Transcript Chapter 26 The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution

Chapter 26
1865-1896
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Due to white civilization, Indians had
been forced to the Western plains
which resulted in cultural changes
Apaches been displaced by the
Comanches to upper Rio Grande valley
in the 18th century
Mandans, Chippewas, Cheyenne had
left the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers
regions before the Civil War
Sioux displaced from the Great Lakes
in the 18th century where they battled
w/ the Crows, Kiowas, and Pawnees in
the Great Plains
Horses had changed the Sioux and
Cheyenne to where they lived in more
permanent settlements & used to hunt
buffalo
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Disease again struck the Indians of the
Plains as settlers entered the region
Whites also killed the buffalo for their
own gains causing a near extinction of
the species
The gov’t tried to make treaties but
didn’t understand Native American
society
By the 1860s, Indians were placed on
smaller land area and only gave in
when promised food, clothing &
supplies
After the Civil War, Indians and the US
Army fought
1/5 of the Army on the Plains were
African Americans called Buffalo
Soldiers by the Indians b/c they though
blacks hair was like the fur on a buffalo
 1866 Sioux war party tried to stop the
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construction of the Bozeman Trail &
ambushed Cpt. Wm. J. Fetterman & 87
civilians at WY’s Bighorn Mts.
(Fetterman Massacre)
Col. George Armstrong Custer, who
fought in the Civil War led the crusade
against the Indians
1874 Custer had went to Black Hills,
Dakota, where he claimed gold was
discovered but was located in the
Sioux reservation causing many people
searching for gold
The herd of white people enraged
Sitting Bull of the Sioux Indians
Custer as a result attacked the Sioux
Indians where Custer was defeated at
Little Big Horn
Chief Joseph in 1877 of the Nez Perce
Indians in OR was left for Canada where he
met w/ Sitting Bull after the Battle of Little
Big Horn
 However, Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce
were forced onto a reservation in KS where
40% died due to disease
 Geronimo, leader of the Apache tribes of AZ
& NM, had his tribe tracked down by the
military who were dispersed into Mexico,
FL and OK
 Indians were forced onto reservations in
which was done for the completion the
transcontinental railroads
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When white men 1st arrived to North
America there were millions of buffalo
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For the Native Americans, the buffalo
provided food, fuel, clothing, lariats, and
harnesses
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The Kansas Pacific RR hired men like
Buffalo Bill to kill the animals to insure
that the railroad ran on time
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Sportsmen also led to the almost
extinction
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By 1885 less than 1,000 buffalo remained
on the plains
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Helen Hunt Jackson of Massachusetts was
writer of children’s literature and in 1881
published A Century of Dishonor and
Ramona (1884)
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Hunt expressed how the gov’t was unkind
and ruthless to the Indians which gathered
sympathy for the Indians
Some people felt that Indians needed to
have better treatment while others wanted
them contained and punished
 Some Christian reformers would w/hold
food in order to get Indians to assimilate
into white culture and even had the Sun
Dance outlawed
 As a result the Indians used the “Ghost
Dance” in 1890 in which they hoped to get
rid of the white men
 As a result in 1890 the Battle of Wounded
Knee wiped out the Sioux and the Ghost
Dance
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Dawes Severalty Act 1887-dissolved the
tribes as entities, took away ownership of
land and established family heads w/ 160
acres and if they behaved they would get
the title to their property and get
citizenship in 25 years
 Land that was no longer in the reservation
system was sold to the railroads & the $ was
used to educate the Indians
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1879 Carlisle Indian School in PA was
established in which Indian children were
taken from the reservations and taught
English and white values and customs
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1858-Gold discovered in CO causing “59ers” to rush to Pikes Peak
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1859-Gold & silver (Comstock Lode) was discovered in NV causing NV to enter into the
Union by 1864
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Smaller claims happened in Montana & Idaho where Boomtowns were established
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Even though many people came to the west for gold/silver there were many opportunities
men and women
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Women gained voting rights in WY (1869), UT (1870), CO (1893) & ID (1896)
 Cattle was also raised on the Great
Plains, especially TX
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transported by train which resulted
in the “beef barons” (Swifts and
Armours) controlling the industry
in Chicago and Kansas City
 As a result, cowboys would herd
thousands of cattle across the plains
to the nearest train (long drive)
depot like Dodge City, Abilene, KS,
Ogallala, NE, Cheyenne, WY
 James B. (Wild Bill) Hickok became
a famous gunman in Abilene in
order to maintain the law
