In this unit of study we will cover Western Expansion in the United States. Through three weeks of study we will cover the following topics: "Migration to the West", "Native American Resistance", and "Railroads,Farming, and the Rise of Populism". Students and parents may access the notes for this unit below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WESTERN EXPANSION: GLEs: 2.1-2.3

Migration Out West: Week 2

• In the middle of the 19^th century, the leaders and citizens of the United States began to believe it was the country’s destiny to expand and possess all territory to the Pacific Ocean.
• This belief that it was the nations’ sacred duty to conquer the West was known as Manifest Destiny.
• Pro: New opportunities/ Negative: Other groups of people effected

European Migration

• Many settlers migrated in search of new opportunities on the frontier.
• Christian missionaries moved to new territories to spread the message of Jesus to Native Americans.
• The hopes of getting rich attracted people to California during the gold rush of 1849.
• The search of gold caused major conflict between white-European settlers and Native Americans.
• In 1862, the Homestead Act and Morrill Land-Grant Act gave people an opportunity to own land for the first time. This greatly increased the population in the West in the years following the Civil War.

Women Out West

• Women’s lives consisted of childrearing and home keeping.
• In the west, women had more freedom and faced the same dangers as men.
• Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane was a part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.
• Women out west became teachers, farmers, actresses, ranchers, and miners.

Exodusters of the West

• Many African Americans in the South were slaves before the Civil War.
• African American’s officially became free after the Civil War.
• Many left the South as part of the Black Exodus.
• When African Americans migrated from the South to Kansas it was called the Great Exodus. The migrators were called Exodusters.
• Kansas was sacred because abolitionist John Brown fought against slavery in Kansas.
• Many cowboys in the west were African Americans.
• One of the most distinguished group of soldiers in the US Army was the Buffalo Soldiers. Well known for their bravery, they were members of four all-black regiments.

Chinese Immigrants

• In the late 1800s, a large population of Chinese immigrants arrived in California.
• Many of them found work building the nation’s railroads, especially the Transcontinental Railroad that connected the Eastern states with the West.
• White citizens did not like Chinese immigrants because they drove down price of labor and “stole” American jobs.
• Nativist convinced Congress to pass the Chinese Exclusion Act. It prohibited people from China from immigrating to the United States.

The Settlers and Mexicans

• Relations between Mexicans and settlers were tense due to the annexation of Texas and the Mexican-American War.
• Mexican culture had a positive influence on the US.
• Mexicans taught white settlers to herd, raise, and drive cattle.
• Settlers used Mexican ranching techniques, dressed like Mexican cowboys, and culture.

 

The Native American Resistance: Week 3

• Had conflict with European Americans who had moved out west.
• Plain Indians depended on buffalo, but settlers had killed a great number of buffalo and by 1889 only a thousand was left on the North American continent.
• Buffalo were slaughtered because they competed with cattle for food during the rise of the cattle industry.
• Land was taken from Native Americans and they were forced to relocate to reservations.
• Several wars broke out due to frustration and a large number of Native Americans died.

The Sand Creek Massacre(1864)

• Tribes resisted being pushed off their land
• Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle negotiated with Colonel Chivington of the US Army for other peaces.
• Chivington’s calvary attacked the tribes and killed 148 men, women, and children.
• Escalated anger toward the soldiers.

The Battle of Little Big Horn(1876)

• 10,000 Sioux Indians retaliated against the the soldiers under the guidance of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse at the Little Big Horn River in Montana.
• US Commander George Custer tried to surprise and defeat the Sioux in 1876.
• Custer underestimated the Sioux, and the Sioux killed Custer and over 200 of his men.
• This was the last great Native American victory, the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes had surrendered to US troops and moved to reservations by 1877.

Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce

• Nez Perce is a tribe that was led by Chief Joseph.
• US government attempted to remove them from the Oregon Territory, violence erupted.
• Killed many white settlers without Chief Joseph’s blessing.
• After complying with the US orders to move to a reservation, Chief Joseph changed his mind when his tribe was attacked by US troops in retaliation.
• Forced to settle on reservations in Oklahoma.
• Many died due to sickness and malnutrition.

The Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee(1890)

• Holy man named Wovoka developed religious ritual called the Ghost Dance.
• Followers believed it would bring back the buffalo, Native American tribe land, and banish white man from the earth.
• The US Army was concerned it was a “war cry” and would cause an uprising.
• Soldiers tried to arrest Sitting Bull and a gunfight broke out. The soldiers killed over 150 men, women, and children who were unarmed.

The Dawes Act (1887)

• Congress passed this law to assimilate Native Americans into US culture.
• Abolished tribal organizations and allotted land to individual Native American families who agreed to assimilate.
• Dawes Act was a failure due to unwillingness of Native Americans and poor conditions for those who attempted to assimilate.

 

Railroads, Farming, and the Rise of Populism: Week 4

The Transcontinental Railroad

• Railroads became important means of transportation in the 19^th century.
• In 1862, Congress coordinated an effort to construct the transcontinental railroad.
• Union Pacific and Central Pacific joined their tracks at Promontory, Utah in 1869.
• Chinese and Irish immigrants contributed most of the labor.

Farming, Ranching, and Mining

• Farming was difficult and very different in the West. The following inventions made farming possible: steel plow (cut through the tough sod), windmills (pumped water to the surface), barbed wire (fence in land and livestock), and railways (allowed farmers to import and export goods cheap).
• Cattle ranching resulted in less buffalo and “cowtowns” where ranchers drove cattle to th trains to send to the market in the East.
• Mining industry was prosperous out west for gold, minerals, coal, and oil. Mining towns were wild and full of vices. Huge corporations with machines out-mined the independent miners greatly. When the mines ran empty, mining towns that had boomed turned into ghost towns.

Farmer’s Cooperatives

• Farmers faced problems in the 1870s and 1880s
• Overproduction caused prices to drop drastically, causing farmers to make less money, fall into debt, and lose their land.
• Farmers formed cooperatives in the Midwest and South to standup to railroads and industries they felt were overcharging them.
• Pooled resources for machinery and supplies
• Built political influence and became harder for elected officials to ignore.

The Populist Movement

• Concerns from farmers led to the Populist movement.
• Favored greenbacks(paper money).Printing of paper money increased the nation’s money supply and eased farmers’ burdens.
• Increased political influence with western miners.
• Adopted free silver policy, which meant bimetallism was accepted to pump more money into economy.
• Populism appealed to the “common man”. They favored government regulation of railroads and warehouse.
• Put them at direct odds with big business owners who favored laissez-faire (no government regulation of business.)
• Omaha Platform (1892): called for unlimited coinage of silver, government regulation in business, graduated income tax, and election reforms.

William Jennings Bryan

• One of the worst economic depressions in 1896.
• Free Silver question was a major issue of the 1896 Presidential Election.
• Bryan nominated as Democratic party candidate
• Backed bimetallism and gave his famous Cross of Gold speech where he said “You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”
• Republican William McKinley won the election, marking the end of the Populists’ influence.