Westward Expansion and Immigration

1. Westward Expansion and Immigration SSUSH12

2. Manifest Destiny and the Oklahoma Land Rush • After the Civil War, the conquest of Manifest Destiny continued. • Many Western settlers felt it was their right to take all the land they felt necessary. • Conflict with the Plains Indians was inevitable as European settlers moved westward on the Oregon and other trails. • In 1889 Congress agreed to open central Oklahoma and roughly 50,000 people gathered to wait for the gun shot to officially open the territory. • The Oklahoma Land Rush featured people on horseback, bicycles, in wagons, and on foot, all surging forward to stake their claim. • Some “jumped the gun” to get a head start and there sooner. Hence, Oklahoma achieved the nickname the “sooner” state.

3. Farming • Many settlers moved West intending to be farmers. • Settlers learned to build and live in sod houses. • John Deere’s steel plow allowed farmers to plant crops in the Midwest and plains by enabling to cut through the thick prairie sod. • Windmills helped farmers to pump water to their fields. Water sometimes was over 100 feet deep in the ground. • Railroads created a way for farmers to import what they needed. This helped farmers afford what they needed and gave them access to new technologies.

4. Cattle Ranching • Another industry that became big in the West was cattle ranching. • The Mexicans in the region had taught white settlers how to herd, raise, and drive cattle to market. • The white settlers began taking on this culture and lifestyle. An example would be cowboy hats and chaps. • The growth of the cattle industry contributed to the slaughter of buffalo that otherwise would have competed with cattle for food. • The cattle industry also led to the taking of more Native American land. • “Cowtowns” popped up as settlements to which ranchers drove their cattle. Cattle would be loaded up and taken to the east for sale.

6. Mining • The mining industry became important because of the discovery of Gold. • Mining camps and towns were established and often had the reputation for being wild and full of voice(gambling, prostitution, drinking, etc.). • Eventually huge corporations moved in with advanced equipment to extract more difficult to reach metals. • This caused a large decline in the number of private miners in the West.

7. Impact of Westward Movement • With opportunities opening in the West, it led to more people moving. • Black Exodus: was the mass movement of African-Americans to the West. • Many blacks moved west to become cattle ranchers. • A large group of blacks served with distinction on the frontier as Buffalo Soldiers.

8. Confrontation with Native Americans • On a number of occasions, Native Americans chose to resist white settlement rather than accept being moved off of their land. • In 1861 Cheyenne warriors angry that the US had forced them off their land, launched several raids on mining camps and local settlements. • US forces surprised 500 Cheyenne at Sand Creek, killing roughly 270(most of whom were women and children). • News would spread about this confrontation to other tribes.

9. Nez Perce and Chief Joseph • The US government attempted to remove the Nez Perce from the Oregon Territory. • Violence broke out and Nez Perce warriors killed several white settlers without Chief Joseph’s blessing. • Hoping to avoid further bloodshed, Chief Joseph told his people to comply with the settlers wishes. • On the way, however, federal troops attacked the tribe in retaliation for the earlier killings. • Chief Joseph then began a masterful retreat. • The Nez Perce tried to escape to Canada, but were stopped 30 miles from the border and forced to settle on reservations in Oklahoma. • The Nez Perce almost became extinct, as many of them died from sickness and malnutrition.

10. Treaty of Fort Laramie • In 1868, the federal government negotiated the Treaty of Fort Laramie with the Sioux Nation. • It prohibited European settlers, roads, and railroads from moving onto a large tract of land that included the Black Hills in present-day South Dakota. • In 1874, miners discovered gold in the Black Hills. • As more miners moved onto the land, they demanded that the United States Army protect them.

11. Battle of Little Big Horn • In 1876 , a US general named George Armstrong Custer attempted to surprise and defeat the Sioux at the Battle of Little Bighorn. • Custer greatly underestimated the size of his enemy’s forces, however, and recklessly rushed into battle. • Sioux warriors (led by Red Cloud and Crazy Horse) quickly surrounded the outnumbered US troops, killing Custer and 200 of his men. • This was known as Custer’s last stand.

12. Wounded Knee • The last notable armed conflict occurred in 1890 at Wounded Knee after a Sioux holy man named Wovoka developed a religious ritual called the Ghost Dance. • The Sioux believed this would bring back the buffalo, return the Native American tribes to their land, and banish the white men from earth. • Sioux leader Sitting Bull was using the Ghost Dane to start an uprising. The US army attacked killing 14. • Soldiers pursued the Sioux people to Wounded Knee Creek, killing more than 150 men, women, and children-most of whom were unarmed.

13. Dawes Act and Indian Reorganization Act • In 1887 Congress passed the Dawes Act. • This act broke up reservation land into farming parcels of 160 acres each for Native American families. • Remaining reservation land was sold to European settlers. • Native Americans were encouraged to abandon their culture and live like settlers of European descent. • Native American children were sent to schools far away from home. • This act failed and in 1934 Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act, reversing the provisions of the Dawes Act, and providing Native American groups with greater control over their lands.

