Moving West

California and Anti-Chinese Sentiments

• Spanish Settlement

  • Began in California in the 1700s with the establishment of Catholic missions.

  • Population growth in California was significantly driven by the Gold Rush of 1849, causing conflicts between settlers and Californios, leading many to lose their land and businesses.

• Impact on Mexico and Mexican Americans

  • Mexican and Mexican Americans formed a poor working class, often living in barrios and working as migrant workers.

• Chinese Immigration

  • Attracted by the Gold Rush, many Chinese immigrants arrived via Angel Island; about 200,000 by 1880.

  • Predominantly laborers, with 90% working for the Central Pacific Railroad, completed in 1869, and many relocating to San Francisco's 'Chinatowns.'

  • Chinese communities organized into groups such as "Six Companies" and began functioning as political machines, yet many faced exploitation.

  • Increases in hostility due to competition for jobs; women were often forced into prostitution.

  • Hostility towards Chinese increased, especially from the Democratic Party.

• Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

  • Congress banned Chinese immigration for ten years and denied Chinese nationals already in the US the right to naturalization.

  • Law eventually became permanent in 1902, leading to a 40% decline in the Chinese population; repealed in 1943.

Migration After the Civil War

• Homestead Act of 1862

  • Aimed to promote economic development in the West; settlers could buy 160 acres for $18 with residency and improvement requirements (live/work for 5 years).

  • Often insufficient for grazing cattle due to land limitations.

• Timber Culture Act of 1873

  • Allowed homesteaders to receive an additional 160 acres for planting 40 acres of trees.

• Desert Land Act of 1877

  • Enabled settlers to purchase 640 acres for $1.25/acre if some land was irrigated within three years.

Mining Boom (1850-1890s)

• Key minerals mined included gold and silver across various locations:

  • Gold: Pikes Peak, CO; Silver: Leadville, CO; Comstock Lode, NV; Black Hills, Dakota; copper in Montana.

  • Early miners sought immediate wealth, often with little success.

Ranching in the West

• By 1865, approximately 5 million cattle were in the West for shipment to eastern markets.

  • Cattle drives were organized from grazing areas to railroad centers to facilitate transport.

• Challenges for Ranchers

  • Native American raids, drought, speculation in cattle prices, theft, and competition with sheep breeders led to conflicts over grazing lands.

Farming Conditions

• Railroads greatly influenced westward movement, offering land to settlers at low prices and extending easy credit.

• Problems Faced by Farmers

  • Need for enclosing land with barbed wire.

  • Scarcity of water, requiring deep wells or extensive irrigation, necessitating government aid often unavailable when needed.

  • Declining crop prices leading to reverse migration and creation of ghost towns.

Romanticized Life Out West

• Depicted through various forms of art and literature:

  • Rocky Mountain School of Art and novels portraying cowboys, freedom, and violence.

  • Celebrated by Buffalo Bill Cody and Annie Oakley in Wild West Shows.

  • Influential literary works by Mark Twain (e.g., Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn) and Theodore Roosevelt (The Winning of the West).

• Frontier Closure Announcement (1890)

  • Declaration by the government that the frontier was 'closed,' indicating a shift in American expansion.

  • Frederick Jackson Turner argued that the frontier promoted nationalism and individualism but posed a warning for future expansion beyond US borders.

The Uninhabited Frontier Myth

• Reality of the Frontier

  • Native Americans were present and integral to the land, with buffalo crucial to their economy.

  • The Indigenous populations were significantly impacted by disease, particularly smallpox, and the decimation of buffalo herds.

• Native American Policy

  • Strategies focused on recognizing Native groups as sovereign and honoring treaties, amidst growing pressures for land.

  • Establishment of reservations in the 1850s driven by land desires.

• Concentration Policy (1851)

  • Assigned tribes to specific plots of land; this policy endured until 1867, contributing to the segregation of tribes.

Indian Wars

• Conflicts intensified in the West, involving notable battles and key players.

• Significance of the Bozeman Trail

  • Played a critical role in the conflicts between settlers and Native Americans.

Ghost Dance Movement and Wounded Knee

• Wovoka's Vision

  • Inspired a movement among Plains Indians hoping to restore lands and buffalo populations through the Ghost Dance.

• Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)

  • The US army's fear of the growing movement led to a tragic massacre of 200 individuals (men, women, children), marking an end to significant Native resistance.

Assimilation Policies and the Dawes Act (1887)

• Government promoted assimilation, undermining tribal structures.

• Dawes Severalty Act of 1887

  • Gradual elimination of tribal land ownership, granting 160 acres to family heads, with citizenship rights contingent upon land management skills.

  • Native American children were educated in Eastern boarding schools to adopt American societal norms.

  • Effective enforcement was lacking, leading to widespread corruption and disconnected land ownership.