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Chapter 16: Conquering a Continent (1844-1877)

The Great West

The Republican Vision

• Andrew Jackson's Financial Policies:
  • The destruction of the National Bank led to widespread financial chaos in the United States.
  • This financial instability resulted in the failure to fund a transcontinental railroad, leaving various regions of the country disconnected.
• Economy During the Civil War:
  • Despite the strife of the Civil War, protective tariffs were increased, resulting in significant tariff revenues.

The Union and the World

• Damages Collected from England:
  • The U.S. collected approximately $15 million in damages from England for allowing Confederate ships to be constructed during the Civil War.
• Expansion of U.S. Naval Influence:
  • Demand for more refueling points in the Caribbean and Pacific among the U.S. Navy and private shippers.
• Treaty of Kanagawa (1854):
  • U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry compelled Japan to open its ports to American trade and to allow refueling of U.S. ships.
• American Economic Imperialism:
  • The U.S. adopted a policy of economic imperialism in Latin America and Asia, inspired by France's military actions in Mexico.
  • Regions targeted for expansion included Japan, Hawaii, Panama, China, and the Philippines.
• Burlingame Treaty:
  • Guaranteed the rights of missionaries in China and established official terms for Chinese laborer emigration.

The West: Settlement of the Last Frontier

• Industrial Development Locations:
  • Most large-scale industrial growth occurred in the Northeast and Midwest in the post-Civil War era.
• Pre-1860 Characteristics of the West:
  • The western territories were largely undeveloped, arid, and non-arable.
• Transformation of the Great Plains (35 years period):
  • Buffalo herds were nearly wiped out.
  • Open lands were fenced in by homesteaders and ranchers.
  • Establishment of new towns and railroads led to environmental damage.
• Exodusters:
  • Refers to African Americans migrating from the southern states to the west.
• Impact on American Indians:
  • Native Americans were displaced, killed, and severely undermined by these large-scale settlements and resource hunting.

The Mining Frontier

• Gold and Silver Strikes:
  • Significant strikes in states such as Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, and South Dakota prompted mass western migration.
  • Nevada experienced a gold boom that led to its statehood in 1864; similar trends followed for Idaho and Montana.
• Boomtowns:
  • Rich mineral strikes resulted in the immediate creation of towns renowned for their saloons, dance halls, and occurrences of vigilante justice.
  • Many boomtowns turned into ghost towns shortly after the depletion of gold or silver.
• Immigration to Work Mines:
  • Foreign miners, particularly from Europe, Latin America, and China, came to the U.S. for work; by the 1860s, one-third of miners were from China.
  • Discrimination increased against these immigrant workers.
  • California enacted a Miner’s Tax, targeting foreign-born miners.
• Chinese Exclusion Act (1882):
  • This was the first U.S. law restricting immigration based on nationality or race, specifically prohibiting further immigration by Chinese laborers.

The Cattle Frontier

• Economic Realization of Open Grasslands:
  • Ranchers recognized the vast economic potential of the grasslands extending from Texas to Canada post-Civil War.
  • Many practices in cattle ranching were borrowed from Mexican traditions.
  • Being a rancher was seen as easily accessible as cattle and grass were free resources.
  • Cattle fetched high prices in Chicago.
• Cowboys:
  • Many cowboys, who often were African Americans or of Mexican descent, earned wages of about one dollar a day for herding cattle.
• End of Long Cattle Drives (1880s):
  • Factors leading to the decline included:
  • Overgrazing of lands.
  • Harsh blizzards.
  • Barbed wire fencing restricting cattle's access to frontier grazing lands.

The Farming Frontier

• The Homestead Act (1862):
  • The Act led to approximately 500,000 families acquiring land.
  • However, the most desirable lands were ultimately controlled by railroad companies and land speculators.
• Challenges Faced by Farmers:
  • Significant issues included adverse weather conditions, declining crop prices, and the high costs associated with agricultural machinery.
  • By 1900, around two-thirds of homesteaders had not succeeded in maintaining their claims.

The Closing of the Frontier

• Oklahoma Territory Settlement (1889):
  • The territories previously reserved for Native Americans were opened for American settlement.
• Decline of Rural America:
  • As of 1890, indications emerged that the western frontier was closing, coinciding with the decline of rural dominance in America.
• American Indians in the West:
  • A diverse range of Native American tribes resided in the West, with about two thirds inhabiting the Great Plains and characterized as mostly nomadic hunter-gatherers skilled in horseback riding and buffalo hunting.
• Reservation Policy:
  • Andrew Jackson’s Indian removal policy aimed to isolate tribes away from American settlers, a plan disrupted by increasing U.S. migration into these territories.

Indian Wars

• Conflict with Settlers:
  • An influx of miners, ranchers, and homesteaders onto Native American lands triggered violence and led to conflicts over gold and territory.
• Indian Appropriation Act of 1871:
  • This Act nullified existing treaties and terminated the federal government's recognition of tribes as independent nations.
• The Ghost Dance Movement:
  • The Ghost Dance symbolized the final resistance from Native Americans; it saw significant figures like Sitting Bull, a Sioux medicine man, losing his life during a failed arrest.
  • The Wounded Knee Massacre, where the U.S. Army killed over 200 men, women, and children, marked the conclusion of the Indian Wars.

Assimilationists

• Century of Dishonor (1881) by Helen Hunt Jackson:
  • This book garnered sympathy for Native Americans among Eastern U.S. populations but also promoted ideas of assimilation, pushing for an end to Native cultures.
• Dawes Severalty Act (1887):
  • This Act aimed to dismantle tribal organization under the belief it hindered Native Americans from “civilization.”
  • It divided tribal lands into individual plots of up to 160 acres.
  • Those who remained on these lands for 25 years and adopted “civilized” habits were granted U.S. citizenship.
  • Consequently, much of the most fertile lands were acquired by white settlers.
  • The Native American population decreased drastically to 200,000 by 1900 due to disease and poverty, with the Dawes Act being largely deemed ineffective for Native Americans.
• 20th Century Changes:
  • The federal government granted U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans in 1924.
  • The Indian Reorganization Act (1934) promoted the return of tribal governance and cultural reinstatement.

Women in the West

• Demographics of Early Settlers:
  • The early rugged occupations of miners, lumbermen, and cowboys were predominantly male.
• Changes in Homesteading Dynamics:
  • Homesteading was more oriented towards families; single women filed 5-20% of land claims.
  • Settlers displayed intolerance towards Mormons in the West.
  • In 1870, under pressure from Mormon women in Utah, women gained full voting rights, second only to Wyoming, enhancing political power in the region.
  • Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon, a physician and Mormon plural wife, became the first woman to serve in a state senate.
  • Women in Utah faced a mix of extreme frontier hardships alongside newfound opportunities.

The Latino Southwest

• Property Rights for Spanish-speaking Landowners (1848):
  • Upon the conclusion of the U.S.-Mexican War, Spanish-speaking landowners in California and the Southwest were guaranteed property rights and U.S. citizenship.
  • Nevertheless, legal battles often resulted in the loss of lands to incoming Anglo settlers.
• Migration of Mexican Americans:
  • Many Mexican Americans sought employment in sugar beet fields, mines in Colorado, and