The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution

1
The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution

• Chapter 26 Notes
• AP US History
• Mrs. Marshall

2
Bureau of Indian Affairs

• Native Americans were to be confined to certain
  areas of the west away from settlers traveling to
  California and Oregon. They would be free to
  continue their own ways of life.
• The BIA later decided to resettle all Native
  Americans on reservations which greatly
  restricted the traditional way of life of Native
  Americans.

3
Apache War

• 15 year war started in 1871.Conflict ended with
  capture of Geronimo in 1886. Remnants of his
  tribe were forced on to reservations.
• Wounded Knee, South Dakota
• Last major battle between Native Americans and US
  Army

4
Reasons for Battle

• Why Native Americans battled whites
• Avenge savage massacres of Indian by whites
• Punish whites for breaking treaties
• Defend their lands against white invaders
• Preserve their nomadic way of life against forced
  settlement

5
Helen Hunt Jackson

• Wrote A Century of Dishonor which outlined the
  governments mistreatment of Native Americans and
  the corruption in the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
  Also attempted to correct many stereotypes that
  whites had about Native Americans.

• Helen Hunt Jackson

6
Dawes Severalty Act of 1887

• Broke up reservations
• Gave 160 acres of land to the head of each
  household and lesser amounts to bachelors/women
• Native Americans could get full title in 25
  years along with citizenship
• Sold to whites any land not given to Native
  Americans-proceeds used to educate Native
  American children

7
Why it Failed

• Reasons Dawes Act failed
• Many Native Americans were not farmers
• Land was poor or inferior
• Many were cheated out of their land
• Many families sold land, when money was gone they
  had nothing to live on

8
Indian Reorganization Act of 1934

• Part of FDRs New Deal
• Partially reversed the individualistic approach
  and tried to restore the tribal basis of Indian
  life.
• John Collier- Commissioner of Indian
  Affairs-sought to reverse the force assimilation
  policies of the Dawes Act

9
Homestead Act of 1862

• Provided 160 acres of land in the west to any
  citizen or intended citizen who was the head of a
  household and would cultivate the land for 5
  years.

10
Terms

• Barbed wire- invented by Joseph Glidden-brought
  an end to the open plain.
•  Soddy- a home made out of prairie turf, provided
  warmth but no protection from snakes and insects

11
States Joining the Union

• Western states which joined Union during 1870s
  and 1890s
• Colorado
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Montana
• Washington
• Idaho
• Wyoming
• Utah

12
Oklahoma

• Joined union in 1907. Major land give away
  attracted thousands. In less than a day settlers
  claimed over 2 million acres. Some people took
  possession before government declared it open to
  settlement.
• Oklahoma became known as the Sooner State

13
Bonanza Farms

• Came into existence during 1870s.
• Owned by railroad companies and investors
• Large scale-single crop farms consisting of
  thousands of acres.

14
Agriculture

• Volume of agricultural products increased/prices
  decreased.
• Factors contributing to farmers problems
• Insects (grasshoppers/boll weevils)
• Floods led to erosion
• Droughts
• Overproduction of crops
• High taxes on the land
• High protective tariffs on manufactured goods
• High freight and storage rates charged by the
  railroads

15
The Grange

• Patrons of Husbandry (the Grange)
• 1867
• Oliver Hudson Kelley and 6 associates who worked
  for the US Department of Agriculture toured the
  depressed south.

• Purpose provide a place for farm families to
  discuss social and educational issues
• By 1870s, Grange members spent most of their
  time fighting the railroads.
• In several states farmers helped passed Granger
  Laws which regulated railroad rates.

16
Munn v Illinois

• 1877 US Supreme Court decision
• Said that states and federal government could
  regulate railroads because they were businesses
  that served the public interest.

17
Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railroad Companies
v Illinois

• 1886 US Supreme Court decreed that individual
  states had no power to regulate interstate trade.

18

• Farmers Alliance
• Populist Party (Peoples Party) 1892
• Populism- a movement to gain more political and
  economic power for common people.
• They pushed for reforms to help farmers.
• Omaha Platform (Chapter 23)

19

• 1892 - James B. Weaver was the Populist Partys
  candidate.
• Panic of 1893

20
Jacob Coxey

• From Ohio- along with 500 men set out for DC
  demanding that the government relieve
  unemployment with a public works program

• Jacob Coxey

21
Pullman Strike

• Chicago, 1894, Eugene V. Debs
• First time the government used a federal court
  injunction to break a strike

22
1896 Presidential Election

• Central issue of the campaign was which metal
  would be the basis of the nations monetary
  policy
• Bimetallism- a monetary system in which
  government would give people either gold or
  silver in exchange for paper money/checks
• goldbugs favored the gold standard

23
1896 Presidential Election

• Republicans were goldbugs-nominated William
  McKinley
• Democrats and Populists favored
  bimetallism-nominated William Jennings Bryan
• Mark Hanna- wealthy Ohio industrialist-helped buy
  the Republican nomination for Gov. McKinley

24
1896 Presidential Election

• William Jennings Bryan and his Cross of Gold
  Speech-Democratic Convention 1896
• McKinley elected President in 1896-ushered in a
  long period of Republican dominance accompanied
  by diminishing voter participation in elections

25
Populist Legacies

• Two powerful legacies of the
• Populist Movement
• That poor people and les powerful groups in
  society could organize and have a political
  impact
• An agenda of reforms-many of which would later
  become law