hunting patterns o Impact of buffalo depletion:

• Policies and Conflicts:

  • Reservation policies led to significant loss of land

  • Indian Wars, notable battles:

    • Sand Creek, Fetterman Massacre, Little Big Horn, Meeker Massacre, Wounded Knee (marked end of Indian Wars)

• Assimilation Efforts:

  • "A Century of Dishonor" (Helen Hunt Jackson) advocated for education and assimilation

  • Dawes Severalty Act (1887):

    • Aimed to break tribal organizations; offered 160 acres per family with citizenship rights after 25 years

    • Result: 47 million acres lost to tribes

The Conservation Movement

• Growth of State and National Parks:

  • Yellowstone (1872) and Yosemite (1890) established

• Creation of Forest Reserves and the Federal Forest Service:

  • 33 million acres protected under Harrison & Cleveland’s administrations

• John Muir and the Sierra Club (1892):

  • Increased awareness and push to preserve national areas from human interference

The New South

• Economic Development:

  • Growth in industries such as steel (AL), lumber (TN), tobacco (VA), textiles (GA, NC, SC)

  • Expansion of railroads, most financial growth came from the North

• Challenges:

  • Continued poverty, lack of education, and limited skills

  • Weak political leadership

• Agricultural Changes:

  • Limited diversification; introduction of new crop rotation strategies (G.W. Carver - peanuts, sweet potatoes, soybeans)

  • Plight of poor farmers led to growth of Southern Farmers’ Alliances (segregated)

Segregation & The Rise of Jim Crow

• Effects of Redeemer Governments:

  • Rise of Democratic redeemers supported by businesses; promoted white supremacist policies

• Judicial Actions:

  • Civil Rights Cases (1883) concluded Congress couldn’t regulate discrimination in intrastate commerce

  • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): upheld "Separate but equal" doctrine, leading to Jim Crow laws

• Loss of Civil Rights:

  • Methods used to suppress black voter registration (literacy tests, poll taxes, grandfather clauses)

  • Vigilante actions and lynching were common

• Responses and Migration:

  • Formation of International Migration Society to assist African American emigration

  • Pap Singleton’s “Exodusters” led a migration to Kansas and Oklahoma

  • Prominent figures: Ida B. Wells, Booker T. Washington, and W.E.B. DuBois

Farm Problems: North, South, and West

• Challenges in Agriculture:

  • Industrialization drastically altered farming practices

  • Sustained falling prices and competition from abroad

  • Impact on loans, mortgages, and rising costs

Fighting Back

• National Grange Movement:

  • Founded by Oliver Kelley in 1868, aimed at uniting farmers

  • Formation of cooperatives and advocacy for “Granger Laws” to regulate railroads

• Legal and Legislative Actions:

  • Interstate Commerce Act (1886) passed to govern railroad rates

  • Outgrowth of Wabash case led to creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

• Growth of Farmers’ Alliances:

  • Over 1 million members by 1890; Ocala Platform proposed reforms:

    • Direct election of Senators

    • Lower tariff rates

    • Graduated income tax

    • Federal banking system

  • These reforms later influenced the Populist Movement

Short Answer Review

• Farmers' grievances during the Gilded Age reflected in their struggles for economic rights and independence.

• Evidence of farmers' hardships includes the increasing burden of debts and losses due to falling prices and competition.

• The quote about sinking into a servile condition exemplifies the farmers' feelings of despair and loss of autonomy amidst growing economic pressures.