Module 2: Changes on the Western Frontier
• Great Plains – grassland extending through the west-central portion of the U.S.
• Served as home to many Native American tribes
• Plains Indians Way of Life
• Horses – allowed tribes to abandon their farming villages to roam the plains and hunt buffalo
• Buffalo – provided many of their basic needs such as teepees, clothing, shoes, blankets, food, thread, tools, and toys
• Family Life – lived in small extended family groups with ties to other bands that spoke the same language
Spirits – believed spirits controlled events in the natural world
• Settlers Push Westward – argued that Native Americans had forfeited their rights to the land because they hadn’t settled down to “improve” it thus it was open for the taking
• Lure of Gold and Silver – 1849 California & 1858 Colorado
• Homestead Act – 1862, offered 160 acres of free land to anyone who would live on and cultivate it for five years
• Pacific Railroad Act – 1862, granted government loans and huge tracts of land to the Union Pacific (Omaha) and Central Pacific (Sacramento) Railroads to build the first transcontinental RR
Completed in 1869
• Government Restricts Native Americans
• Reservations – land set aside for Native Americans
• Sand Creek Massacre – John Chivington led U.S. soldiers into the Cheyanne encampment in the Colorado Territory on Nov 29, 1864
• Slaughtered 150 Native Americans, mostly women and children
• Bozeman Trail – popular trail traveled by settlers that ran through Sioux hunting grounds, sight of many conflicts
• Battle of Hundred Slain (Fetterman Massacre) – Crazy Horse ambushes and kills over 80 soldiers
• Treaty of Ft. Laramie – 1868, in return for the closing of the Bozeman Trail, the Sioux had to promise to stay on the reservation along the Missouri River
• Many Sioux leaders didn’t support the treaty, the Sioux still used their sacred hunting grounds, and U.S. government didn’t provide the protection or supplies it promised
• Bloody Battles Continue
• Custer’s Last Stand – Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry was sent to the Black Hills to protect settlers during the gold rush
• Battle of Little Big Horn – June 25, 1876; after riding all day, Custer led his men into a trap set by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse
• Within an hour Custer and all of his men had been killed by the Sioux and Cheyenne
• American people were outraged
• Army continued to raid Native American camps and slaughter the buffalo ultimately forcing Sitting Bull and his people to surrender in 1885
• Assimilation – plan under which Native Americans would give up their beliefs and way of life and become part of white culture
• Dawes Act – law enacted in 1887 that was intended to “Americanize” Native Americans by giving reservation land to individual owners
• Whites ended up taking most of the land, leaving useless farmland for Native Americans
• Educating Native Americans – Native American children were educated by whites and taught that their traditional way of life was backward and superstitious
• End of Native American Conflicts
• Destruction of the Buffalo – perhaps the most significant blow to the plains Indians
• Whites wiped out the Buffalo for sport or for their fur
• Ghost Dance – ritual intended to bring about the restoration of tribal life
• Movement spread quickly alarming military leaders who then ordered the arrest of Sitting Bull
• As the police attempt to arrest Sitting Bull, shots are fired and Sitting Bull is killed
• Battle of Wounded Knee – Dec 20, 1890; 300 starving, freezing, and largely unarmed Sioux are massacred by U.S. soldiers near Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota
• Marked the end of the Indian Wars
• Cattle Becomes Big Business – with the Plains void of Native Americans, cattle become plentiful and ranching becomes big business from Texas to Kansas
• Longhorn – breed of sturdy long-horned cattle brought by the Spanish to Mexico and suited for the dry conditions of the Southwest
• Mexican Vaqueros (cowboys) – taught American cowboys how to care for cattle, appropriate attire, and skills needed to be a cowboy
• Railroads – allowed cattle drivers to sell their cattle easier as the demand for beef was in the East
• Abilene, KS – hotbed for cattle drivers from the South
• Chisholm Trail – major cattle route from San Antonio, TX through Oklahoma to Abilene, KS
• The Real Cowboy – according to American myth, they rode the open range, fighting and shooting villains
• Worked 10-14 hour days on the ranch and 18 or more on the trail
• Avg. age was 24, most were broken down by 40
• Expert rider and roper, but rarely, if ever, used a gun
• Famous cowboys such as Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane never dealt with cows
• Roundup – began in the spring when cowboys from each ranch rode the open range herding and separating cattle based on brand
• Long Drive – moving cattle over trails to a shipping center
• Lasted about 3 months
• One cowboy for every 250-300 head of cattle
• Crew included a cook, wrangler, and trail boss
• End of the Cattle Frontier – caused by 3 factors
• Natural Disasters
• 1883 drought hit the overgrazed Great Plains turning the land to a rock hard desert
• 1887 worst blizzard in American history hit killing 40 to 90% of ranchers’ livestock
• Overgrazing of the Land
• Barbed Wire – invented by Joseph Glidden, sold thousands of pounds to ranchers to help keep their cattle from straying
• Ranchers turned to smaller herds of high-grade stock that would yield more meat per animal
