IF YOU MISSED THIS CLASS, YOU NEED TO:

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1. THE AMERICAN WEST AND AGRICULTURE AFTER THE
CIVIL WAR
IF YOU MISSED THIS CLASS, YOU NEED TO
1) NOT WORRY ABOUT THE DQ (THERE WASNT
ONE) 2) COPY THE NOTES (I GET MY COPY BACK).
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STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO
-List the industries bringing settlers to the
West -Evaluate the hardships faced by those who
settled in the American West -Explain the
importance of the American Frontier -Evaluate the
treatment of the American Indian as westerward
settlement continued -Explain the Populist
platform of 1896 and its connection to Frank
Baums book
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I will fight no more forever. -CHIEF JOSEPH OF
THE NEZ PERCE
Daily Comment Card
1887
DAWES SEVERALTY ACT
-Legistlation encouraging break up of Native
tribe and assimilating them into society -Helen
Hunt Jacksons A Century of Dishonor served as a
catalyst, depicting injustices done to
natives -Gave each head of a Native American
family 160 acres of farmland or 320 acres of
grazing land
SONG FOR THE DAYTHIS IS WHERE THE COWBOY RIDES
AWAY
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I will fight no more forever. -CHIEF JOSEPH OF
THE NEZ PERCE
Daily Comment Card
1890
BATTLE OF WOUNDED KNEE
-Sioux natives wished to practice the Ghost
Dance they felt would free them of the
whites -The army believed Chief Sitting Bull
was organizing a rebellion and he was killed
in an exchange of gunfire. -When the remainder of
the tribe fled to Wounded Knee, they were
massacred in what is considered the last
battle of the Indian Wars.
SONG FOR THE DAY SHOULD HAVE BEEN A COWBOY
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I will fight no more forever. -CHIEF JOSEPH OF
THE NEZ PERCE
Daily Comment Card
1887
1890
DAWES SEVERALTY ACT
BATTLE OF WOUNDED KNEE
-Legistlation encouraging break up of Native
tribe and assimilating them into society -Helen
Hunt Jacksons A Century of Dishonor served as a
catalyst, depicting injustices done to
natives -Gave each head of a Native American
family 160 acres of farmland or 320 acres of
grazing land
-Sioux natives wished to practice the Ghost
Dance they felt would free them of the
whites -The army believed Chief Sitting Bull
was organizing a rebellion and he was killed
in an exchange of gunfire. -When the remainder of
the tribe fled to Wounded Knee, they were
massacred in what is considered the last
battle of the Indian Wars.
SONG FOR THE DAY SHOULD HAVE BEEN A COWBOY
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THE (OLD) AMERICAN WEST
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THE ARRIVAL OF THE RAILROAD CHANGED THE WEST.
THIS INNOVATION, MORE THAN ANY OTHER, TRANSFORMED
LIFE BEFORE 1900.
THE TWO MAJOR RAIL LINES (UNION PACIFIC AND
CENTRAL PACIFIC) MET AT PROMONTORY POINT, IN
UTAH, IN 1869. A GOLDEN SPIKE WAS DRIVEN INTO
THE GROUND TO CELEBRATE THE MOMENT.
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3 INDUSTRIES BROUGHT PEOPLE TO THE WEST 1)
MINING 2) FARMING 3) RANCHING
MINING TOWNS WERE MADE UP OF LOT OF MEN (MANY
IMMIGRANTS-CHINESE) AND VERY FEW WOMEN (UNLESS
THEY WERE WORKING GIRLS)MINING TOWNS FOLLOWED
BOOM AND BUST CYCLES
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ONCE THE AREA HAD BEEN MINEDFARMERS BEGAN TO
MOVE IN
The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged farming by
offering 160 acres to any family that settled for
5 years
The first settlers on the dry and treeless plains
often built their homes of sod bricks giving them
the name sodbusters.
The Morrill Land Grant Act provided money for
agricultural colleges and encouraged agricultural
activity
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SOON CATTLE RANCHERS BEGAN TO INFILTRATE THE WEST
In Texas cattle had been raised and rounded up by
Mexican cowboys known as vaqueros.
THE ERA OF THE CATTLE DRIVES LASTED FROM 1866 TO
1888.
BARBED WIRE (PATENTED BY JOSEPH GLIDDEN) ENDED
THE OPEN RANGE AND MADE THE LONG CATTLE DRIVES
IMPOSSIBLE (it also caused conflict between
farmers and cattle ranchers)
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The cattle industry was hurt by
-overgrazing -blizzard and drought of
1885-1886 -homesteaders and barbed wire
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The American government forced Native Americans
onto RESERVATIONS. When this didnt seem to
work, the DAWES SEVERALTY ACT gave tracts of land
to natives on reservations and tried to
assimilate them.
The Assimilation Act was discontinued in 1934.
WHEN THE NATIVE AMERICANS FOUGHT BACK, THEY FACED
MILITARY FORCE
THE SIOUX FOUGHT BACK AT THE BATTLE OF THE
LITTLE BIG HORN (CUSTERS LAST STAND)
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THE 7TH CAVALRY WAS DEFEATED IN THE BLACK HILL OF
SOUTH DAKOTA BY A SUPERIOR FORCE OF 2,500 INDIAN
WARRIORS. CUSTER AND 264 MEN WERE WIPED OUT IN
1876
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GHOST DANCE MOVEMENT
The last effort of Natives to resist domination
by the whites came through the Ghost Dance
movement.
THIS MOVEMENT COMBINED CHRISTIANITY AND NATIVE
CULTURE. THE NATIVES BELIEVED IF THEY DANCED IN
SPECIAL BULLET PROOF SHIRTS, THAT JESUS WOULD
RETURN AND THE WHITE MAN WOULD DISAPPEAR
Sioux medicine man Sitting Bull was killed during
his arrest. This was followed by 200 native
American men, women, and children being gunned
down by the Army at Wounded Knee in 1890. This
ended the Indian Wars.
THE BATTLE OF WOUNDED KNEE WAS THE LAST STAND
FOR THE NATIVES
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Injustices done to natives were chronicled in
Helen Hunt Jacksons A Century of Dishonor (1881).
IN 1893 HISTORIAN FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER
PROCLAIMED THAT THE FRONTIER WAS GONE
HE ARGUED THAT IT WAS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN CULTURE IT HAD PROVIDED
A SAFETY VALVE.
FRONTIER THESIS
By 1900, the frontier had closed, and the great
buffalo herds had been virtually wiped out. 9
new western states were added from 1864-1900
Nevada (64), Colorado (76),Washington (89),
Montana (89), North and South Dakota (89),Wyoming
(90), Idaho (90) and Utah(96)
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Movie clip of Wild Wild West Promotory Point
scene http//www.anyclip.com/movies/wild-wild-we
st/presidential-ceremony/