Unit 2 Chapter 3 Lesson 2

1. Unit 2 Chapter 3 Lesson 2

2. Essential Question: • How did the settlements of pioneers effect the environment of the West?

3. Pioneers on the Plains • The Great Plains Great Plains = Great American Desert • A dry grassland in the middle of the country. • Few trees, harsh weather, low rainfall

4. The Great Plains • Government wanted to encourage pioneers, or new settlers, to move to the Great Plains. • Food and farm goods could be carried by rail back to the growing cities in the East.

5. Homestead Act • Law offered free land (160 acres) to American citizens and immigrants who were willing to start new farms in the Great Plains.

6. Homestead Act • A man over 21, or woman who was head of the house • Small fee $10.00 • Farm and live on the land for 5 years, then the land was yours • Improve it by building a 12-by-14 dwelling and growing crops

7. Homesteaders Settlers who claimed land through the Homestead Act

8. Settling on the Plains • Farmers who had to bust up the soil that had grass with thick roots were called “sodbusters”

9. Why was sod a useful building material for homesteaders?

10. Sodbusters • The farmers would then use the sod to build their house. • They were cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and fireproof • Walls were often full of bugs, worms, snakes, and mice.

11. Houses were called “Soddies”

12. American Fever • Families from Germany, Sweden Norway, Russia, and other European countries were coming to the Great Plains. • They brought valuable farming skills

13. American Fever • Russians brought a type of wheat that would survive the weather of the Great Plains. • Great Plains become the World's most productive wheat growing region.

14. Exodusters • African Americans who began moving into the Great Plains to escape unfair treatment. (Exodus from the Bible) • Started new towns like Nicodemus, Kansas Nicodemus, Kansas

15. Nicodemus, Kansas The town symbolizes the pioneering spirit of these ex-slaves who fled the war-torn South in search of “real” freedom and a chance to restart their lives.

16. Life of the Plains • New technology helped to make farming easier. • Steel plows • Windmills • Barbed wire • Dry farming

17. New Technology Steel plow Windmills Barbed wire Dry farming, disking deep

18. Problems • Harsh weather: tornadoes, blizzards, bitter cold, hail, and flooding • Summer: blazing heat and little rain • Grasshoppers ate fences and axe handles after they ate crops

19. Problems

20. Growth in the West • West shows growth • Japanese immigrants settle in California and are successful farmers. • New railroad lines bring settlers into Washington, Oregon, and California

21. Review • Describe the purpose of the Homestead Act. • What challenges did the homesteaders face? • Why did the Exodusters come to the Plains? • How did technology help the farmers turn the Great Plains into productive farmland?