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Shot in 1876
 Eventually, ranchers fenced in
property and the RRs expanded
causing the end of the Long Drive
 Ranchers also learned to breed
animals w/ more meat in order to
not over produce
 Homestead Act of 1862-settlers
could claim 160 acres, live it on 5 yrs,
pay a $30 fee and own the land
 Living on the plains was difficult b/c
of scarce rain
 Railroad companies offered
Americans and immigrants cheap
land
 With the creation of the steel plow,
the prairie lands were great for
growing corn & wheat
 Adaptations were to crops as settlers
established farms into Kansas and
Colorado
 Numerous states joined the Union between 1870-1890
 CO (1876), ND, SD, MT,WA, ID, & WY
 1896 UT finally entered the Union after polygamy was banned in 1890
 OK was one of the last regions opened up to settlers (April 22, 1889)
 Became known as the “Sooner State” b/c within 1 year had massed the population to
enter into the Union
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By 1890, all the territories were no longer
unsettles
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Frederick Jackson Turner-wrote “The
Significance of the Frontier in American
History” (1893); explains the settlement
of the territories and the end of the
frontier
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“American history has been in a large
degree the history of the colonization of
the Great West” Turner
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Yellowstone (1872), Yosemite (1890) &
Sequoia (1890) were created as national
parks to preserve the frontier
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“Safety valve”-a theory where people
could move from the city to the
territories and establish farms during
economic hardships; most people didn’t
do this b/c they lacked $ to do so
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However, the safety valve did attract
immigrants to the frontier
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The effects of western expansion led to
the conflict w/ the Native Americans,
introduction to Hispanic culture, rough
environmental conditions caused
struggle
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In addition, it created a genre for writers
like Mark Twain, Helen Hunt Jackson,
Francis Parkman
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The life of farmers were also changing w/
industrialization
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Farmers concentrated on “cash crops”
like wheat or corn and used profits to buy
manufactured products instead of
making their own
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Aaron Montgomery Ward (1872) printed
its 1st catalog
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Big farmers were associated w/ the
banks, RRs and businesses
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The steam engine led to the creation of
tractors and that was faster than the plow
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1880s the reaper was created making it
easier to harvest
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New inventions in technology actually
caused many to move to the cities to find
jobs
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Bonanza farms-primarily wheat, were
extremely large and were like an outdoor
grain factory
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Become the large farms that exist today
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Problem w/ cash crops-when demand
was high, $ was good
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1880s-1890s prices for grain fell due to
Russia & Argentina
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As a result, deflation occurred and
farmers struggled to make payments on
loans
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In addition deflation caused a shortage
of money
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After 1890 most farmers lived in debt and
many faced foreclosures
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Farmers were falling into the Old World
form of feudalism
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Grange (National Grange of the Patrons
of Husbandry) was founded in 1867
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Grange was led by Oliver H. Kelley who
was a farmer from Minnesota
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Kelley hoped to achieve the
enhancement of farmers lives through
social, educational and fraternal
activities
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Grange held picnics, concerts and
lectures along with a hierarchy system
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Women-Maid to the Matron
Men-Laborer of Husbandom
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By 1875 the goal of the Grange was to
break the trusts that controlled the
stores, elevators and warehouses
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Grange eventually went politically and
fought for regulation of RR rates and
storage fees (Granger Laws)
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However, many of the Granger Laws were
fought in the higher courts where many
of them were reversed b/c the big
businesses could aff0rd expensive
lawyers
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Wabash decision (1886) from the
Supreme Court-individual states had no
power to regulate interstate commerce
Farmers then turned to the Greenback
Labor Party & in 1880 nominated James
B. Weaver for president
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Gained 3% of the popular vote
