VUS.8 Lesson 2- Westward.pptx

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VUS.8 Lesson 2

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™ Why do you think people went West? ™ If you lived during this time, would you have made the trek West? Why or why not?

American Territory –

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Westward Expansion – ™ Expansion into territory West of the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean

™ Happened before and after the Civil War –  Gold Rush 1849 (49’ers) –  Mormon Exodus to Utah (1847) –  Homestead Act of 1862

Homestead Act of 1862 –

™  Land grant of 160 acres of public land in the Western territories ™  Paid a small fee after 5 years or paid $1.25 after 6 months ™  Settlers farmed the land

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Homestead Act of 1862 – ™ Pros –  Government did not have to pay to build roads or dig wells –  Great deal for experienced farmers

™ Cons –  Many of the settlers were not farmers which often led to bankruptcy –  Small farmers had to compete with large scale agricultural operations

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Who do you think moved West?

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Settlers – ™  Many came looking for the better life promised in the West. ™  Southerners

–  Looking to rebuild after the devastation of the Civil War

™  African-Americans –  Freed slaves sought freedom from violence in the South –  “Exodusters”

™  Immigrants –  Chinese and Irish immigrants worked on the railroad

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Transcontinental Railroad –

™ Encouraged Westward expansion and settlement ™ Moved products –  Got products to the East

™ Railroad Towns –  Cheyenne Wyoming –  Helena, Montana

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New Technologies – ™ Mechanical reaper ™ Grain drill ™ Barbed wire

Miners – ™ Many looking for gold and natural resources ™ Mechanization increased efficiency and output

–  Big business and big machinery will take over underground mining

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Cattle Ranchers – ™ Ranchers –  Raised cattle on the large open grasslands –  Hired cowboys to drive the cattle to the nearest railroad to sell

Impacts of Westward Expansion

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™ 1890-Near extinction of the American Buffalo –  Hunted for skin and sport

™ Violent conflicts between settlers, Federal government, and Native Americans –  Chief Joseph and Nez Perce

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Native Americans – ™ Trail of Tears ™ Early Conflicts and Resolutions –  Treaty of Ft. Laramie (1851) –  The Great Sioux Uprising (1862) –  The Sand Creek Massacre (1864)

Native Americans – ™ Reservations –  Native Americans “agreed” to live on these reservations –  Federal government promised to support these reservations

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Dawes Act – ™ Encourage American Indians to become farmers –  Many did not know how to farm –  The land on the reservations was not good for farming

™ American Indians encouraged to assimilate to American lifestyle. –  Adopt the white mans culture –  “Kill the Indian, Save the Man” –Colonel Pratt

Assimilation –

Battle of Little Bighorn – ™  Great Sioux Reservation in western South Dakota –  Sacred land to the Sioux tribe.

™  Gold is discovered in the Black Hills –  U.S. offers to buy the land, but leader Sitting Bull and Sioux refuse –  U.S. comes to take the land by force led by Custer

™  June 1876- Battle of the Little Big Horn –  Sioux resisted led by Crazy Horse –  Custer and his men were killed –  “Custer’s Last Stand”

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U.S. Army Memorial at the Little Bighorn

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Memorial to Crazy Horse in Yellow Stone National Park

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Massacre at Wounded Knee – Knee, South Dakota ™ December 1890-Wounded

™ Sioux surrendering weapons to U.S. army – American Indian gun fired-accident? – Ghost Dance movement ™ U. S. Soldiers open fire on about 350 unarmed American Indians – Over 200 American Indian men, women, and children were killed. *Also called the Battle of Wounded Knee

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