CHAPTER 6: THE SOUTH AND WEST TRANSFORMED

SECTION 2: WESTWARD EXPANSION & THE AMERICAN INDIAN

Text Notes By the end of the Civil War, about 250,000

Indians lived in the region west of the Mississippi River. Referred to as “the great American desert”. Although, they were lumped together as Indians in the minds of most Americans. Native Americans embraced many different belief systems, languages, and ways of life.

Bureau of Indian Affairs

The gov’t agency responsible for dealing with American Indian issues.

Text Notes

In the early 1800s, the gov’t carried out a policy of moving Native Americans out of the way of white settlement. President Jackson moved the Cherokees off their land in Georgia. And unto the Great Plains. This land was thought to be uninhabitable.

Reasons for Westward Expansion

Manifest Destiny- belief that God intended whites to settle west.

Gold and silver discovered in Indian territory.

Americans wanted a railroad that crossed the continent.

Reservations

Separate areas set aside by the gov’t for the Indians.

By the late 1860s, Indians were placed here.

Text Notes

Two more staggering blows threatened Native American civilization . White settlers introduced diseases to which Indians had no immunity, and the important buffalo herds were destroyed. In the 1870s, hunters slaughtered hundreds of buffalo in a single day.

Sand Creek Massacre

Cheyenne surrendered here, only to be massacred by the army.

1864

Most were women and children

Americans outraged!

John M. Chivington

Colonial of the US army at Sand Creek. He ordered the massacre.

“It is right and honorable to use any means under God’s heaven to kill Indians”

Text Notes Once the Civil War ended, regiments of

Union troops- both white and African American- were sent to the west to subdue the Indians. Requirement posters promised Calvary could claim anything taken from the Indians. The federal gov’t felt this was necessary to maintain control.

Sitting Bull

A spiritual leader and medicine man of the Sioux.

1831-1890

Had a dream

The Fort Laramie Treaty1868

Sioux agreed to move their territory to the Black Hills.

Often Inidans drifted from reservations and gov’t didn’t hold up their end of the deal.

Text Notes The conditions facing Native Americans

had all the ingredients for tragedy. Indians were confined to isolated and impoverished areas. Promises made to them were eventually broken. Frustration turned to violence. Guns replaced treaties and the gov’t crushed the rebellions.

George Armstrong Custer

1839-1876 General of the

Army’s 7th Calvary district. Led his men into a deadly trap at Little Bighorn.

Battle of Little Bighorn

Custer and his men were massacred by Sioux and Cheyenne.

1876

First major battle won by

American Indians.

Nez Perce

A group in Oregon that refused to surrender and tried to flee to Canada.

Made it 30m outside Canada.

Chief Joseph

Nez Perce leader. 1871-1904

“I am tried of fighting.our chief are killed…It is cold and we have no blankets.the little children are freezing to death”

A Century of Dishonor

1881 A book written by

Helen Hunt Jackson criticizing the gov’t actions against American Indians

Assimilation

Many whites believed that the only way for the American Indian to survive is if they were blended with America’s “White Society.”

Late 1800s

Dawes General Allotment Act

1887 American Indian

families would receive a 160 acre lot for farming.

Wovoka

A Sioux religious leader that led a religious movement.

The Ghost Dance This would cause white settlers to vanish

Dead Indian ancestors to come back to life

and the buffalo to return.

Massacre at Wounded Knee

December 29, 1890 300 Sioux and 30

soldiers were dead. Sioux were defenseless, but slaughtered.

Chief Big Foot

Text Notes

In 1868 the Gov’t admitted its failure and granted the Navajo a reservation in New Mexico and Arizona. They rebuilt their communities and by the 1880’s their economies had stabilized.

SECTION 3: TRANSFORMING

THE WEST

Chapter 6: The South & West Transformed

Comstock Lode

One of the world’s richest silver veins.

Over a 20 year period it mined about 500 m. worth of precious metal.

William Seward US Secretary of State

that purchased Alaska.

Less than 2 cents an acre

Many Americans considered it worthless calling it : Seward’s Icebox.

Text Notes From the Sierra Nevada to the Black Hills,

there was a similar pattern to the development of mining regions. First came the discovery of gold or silver. Then, as word spread people began to pour into an area. The discovery of gold at Pikes Peak in Colorado are among the first.

