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Settling the Plains

Settling the Plains. After the Civil War, millions of people in the south were poor and landless Homestead Act – You can have 160 acres for free if you live on it for 5 years and improve it Many African Americans the Great Plains after the Civil War

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Settling the Plains

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  1. Settling the Plains

  2. After the Civil War, millions of people in the south were poor and landless Homestead Act – You can have 160 acres for free if you live on it for 5 years and improve it Many African Americans the Great Plains after the Civil War The Railroads were growing making It easier to head west

  3. New Technology • The steel plow allowed farmers to break up the thick sod • Windmills made it possible to get water from deep underground • Barbed wire made it possible for farmers to fence in their land • Reapers & threshers – helped harvest crops

  4. Sod Houses The lack of trees on the Plains made it necessary to use sod as a building material. It also meant burning Buffalo and cow dung “chips” for heat

  5. Hazards of Farming on the Plains • Farmers had to deal with blizzards, fires, hailstorms, tornados, drought, & locusts. • Railroads charges high fees to ship farmer’s grain to market.

  6. Cities & Towns • Cities and towns grew up along railroads or near valuable resources. • Railroads connected them to the major markets in the east

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