America’s History Seventh Edition CHAPTER 16 Conquering a Continent, 1861-1877 Copyright © 2011 by Bedford/St. Martin’s James A. Henretta Rebecca Edwards

America’s HistorySeventh Edition

CHAPTER 16Conquering a Continent,

1861-1877

Copyright © 2011 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

James A. HenrettaRebecca Edwards

Robert O. Self

1. What is this poster promoting?

2. Who was the intended audience?

3. According to this poster, what makes the West “great”?

I. The Republican VisionA. Integrating the National Economy

1. Protective Tariffs and Economic Growth• Republican-supported tariffs helped build textile, steel manufacturing, sheep ranching• provided largest share of revenue for U.S. Treasury; huge debt from Civil War ($2.8b) was erased by tariffs in two

decades• caused much debate in Congress; Republicans argued they created jobs, blocked low-wage foreign competition for

U.S. products• Democrats claimed that they over-taxed the consumers; historians contend that the tariffs helped the U.S. to become

a world economic power in the postwar years• did not prevent poverty in U.S.; “trusts”: large corporations that dominated sectors of the economy, led to

monopolies.

1. The Role of Courts – states passed regulatory laws; Munn v. Illinois (1877): states had the right to regulate businesses that served public purposes (ex: railroads) but could not block integration of the national marketplace; land claims in southwest impacted by federal court decisions; 1891-1904 most traditional land claims by Mexicans were invalidated (lost 64% of land cases).

2. Silver and Gold – attempt to create an international system of standard measurements and currency; agreement that money should be based on gold (“gold standard”); 1873 Congress chose to use gold as the standard for U.S. currency value and end the use of “greenbacks” (paper dollars); this decision limited the nation’s money supply.

2. The Role of Courts3. Silver and Gold


2. The Role of Courts• states passed regulatory laws• Munn v. Illinois (1877): states had the right to regulate

businesses that served public purposes (ex: railroads) but could not block integration of the national marketplace

• land claims in southwest impacted by federal court decisions

• 1891-1904 most traditional land claims by Mexicans were invalidated (lost 64% of land cases).


3. Silver and Gold • attempt to create an international system of standard

measurements and currency• agreement that money should be based on gold (“gold

standard”)• 1873 Congress chose to use gold as the standard for U.S.

currency value and end the use of “greenbacks” (paper dollars)

• this decision limited the nation’s money supply.

I. The Republican VisionB. The New Union and the World

1. Foreign Relations• post-Civil War Great Britain paid U.S. $15.5m in damages for aiding

the South• steam-powered ships encouraged U.S. interests in the Caribbean

and Pacific• 1854 Commodore Perry opened Japan to U.S. trade.

2. William Seward• Sec. of State 1861-1869• believed that U.S. must increase its participation in world, including

the Western Hemisphere, Hawaii, and the Philippines• 1868 Burlingame Treaty gave American missionaries rights in China• purchased Alaska from Russia, some called “Seward’s Icebox.”

1. What did artist Hashimoto Sadahide seek to show his Japanese audience with these images?

2. Consider reactions to Asian immigrants to the United States during this same era. How might Americans have depicted the arrival of men and women from Japan to harbors on the Pacific Coast?

II. Incorporating the WestA. Cattlemen and Miners

1. Cattle Ranchers• government wanted to attract people to the West• Homestead Act offered 160 acres to applicants who agreed to occupy and improve land• advertised in Europe and U.S.• men who hunted bison saw the land as potential for raising cows• South Texas had millions of cattle grazing; Texas ranchers began “the Long Drive”: cowboys bringing

cattle to rail lines in the northern Plains• rush of men into the region to raise and move cattle; millions of cattle were living on the land,

destroying the natural ecosystem• drought, bitter cold, and blizzards of 1885 destroyed the industry• failed cattle ranchers began planting hay and raising livestock for slaughter.1. Mining – in the Far West; search for mineral wealth; gold found in Nevada, Rocky

Mountains, Black Hills of South Dakota, and in Idaho; news of finds prompted movement of men from east to west; copper, lead, zinc found; towns grew in mining areas with theaters, hotels, brothels; towns became a market for timber from the Pacific Northwest.

2. Mining

II. Incorporating the WestA. Cattlemen and Miners

2. Mining• in the Far West• search for mineral wealth• gold found in Nevada, Rocky Mountains, Black Hills of South

Dakota, and in Idaho• news of finds prompted movement of men from east to

west• copper, lead, zinc found• towns grew in mining areas with theaters, hotels, brothels• towns became a market for timber from the Pacific

Northwest.

