Essential Question Question What factors led to the

■ Essential Question: Question –What factors led to the settlement of the West during the Gilded Age (1870 -1900)? ■ Warm-Up Question: –Please pick up the review sheet from the desk in the front of the room. Complete #1 -10 ONLY!

The Gilded Age: 1870 -1900 ■ After the Civil War, the U. S. entered an era known as the Gilded Age when America experienced rapid changes

Overview of the West ■ After the Civil War, the area west of the Mississippi River was settled: –Miners, ranchers, farmers flooded into the “frontier” looking for economic opportunities –Transcontinental railroads connected the country –Plains Indians were forced to assimilate & move to reservations ■ By 1890, the frontier was closed

The Mining Bonanza ■ Mining was the 1 st magnet to attract settlers to the West: –Before the Civil War, miners discovered gold in California, Colorado, & Nevada –After the Civil War, miners resumed their migration into the West to find more gold & silver

John Mackay became the richest man in the world & earned $25 a minute from his “Big Bonanza” in Sierra Mountains Silver miners in Leadville, CO $306 million in gold Mining towns were & in silver was formed the West; discovered the Needed gov’t, at law Comstock Lode enforcement, & businesses Mining Regions of the West

Corporations had the expensive machinery (“hydraulic mining techniques”) to extract most of the gold in the West

What were the major points of entry for immigrants coming to the United States? • Established by the Bureau of Immigration Ellis Island • 1892 Ellis Island opened in New York Harbor as major immigration station on East coast • 1910 Angel Island opened in San Francisco & became a major station on West coast Angel Island

■ Chinese & Latin American immigrants came to find gold ■ Nativism led Congress to pass the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 which ended Chinese immigration

Ranchers & The Cattle Boom ■ After the Civil War, the demand for beef skyrocketed ■ To meet this demand, ranchers drove Texas longhorns across the open “range” to railroad towns: –Cattle bought in Texas for $4 could be sold for $40 in Kansas –Cattle drives created new towns

Ranchers By Ranchers 1867, ranchers used the started using Boom trains to ship & The Cattle “open cattle range” to meatpacking to graze cities like Chicago longhorns during the 3 month “long drive”

Ranchers & The Cattle Boom ■ By the 1880 s, cattle ranching was difficult because: –The “open range” was closed as farmers used new barbed wire fencing to close off their farms –Overgrazing & drought left little grasslands for grazing cattle –Competition from sheep herding

Homesteads & Farmers ■ The U. S. gov’t offered incentives for farmers to settle the West: –Homestead Act (1862) gave 160 acres to citizens who pledged to “improve the land” for at least 5 years –Other gov’t acts helped develop western lands by planting trees & building irrigation systems

By 1900, 600, 000 Americans claimed homesteads

Homesteads & Farmers ■ Life in the Plains was difficult: –There were few trees so homesteaders built sod houses – 60% of homesteaders failed ■ But many homesteaders adapted: –Used dry farming techniques –Planted tough varieties of wheat –Used harvesting machinery

By 1890, the U. S. became a major crop exporter

Exodusters ■ Exodusters were black farmers who moved West to escape crop liens & Jim Crow laws in the South

Exodusters

Homestead Sales, 1870 -1940 In 1890, the western frontier “closed”: There were no more unorganized territories in the West

Rails Across the Continent ■ In 1862, Congress authorized the first transcontinental railroad: –Union Pacific worked westward from Nebraska (Irish laborers) –Central Pacific worked eastward from CA (Chinese immigrants) –On May 10, 1869 the 2 tracks met at Promontory Point in Utah

Irish workers made up a large percentage of laborers on the eastern section Chinese workers made up a large percentage of laborers on the western leg The 1 st transcontinental railroad connected the west coast to eastern cities in 1869

The national gov’t gave out $65 million & millions of acres to railroad companies to Federal Land Grants to Railroads by 1871 connect the East & West coasts with railroads

The Transcontinental Railroad

Railroad Construction, 1830 -1920

Plains In 1865, 2/3 The of all Indians lived on the Great Plains Their culture was dependent upon the buffalo & the horse

The Importance of the Buffalo in Indian Culture

America’s Indian Policy ■ America’s Indian policy changed: –In the 1830 s, Indians were moved across the Mississippi River into “one big reservation” –In the 1850 s, (due to Manifest Destiny), Indians were moved into concentrated reservations –In the 1860 s, reservations were violated by farmers & miners

In. Indians 1876, Americans Wars flooded into Sioux territory in South Dakota when gold was discovered The Sioux, led by Sitting Bull, retaliated by ambushing Colonel Custer & all 197 soldiers in the Seventh Cavalry at Little Big Horn

Indians Wars When the U. S. army tried to stop The Battle of Wounded Knee in 1890 was Sioux “ghost dances, ” 200 men, women, the last Indian war in American history & children were slaughtered during the Battle of Wounded Knee

The End of Tribal Life ■ The final blow to Indian culture came with annihilation of buffalo: –Began with the construction of the transcontinental RR in 1860 s –From 1872 to 1874, 3 million buffalo were killed each year

Lands by Native Americans (1894) The. Lost Cession of Indian Territory

Conclusions ■ By 1890, the frontier was closed: –Miners, ranchers, & farmers flooded West at the expense of Indians –But, Westerners began to grow frustrated due to their dependency on Eastern railroads, banks, & politicians

Closure Activity ■ What was the American “West” in 1750? 1800? 1850? 1900? ■ Now that the United States has acquired & occupied all lands between the Atlantic & Pacific, what’s next?

Social Exploitation in the Gilded Age ■ Which group had it worst in the Gilded Age: American Indians, African. Americans, Chinese, or “new” immigrants?