14. Urban Growth and Immigration

15. Urban Growth • From the end of the Civil War until the beginning of the 20th century, the size of US cities increased rapidly. • Urban Growth: when cities increase in size. • Towns in the west grew out of nothing due to the railroads. • In the East, established cities grew in population due to industrialization and the job opportunities it created. • Many people leave their farms to come work in the cities in hopes of higher wages. • Denver, Kansas City, and Omaha went from frontier towns, to booming urban areas. • Even the South began to see urban life with industries like tobacco, iron production, and textiles.

16. Immigration in the North • Northeaster cities like New York saw the greatest growth due to immigration. • Ellis Island was a tiny island near the Statue of Liberty in New York. It became known as the reception center for immigrants arriving by ship. • With many immigrants coming to the US, and bringing their cultures, the United States became a “melting pot”. • Many immigrants did not want to assimilate, they wanted to hold onto cultural traditions. • This mixture is called cultural pluralism.

17. Irish Potato Famine • A large percentage of immigrants coming into the United States during this time were from Ireland. • In Ireland the people were going through a harsh agricultural season called the Irish Potato Famine. • The potato, the major crop in Ireland, had failed to come in due to disease and poor weather conditions. • Many people did not have enough food to eat, nor could they make enough money to survive. • Irish immigrants poured in by the thousands due to this.

18. Angel Island • Much like the East, the West had its own rise in immigration. • Angel Island was the main facility in the West in which immigrants passed through before coming into the United States.

19. Problems with Urbanization • With large amounts of immigrants coming into the United States, the country faced several problems. • With more people moving into the cities, they faced problems with noise, pollution, sanitation, and health safety. • Most cities did not have developed sewage and sanitation systems. Streets became filled with swage and waste. • Due to overcrowding many cities saw problems with disease, especially with rat infestation. • Most immigrants who dreamed of a better life earned around $1-$1.50 per day. Many faced the tough concept of discrimination.

20. Problems cont. • Ethnic Ghettos were areas where foreign immigrants from a certain region or country tended to live together. • Many people were fearful and suspicious of these areas because of cultural ways they did not understand. • Many natives(people born in the US) felt that immigrants took jobs from them. • Overcrowding also lead to urban slums consisting of tenements(overcrowded apartments that housed several families of immigrants or poor laborers).

21. Problems Cont. • Factories would often run out of room, but still needed to produce. • Sweatshops were makeshift factories set up by private contractors in small apartments or unused buildings. • These were often poorly lit, poorly ventilated, and unsafe. • Sweatshops relied on poor workers who worked long hours for little pay. • Child labor was also a major issue within cities. • Many children quit school in order to work and help support the family. • Without an education this created an endless cycle of poverty.

22. Organized Labor

23. Beginning of Labor Unions • With employment numbers increasing in factories that became a need for organization. • Organized labor, such as the Knights of Labor, the American Federation of Labor, and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, sought to improve unregulated working conditions for America’s working class(those who worked blue collar jobs). • Labor Unions became a significant force for change in the workplace. • Strikes were organized movements by labor unions to get management to meet their demands. • Boycotts: where a group makes a decision to not buy, trade, or ship a companies product.

24. Labor Union Terms • Collective Bargaining: is a process through which employees negotiate as a united group rather than individuals, thereby increasing their bargaining power. • Mediation: is when a neutral third party(some cases, the government) gets involved to help negotiate a settlement that is acceptable to both sides. • Arbitration: is a form of mediation in which the mediating third party is granted authority to pronounce a finding that both sides consider legally binding. • Closed Shop: workplaces where employers could hire only union members. This forced employers to deal with the union because they could not look elsewhere for workers.

25. Knights of Labor • A labor union based out of Pennsylvania that wanted to rid factories of child and convict labor, provide equal pay for women, a progressive income tax, and the cooperative employer-employee ownership of mines and factories.

26. American Federation of Labor and Samuel Gompers • The AFL focused on such issues as wages, working hours, and working conditions. • This organization was led by Samuel Gompers. • This group used economic pressures such as strikes and boycotts. • Under the leadership of Gompers, the AFL membership grew from 50,000 in 1886 to some 3 million in 1924.

27. Conflicts between Organized Labor and Management • Railroad Strike of 1877 • Haymarket Square Riot of 1886 • Pullman Strike of 1894 • In 1894, a delegation of employees went to railroad car industrialist, George Pullman, to protest the laying off of workers. Pullman fired three of the representatives, leading the union to go on strike. • As a result Pullman closed the plant. Eugene Debs, the American Railway Union, called for the boycotting of goods. • This impacted US mail delivery so the Federal Government called for a stop. • The Pullman Strike established a precedence for factory owners appealing to the courts to end strikes.

28. Laissez-faire Economics • The federal government did very little to regulate unjust labor conditions. • The government felt that laissez-faire economics was the best approach to big business. • This approach had been originally used in Great Britain. • This means that government takes a “hands-off” approach when it comes to business. Let the people and businesses make most of the decisions.

29. Effect of Urbanization on Lifestyle • Industrialization improved standard of living for a growing middle class, including public education, prepared foods, and leisure activities such as sports events, music, and theater. • By 1920, ready-to-wear clothes, canned soup, and houses ordered from a catalog had become part of the American way of life. • Transportation evolved as electric trolleys came into being. Trolleys allowed people to live outside the inner city while still working and pursing leisure activities within it. • A result of this was the development of suburbs, slightly urban areas outside of cities.