II. Incorporating the WestB. Homesteaders

1. The Plains• railroad industry wanted to sell the Plains to potential migrants who feared it was the “Great

American Desert”• argued that “anything” could grow on the land• migrants found fertile land, used steel plows, and planted European hard-kernel wheat• migrants from within the U.S., Sweden, Norway, Germany settled on the land.

2. Exodusters• African American migrants who left the South to settle in the Plains, mostly in Kansas• desired to leave racial discrimination in the South and find prosperity outside its borders.

3. Women in the Westhomesteaders went as families; importance of women’s contribution on the farms;

notion of “domesticity”: a man’s devotion to family made him a good worker; it was believed that women could provide moral guidance to men, including Christian charity, commitment to home, motherhood; conflicts with Mormons’ acceptance of polygamy and women’s suffrage in Utah; Wyoming Territory granted women suffrage in 1869; life on the Plains extremely hard for young mothers who struggled with isolation.

II. Incorporating the WestB. Homesteaders

3. Women in the West• homesteaders went as families• importance of women’s contribution on the farms\• notion of “domesticity”: a man’s devotion to family made him a

good worker• it was believed that women could provide moral guidance to men,

including Christian charity, commitment to home, motherhood• conflicts with Mormons’ acceptance of polygamy and women’s

suffrage in Utah• Wyoming Territory granted women suffrage in 1869• life on the Plains extremely hard for young mothers who struggled

with isolation.

II. Incorporating the WestC. Confronting Debt and Aridity

1. Farmers• drop in crop prices as products glutted world markets• small farmers suffered as the market economy favored “economies of scale”• struggled to negotiate with railroad and grain elevator companies• environmental problems: grasshoppers, prairie fires, hailstorms, tornados, blizzards, lack of water, wood, lumber,

fencing• western grasslands had insufficient water for growing• 160 acres too much for most farmers to handle; successes proved unsustainable.

2. John Wesley PowellCivil War veteran with one arm; employed by the U.S. Geological Survey; wrote Report on the Lands

of the Arid Regions of the United States (1878); told Congress that 160-acre tracts would not work in dry regions and instead encouraged smaller, irrigated farms; proposed that the government work to develop water resources in the West: dams, canals; plan rejected by Congress but later considered a good critique of the problems that existed with development of the Plains.3. Yellowstone

preservation of land began 1864 with Yosemite Valley land; 1872 Yellowstone land preserved for tourism; management guidelines for these “national parks” took time to establish; Indians had to be expelled, hunting prohibited; native resistance to expulsion led to conflicts.


2. John Wesley Powell• Civil War veteran with one arm• employed by the U.S. Geological Survey• wrote Report on the Lands of the Arid Regions of the United States (1878)• told Congress that 160-acre tracts would not work in dry regions and

instead encouraged smaller, irrigated farms• proposed that the government work to develop water resources in the

West: dams, canals• plan rejected by Congress but later considered a good critique of the

problems that existed with development of the Plains.3. Yellowstone

preservation of land began 1864 with Yosemite Valley land; 1872 Yellowstone land preserved for tourism; management guidelines for these “national parks” took time to establish; Indians had to be expelled, hunting prohibited; native resistance to expulsion led to conflicts.


3. Yellowstone• preservation of land began 1864 with Yosemite Valley

land• 1872 Yellowstone land preserved for tourism• management guidelines for these “national parks” took

time to establish• Indians had to be expelled, hunting prohibited• native resistance to expulsion led to conflicts.

III. A Harvest of Blood: Native Peoples Dispossessed

A. The Civil War and Indians on the Plains1. Dakota Sioux

• summer of 1862 Dakota Sioux in Minnesota attacked settlers in protest for what they were not receiving (as promised) from the government for living on a reserved tract of land

• more than 400 white people killed, thousands fled MN• 32 Sioux were hanged for the action (largest mass execution in U.S. history)• Congress canceled all treaties with Dakota.

1. Cheyenne – Colorado whites wanted a military campaign against the Cheyenne despite little hostility from the tribe (Sioux allies); 1864 military attacked the Cheyenne; Chief Black Kettle surrendered to federal agents, but was subsequently murdered along with hundreds of women, children, and infants; Arapaho and Sioux began to attack settlers in defense of the Cheyenne; U.S. Army initially failed to subdue the resistance; easterners began to dislike the “Indian Wars” and desire new solutions.