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Farmers’ Alliance (1870s)-was founded to
try to break the monopoly of the RRs &
manufactures
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The Alliance was weak b/c it didn’t
include tenant farmers, sharecroppers or
blacks
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Colored Farmers’ Alliance (1880s) was
established to try to get whites & blacks
to cooperate but didn’t work due to the
racial division in the South
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From the Farmers’ Alliance in the 1890s,
the People’s Party (Populist Party) was
established
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Mostly farmers who were frustrated w/
the system
Wanted nationalization of the RRs,
telephone, telegraph, a graduated income
tax and a federal “sub treasury” in which
famers w/ loans could store crops in gov’t
owned warehouses until prices rose
Free & unlimited coinage of silver
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William Hope Harvey wrote Financial
School (1894) which supported the
Populist Party & idea of free coinage of
silver
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Mary Elizabeth Lease (aka Kansas
Pythoness)-demanded people not to
produce corn but challenge the system
causing the Northeastern states to
complain that Kansas wasn’t civilized
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1893 depression strengthened the
Populist Party and allied with those who
were unemployed
Jacob S. Coxey-OH quarry owner, went to
Washington in 1894 to demand from the
gov’t relief for the unemployed w/ a $500
million note from the treasury to create a
public works program
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Coxey on his way to DC was followed by
supporters called Coxey’s Army & when
they arrived they were arrested for
stepping on the grass
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Pullman strike of 1894-Eugene V. Debs, a
labor leader of the American Railway
Union, led a strike against a model town
near Chicago
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Employees had their wages cut but were
still expected to pay for their rent
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The Pullman strike resulted in employees
stopping RR traffic
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However, Gov. John Peter Altgeld didn’t
think the strike was out of hand where as
attorney general Richard Olney did &
wanted federal troops to intervene
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Olney believed that the strike was
intervening w/ the delivery of the US
mail & President Cleveland supported
causing the strike to cease
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Debs received 6 months jail
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This was the 1st time that the gov’t was
used to stop a strike and causing the
Populist party to fade out
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Election of 1896
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William McKinley (OH) was the
Republican nomination & winner due to
his record of being a Congressman
William Jennings Bryan (NE) was the
Democratic candidate who supported
coinage of silver
Bryan won the nomination after
delivering his Cross of Gold speech which
emphasized that the working class
couldn’t be stopped and will be the
martyrs for the cause
Bryan’s policy on silver, split the party
with a group called the Gold BugsDemocrats who believed in the gold
system and tried to create their own
nomination
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Marcus Alonzo Hanna (businessman in
iron) who helped McKinley win the
presidency
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Hanna stressed that the “function of
gov’t was to aid big business.” & stressed
the gold standard
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Due to the split in the Democratic party,
the “16 to 1” ratio caused the Populists to
merge with the other Democrats to
endorse Bryan
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Hanna believed that the campaign could
focus on the tariff but Bryan didn’t take the
bite forcing free silver to be a main issue
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Bryan became feared by the East (big
business) causing McKinley to accepted as
saving the US
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Hanna used the fear against Bryan’s
campaign
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Employers threatened workers if Bryan was
elected causing many workers to vote for
McKinley
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The election of 1896 was a huge victory for
big business & parties realized that
campaigns could be won in the cities not
the rural communities
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The era after McKinley was called “the
fourth party system” because the issues
would focus on industrial regulation and
labor
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McKinley was a cautious president and
didn’t pursue reform which allowed big
businesses to reign
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Treasury was lacking funding b/c the
Wilson Gorman law wasn’t bring in
enough $
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Dingley Tariff Bill was introduced in 1897
by Reed in which the tariff would
increase rates but some didn’t think it
was high enough
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With the economy continuing to
improve the silver issue faded
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Gold Standard Act of 1900-allowed paper
$ to redeemed in gold