Warm-up

Take a seat and have your chapter 17 notes out.

America moves West

Chapter 17 quiz

What event or finding lead to the first movement west.What is placer miningWhat did the Homestead act do, why did the U.S. Government pass it. What was the overland trail/ or where did it lead people to?What is the Dawes Severalty Act

One big reservation

Originally when America moved west the government would just push tribes weat creating what the called

“One Big Reservation "where all the Natives coul live.

Plain Indians land holdings

Close to the Civil War Native Americans inhabited nearly half the United States. There were near 1 billion natives

By 1880 most of the population would be pushed onto small reservations.

This is their story

Life of the plains Indians

Tribes consist of: Sioux, Cheyenne, Crow, and ArapahoNomadic and warlike culture. Reliant on riding horses and hunting buffaloUsed mostly bow and arrows

Sand Creek Massacre

1859 conflicts consist between gold miners and NativesChief Black Kettle lead a group to settle in the sand creek.

They were attacked and killed by the Colorado militia they were slaughtered as black kettle surrendered.The tribes were forced to give up the land afterward.

Fetter man Massacre

Gold settlers continued to move into the territory.Sioux reaction by creating the Sioux war in 1865 due to to the Bozeman Trail which connected miner towns going through Sioux territory.Attacked and killed General Fetter man and 82 soldiers.

Native American Reform

Debate started on how to handle the Natives after the Fetterman Masscre

Northerners- Christian view, educate and civilize the natives.

Westerners- Saw Natives as dangerousWanted firm control and swift punishment of natives

Result

The government chose two areas in present day Oklahoma to keep the Natives and set-up reservations

The land was hard to farm and the Natives were supervised by the military.

Native Response

Comanche's rampaged through Texas not wanting to settle into the reservations.

Until put down by the African American Calvary known as the Buffalo soldiers.

OH that Custard…….

A young Band of Sioux tribal leaders still refused to move into reservations.

Native leader Rain in the face teamed with medicine man Sitting Bull to continue rebellion against the Federal government.

George Custard tracked down the band. Full of pride Custard charged in with 250 soldiers to fight 2500 Native Americans.C ustard before his attack thought he had trapped the group.

Eventually the U.S. Army would track down and crush the band after Custards death.

Assimilation

On reservations Native children were sent to schools to learn to farm and fix machines. As well as teaching Christianity.

Banned tribal clothing and customs war paint as well as being forced to speak English. All in attempt to erase Native culture and make them ore white.

Dawes Severity ActDivided tribal land into small plots for families, Natives would own the land but would become farmers. Any left over land would be sold to white framers. (Most of the better farming land was sold to farmers. To receive the Land Natives would have to choose to leave their tribe, it would also make the U.S. citizens if they accepted the deal for land. The government claimed ownership of the land for 25 years to keep out white speculators.Speculators would find ways to circumvent the law and still buy parts of the land. The law weakended as it broke up the tribes. Natives and lef tthem impoverished.

Ghost Dance

Some Natives till tried to fight this.

Many tired natives in the black hills began what was known as the ghost dance. The dance song and customs were meant to bring revolutionary spirit that would rid Natives of the white man. The military broke up the Ghost Dance killing Sitting Bull

Wounded Knee Massacre

The remainder of the Ghost Dance were marched to military camp.

One day a shot was fired believed to be by Native American. The Military turned a new invention the Machine gun on the remaining tribe tearing apart human being and tepees.200 men women and children were killed.

Buffalo!

Originally Buffalo were killed because they were viewed as valuable to Natives.In time tanners discovered Buffalo hide would make great leatherCommercial hunters began going after the Buffalo for their hide leaving entire carcasses out in the sun to rot.

As the buffalo population was ravaged by the settlers the end of the plains Indians was sealed, because their culture relied on the animal the most.

America begins it’s move

The original movement west was started by the California Gold rush of 1849.

It consisted of mostly wagon trains that hoped to make to California before snow fall. Men normally hunted while women made improvements to clothing to deal with the changes in weather.

Culture in the move West

We find many nationalities moving west. African Americans, Spanish, Europeans. All hoping for a better life

In some cases westward expansion is about people form other countries coming to settle in America.

Spanish

¼ of the populationAs Mexico gained it’s independence Spanish immigrants became very important to the Western culture.

They offered many new ideas on how to mine and farm. Made the predominant spoken language Spanish as well as brining in the Roman Catholic faith. Romulado Pacheco a prominent Spanish Aristocrat even became the Governor of California.

Exodusters

African Americans moved from the East and the South heading for the west.

Mostly seeking better opportunities in life.

There was far less discrimination for African Americans, due to the mixed culture out west and people earning their keep through work.Most African Americans worked as cowboys or farmers.

Government pushes Expansion

The U.S. Government owned 1 billion cares of land.It gave away 48 million acres in the homestead act of 1862The rest was given out to small business.

The largest group that received land form the Government were the Railroads.

Homestead Act of 1862

In a push to try and get people to settle west the U.S. government passed the Homestead act of 1862

It gave 160 acres of land to anyone who would pay registry fee of ten dollars as well as cultivate the land for five years. There is a mass migration from Europe in the hope of getting this landBetween 1862-1900 600,000 families receive land.

Homestead backfire.

The Homestead Act did not work exactly as the government planned. Very few could afford to move out to the frontier, or they could not buy the equipment needed to farm.

It also took two years for a farm to sustain itself. Also most of the land bought by settlers was hard to farm. It was not like the land of the Louisiana purchase.Many framers would need more land to be successful.

Reaction

The government passed various acts to try and improve the situation out west while improving on the western lands.Timber Culture Act of 1873 : Settlers could gain 160 acres more land if they planted trees. Desert land act of 1877: one could gain 640acres if they irrigated land.Timber stone Act of 1878: took unlivable land and lowered the price to buy it. Many companies sent fake speculators to buy this land in the thought there could be high profit.

Notional Reclamation Act

Eventually the U.S. Govern meant began to fund efforts to build an irrigation networks for these farms with the National Reclamation Act.

Progression in the west

Originally gold mining brought setters out west.Mining was done by companies normally consisting of 4 to 5 peoplePlace mining: Mining that requires very little skill or money just a shovel and pan was replaced when large corporations came in. In time the Gold was less of drive and Shale and ore became more important.

Ranching

Moving herds of cattle across many miles became another important aspect of western farming. As more farmers settled into the west cattle drives became less frequent due to farmers stetting up barb wire fences.