2. Cheyenne


A. The Civil War and Indians on the Plains2. Cheyenne

• Colorado whites wanted a military campaign against the Cheyenne despite little hostility from the tribe (Sioux allies)

• 1864 military attacked the Cheyenne• Chief Black Kettle surrendered to federal agents, but was

subsequently murdered along with hundreds of women, children, and infants

• Arapaho and Sioux began to attack settlers in defense of the Cheyenne

• U.S. Army initially failed to subdue the resistance• easterners began to dislike the “Indian Wars” and desire new

solutions.


B. Grant’s Peace Policy 1. Indian Boarding Schools

• reformers argued that Indians had the capacity to be equal with whites if educated and Christianized

• “kill the Indian and save the man”; goal of creating off-reservation schools• PA Carlisle School (1879): children required to speak English, cut their hair, and dress

in white-peoples’ clothing• corruption within Indian Bureau of Affairs• ultimately, native peoples were forced to assimilate to white culture.

1. Breaking Up Tribal Lands – “Dawes Severalty Act” (1887): dividing reservations in to individual homesteads, private property might encourage native people to adopt the ways of whites; Sen. Henry Dawes (MA) was a leader in the Indian Rights’ Association; believed this new act would provide a sense of independence; total disaster; government seized land in Indian Territory and losses by native peoples increased.

2. Breaking Up Tribal Lands


B. Grant’s Peace Policy 2. Breaking Up Tribal Lands

• “Dawes Severalty Act” (1887): dividing reservations in to individual homesteads, private property might encourage native people to adopt the ways of whites

• Sen. Henry Dawes (MA) was a leader in the Indian Rights’ Association

• believed this new act would provide a sense of independence

• total disaster• government seized land in Indian Territory and losses by

native peoples increased.


C. The End of Armed Resistance1. Sitting Bull and Custer

• 1874 Gen. Custer claimed he found gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota

• Sioux pressured to leave area for white settlers• demanded that all Sioux and their leader, Sitting Bull, gather at the

federal agencies• Sitting Bull and leaders of the Cheyenne and Arapaho refused.

2. Little Big Horn• July 25, 1874, Custer and his men attacked Sitting Bull’s camp in

Montana• Custer died at this “Last Stand” as did all of his 210 men• last major victory of the Plains Indians against the U.S. Army.

1. Describe these two men, their dress and surroundings.

2. Can you identify any evidence of these men’s interaction with white Americans?

3. Speculate: why did Edward Curtis chose to photograph Little Plume and his son Yellow Kidney?

4. Curtis has been criticized by modern-day historians for removing items from his subjects’ clothing and environment and to make them appear more “authentic” in his photographs. What might be missing from this picture?

5. Does the knowledge that Curtis made such changes to his pictures influence your assessment of this image as a historical artifact?

1. Based on this cover image, what do you think this novel is about?

2. Describe the illustration of the Native American on the cover.

3. Why were novels about life on the frontier popular in 19th-century America?


D. Strategies of Survival1. Syncretism

• effort to maintain native customs and traditions, while assimilating• a blend of the old and the new; Ghost Dance movement (1880s): an effort to

resurrect the bison and create a giant dust storm to force whites across the Atlantic

• spread from reservation to reservation; misunderstood by whites who believed the dance would start a war

• December 1890 battle at Wounded Knee Creek left 150 Lakota dead.

1. Sherman’s Death – winter 1891 Sherman died in New York; celebrations of his life marked the critical moments in which the native population had been destroyed by military conquest; through Sherman’s military career the nation had grown spread westward and become an international economic power.

2. Sherman’s Death


D. Strategies of Survival2. Sherman’s Death

• winter 1891 Sherman died in New York• celebrations of his life marked the critical moments in

which the native population had been destroyed by military conquest

• through Sherman’s military career the nation had grown spread westward and become an international economic power.

1. Identify symbols of Native American and European-American culture in this bedroom.

2. What conclusions can we draw about Red Cloud from this image?

3. What message do you think the photographer was trying to convey with this image?

Documents

America’s History Seventh Edition CHAPTER 16 Conquering a Continent, 1861-1877 Copyright © 2011 by Bedford/St. Martin’s James A. Henretta Rebecca Edwards