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