Life in Mining Communities Male residents Different

nationalities Crude and

uncomfortable No law enforcement Intense competition Violent

Viligants

Self appointed law enforcers who punished law breakers.

Late 1800s

Saloons

Owners had a better chance than miners of striking it rich

Text Notes

The first western mining was done by individuals, who extracted the minerals from the surface. By the 1870s, the reaming mineral wealth was located deep underground. Big companies with the capitol to buy mining equipment took over the industry.

Hydraulic Mining

Water shot at high pressure ripped away gravel and dirt to expose the mineral beneath.

Devastated the environment.

Late 1800s

Land Grants

Gov’t provided land to private investors to build railroad.

Late 1800s

Transcontinental Railroad A rail link between

the east and west coast.

US expected railroads to built by private enterprise.

1863-1869

Affects of Railroads

The nation was tied together by moving products and people.

Spurred industrial development. The growth of towns and cities were

stimulated.

Text Notes During the Civil War, Republicans tried

to manage western development so that new western states would be free of slavery. They also wanted these areas to be populated by independent farmers who would improve the land.

Joseph McCoy

A cattleman from Illinois. His vision transformed the West, sparking an economic boom.

Texas Longhorn

English cattle interbred with Spanish cattle.

Hardy, able to travel long distances on little water.

Immune to Texas Fever

Open Range

The government allowed cattle ranchers to use public lands as free grazing land.

Cowboys Workers who took care

of rancher’s cattle.

Pop-culture romanticized cowboy life, but it was difficult.

Many Confederate veterans, Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and African Americans

Roundup

Ranchers drove cattle from open range to a central location.

ID by ranches brand.

Long Drives

To reach railroads, cowboys herded as many as 3,000 cattle.

Moved form Texas to rail lines in Missouri and Kansas.

Railhead A town located along a

railroad, where brokers bought cattle to ship east on railroad cars.

Cattle ranchers could now sell and ship cows.

Kansas: Abilene, Dodge City, and Wichita.

Joseph Glidden

A farmer who invented barbed wire. A cheap fencing material.

1874

CHAPTER 6: SOUTH & WEST

TRANSFORMED

Section 3: continued

The End of The Cattle Boom Ranchers eager for large profits

crowded the open range with too many cattle.

Price crashed in 1885 as supply far exceeded demand.

Ranchers faced competition for the use of the open range b/c of barbed wire

Text Notes Bad weather dealt the final blow to the

open range. On the Southern Plains a severe winter in 1885-86 and droughts in 1886 diminished many herds. The following year, terrible blizzards hammered the Northern Plains. On January 15, 1887, temperature reached 46 degrees below zero in some areas.

Text Notes

The great plains were the last part of the country to be heavily settled by white people. It was originally set aside for Indians because it was thought to be too dry. Yet, with the coming of the transcontinental railroad, millions of farmers moved west.

Moving West

Three Main Groups White Americans from the East. African Americans from the South Immigrants from other countries

Homestead Act1862

Permitted any citizen to select any surveyed land up to 160 acres. If a family lived there 5 years and improved the land, then they would get the title.

Eventually, some 400,000 families took this offer.

Exodusters

African American settlers who moved West.

1879-1880

Scarce Resources

Water Trees

Sod Houses

Buildings made from chunks cut from the heavy topsoil that were stacked like bricks.

Damp

Text Notes

Farm families on the plains faced many problems. Sod houses were well insulated, windproof, and fireproof. However, they were damp and dirty. The roofs leaked and sometime even collapsed in rainey weather.

Department of Agriculture

Helped farmers adapt to their new environment.

1862

Taught dry farming

Harsh Weather

The climate of the Great Plains created hardships for families.

Winter on the plains often brought blizzards.

Summer heat was also very fierce.

The Morrill Act1862

Granted more than 17 million acres of land to states to develop agricultural colleges.

Led to the founding of over 70 universities.

Oklahoma Territory

April 22, 1869 Territory was opened to

homesteaders When the signal was

given they charged in to stake their claim.

They found that most of the good land had been taken by the “sooners” who got there early.