Day 105: The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution

1. Day 105: The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution Baltimore Polytechnic Institute February 13, 2013 A/A.P. U.S. History Mr. Green

2. The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution Objectives: Students will: Describe the nature of the cultural conflicts and battles that accompanied the white American migration into the Great Plains and the Far West. Explain the development of federal policy towards Native Americans in the late nineteenth century. Analyze the brief flowering and decline of the cattle and mining frontiers, and the settling of the arid West by small farmers increasingly engaged with a worldwide economy. AP Focus Federal land grants entice whites to seek out new lives in the West, which brings them into conflict with the Indians, many of whom had earlier been pushed west by the U.S. government. By the end of the century, the frontier is closed—all of the land in the continental United States is settled or can no longer be considered frontier, according to the Census Bureau.

3. Chapter Focus Chapter Themes After the Civil War, whites overcame the Plains Indians’ fierce resistance and settled the Great West, bringing to a close the long frontier phase of American history. The farmers who populated the West found themselves the victims of an economic revolution in agriculture. Trapped in a permanent debtor dependency, in the 1880s, they finally turned to political action to protest their condition. Their efforts culminated in the Populist Party’s attempt to create an interracial farmer/labor coalition in the 1890s, but William Jennings Bryan’s defeat in the pivotal election of 1896 signaled the triumph of urbanism and the middle class.

4. Announcements 1890s Decade Chart due today

5. The Clash of Cultures on the Plains Reservation system developed when the federal government signed treaties with various tribes at Fort Laramie in 1851 and Fort Atkinson in 1853 Difficulty in making treaties Tribes/Chiefs were not used in Native American culture Many groups were nomadic/scattered bands 1860’s-Dakota Territory/Indian Territory Corrupt federal Indian agents Many wars after the Civil War with Native

6. Receding Native Population 1864-Sand Creek, CO massacre Colonel J. M. Chivington’s militia massacred 400 Indians 1866-Sioux massacred Captain William J. Fetterman’s 81 soldier/civilian crew 1868-2nd Fort Laramie treaty guaranteeing Sioux land 1874-Custer discovered gold in Black Hills Battle of Little Big Horn-Custer lost everyone

7. “Taming of the Indians” Willingness to use military force to back its land claims Railroad Diseases Firewater Extermination of the Buffalo

8. Bellowing Herds of Bison 15 million Bison grazed the plains after the Civil War By 1885 only a few 1,000 remained

9. The End of the Trail Battle of Wounded Knee-1890 200 Indian men, women, and children killed Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 dissolved many tribes ended tribal ownership of land individual family heads with 160 free acres citizenship in 25 years full citizenship granted in 1924 Carlisle Indian School in PA “Kill the Indian and save the man” 243,000 in 1887 1.5 million according to Census 2000

10. Mining: From Dishpan to Ore Breaker Colorado-1858 Comstock Lode-1859 Once the gold was gone, ore breaking machinery was brought in The mining industry began with corporations pooling resources-industrialization of gold panning Increased the federal Treasury, helped fund the Civil War, railroads, and conflict with the Indians

11. Beef Bonanzas and the Long Drive The railroad started and ended the Long Drive Cowboys brought cattle to train stations Cattle shipped to stockyards, then the east coast The railroad ended the Long Drive with new routes and accessibility

12. Discussion-Review 1.How did whites finally overcome resistance of the Plains Indians, and what happened to the Indians after their resistance ceased? 2. What social, ethnic, environmental, and economic factors made the trans-Mississippi West a unique region among the successive American frontiers? What makes the West continue to be a region quite distinctive from other regions such as the Northeast, the Midwest, and the South? How does the myth of the frontier West differ from the actual reality, in the late nineteenth century, and after?

13. Homework Identifications due on February 19 Study/Prepare for Unit 6 assessment-gilded age 1865-1900