• Railroads opened the West as they were given large chunks of free land from the government in order to lay track
• Government Support for Settlement
• Homesteaders – a settler on the free land made available by the Homestead Act
• Only about 10% of the land was actually settled by the families for who it was intended
• States like Oklahoma and Kansas offered land giveaways attracting thousands of settlers
• Settlers Meet the Challenge of the Plains
• Dugouts – due to the lack of trees homes were dug into the side of ravines or small hills
• Soddy – home built of blocks of turf
• Women served many roles
• Had to feed and clothe the family
• Work beside the men in the fields (wheat)
• Raise children, livestock, served as doctor and teacher
• Laundry, make soap and candles, and haul water
• Settlers Meet the Challenge of the Plains
• Dugouts – due to the lack of trees homes were dug into the side of ravines or small hills
• Soddy – home built of blocks of turf
• Women served many roles
• Had to feed and clothe the family
• Work beside the men in the fields (wheat)
• Raise children, livestock, served as doctor and teacher
• Laundry, make soap and candles, and haul water
• Technical and Education Support for Farmers
• 1837 John Deere invents the steel plow
• 1847 Cyrus McCormick begins mass producing his reaping machine
• Morrill Land Grant Acts (1860 & 1890) – gave federal land to the states to help finance agricultural colleges
• Famers Struggle with Debt
• Had to borrow money to buy new, expensive equipment
• Mortgaged their land to buy more property
• Bonanza Farms – large single crop farms operated mainly by railroad companies
• Increasing transportation costs
• Problems for Farmers – late 1800s
• Deflation – took hold of the economy, amount of money in circulation decreases and the value of every dollar increases
• Good news for consumers, bad news for farmers
• Inflation – amount of money in circulation increases and the value of each dollar falls
• Favored by farmers
• Railroads – due to lack of competition in the West RRs could charge outrageously high prices to transport farmers’ goods
• Grange (Patrons of Husbandry) – a social and educational organization through which farmers attempted to combat the power of the RRs
Created by Oliver Kelley in 1867
• A farmer buys 100 acres of land for $1,000 at 8% interest.
• During a period of inflation:
• Inflation Rate is 5%, farmers then will actually pay a real interest rate \n of 3% (8%-5%), which they'll like but the bank won't.
• During a period of deflation:
• Deflation Rate is 5%, farmers then will actually pay a real interest rate \n of 13% (8-(-5)), which they won't like but the banks will.
• Another way to look at inflation and deflation:
If the inflation rate is 5%, then a year from now $1 will buy goods and \n services worth only $0.95. If the deflation rate is 5%, then a year from now \n $1 will buy goods and services worth $1.05
• Due to lack of trees, what options did settlers have for shelter in the West?
• Dugouts & Soddies
• What allowed for the West to be settled in 30 years vs. the 263 years it took to settle the East?
• Railroads
• What economic condition exists when prices fall and the value of the dollar increases?
• Deflation
• Which is favored by famers in the late 1800s, inflation or deflation?
• Inflation
• Why are farmers struggling so much in the late 1800s?
• Debt from land and equipment, Competition with Bonanza Farms, Cost of transportation
• Populism – late 19th century political movement seeking to advance the interests of farmers and laborers, “movement of the people”
• Populist Party – formed in 1892
• Increase in money supply
• Graduated income tax (tax high incomes more than low)
• Federal loan program
• Election of Senators by popular vote
• Single terms for Pres and VP
• Secret ballot for voting to eliminate vote fraud
• 8 hour workday
Restrictions on immigration
• Panic of 1893 – economy had grown too fast, farmers and businesspeople had overextended themselves with loans and debt, began with the bankruptcy of many RRs
• Election of 1896 – central issue was which metal(s) would be best for our nation’s monetary system
• Bimetallism – policy in which the government would give people either gold or silver in exchange for paper currency or checks – “silverites”
• Would make more currency available creating inflation
• Gold Standard – back U.S. dollars solely with gold – “gold bugs”
• Provide a more stable currency
• Election of 1896 cont’d
• Republican Party – businessmen and bankers of the industrialized NE, supported the gold standard and nominated William McKinley
• Democratic Party – farmers and labors of the agrarian South and West, favored bimetallism and nominated William Jennings Bryan
• Cross of Gold Speech – an impassioned address by Bryan at the 1896 Democratic convention in which he attacked the “gold bugs” helping him win the nomination
• Populist Party – also nominated Bryan, but chose a different VP in hopes of retaining their party identity and platform
• Election of 1896 cont’d
• Results – McKinley 7 million votes, Bryan 6.5 million
• McKinley carried the East while being aided by the industrial Midwest that feared inflation
• Bryan carried the South and the farm vote in the Midwest
• Marked the end of Populism, although it left two powerful legacies behind
• The downtrodden could organize and have political impact
• An agenda of reforms, many of which would be enacted in the 20th century