U.S. History

• The Civil War triggered another movement of people to the west
• The Morrill Land Act of 1862: The U.S. government gave 140 million acres of land in the west to state and territorial governments to sell for 50¢ per acre to settlers
• Much of the land from the Morrill Land Act was sold to speculators, who hoped to sell it later at a higher price
• The Homestead Act of 1862: The U.S. government gave 160 acres to any settler for a $10 fee, with the condition that the settler must live on and work that land for 5 years, after which they own it and can do whatever they want with the land
• Exodusters were African Americans who moved to the west following the Civil War, mostly to Kansas
• The Indian Wars occurred between 1866-1890, the last conflict between Native Americans and the U.S. government over control of lands in the west
• The Sioux, a large group of Native Americans on the Great Plains, came into conflict with settlers over the land, leading to the Battle of Little Big Horn where over 200 U.S. cavalry soldiers led by General Custer were killed by Sioux warriors
• As Americans moved to the West, they began to establish businesses, with farming being a common occupation where farms had to be 5 times larger than those in the East due to less rainfall
• Bonanza farms were very large farms in the West, over 1000 acres, owned as a business and grew food that fed the nation
• The invention of the Steel Plow in the 1870s opened up the Great Plains to farming
• Mining in the West involved the extraction of minerals and metals from the Earth, initially an individual effort but later becoming a big business
• At first, mining involved processing tons of Earth in a day to extract minerals, which could be destructive to the government
• Ranching in the West involved the raising of livestock like cattle, pigs, chickens, and sheep, with the destruction of herds of Bison opening up lands for ranching
• The area used for ranching was called the Range, and by the late 1870s, a conflict began in the West between farmers and ranchers over land use, known as The Range Wars
• The Range Wars ended with the invention and use of barb wire
• The end of Reconstruction will result in the withdrawal of all reconstruction ends
• A majority of the 5 made between Rep - Dems. agree to allow the end of Reconstruction
• Groups involved in the conflict

  • The Nez Perce
  • Native American group from the Pacific
  • Northwest who had been moved to Plains
• During the Indian wars, the U.S. military acted to eliminate the food source of Native Americans on the Plains
• The Nez Perce tribe is forced to fight their way to Canada
• Congress passes The Dawes Act - a law that attempted to reduce the number and size of reservations in the west to assimilate Native Americans into Greater American Society


  1888
• The Transcontinental Railroad was completed, networking most of the west with railroads
• A new type of politics called Populism emerges in the west, focusing on the politics of farming (Politics of the people)
• Issues of farmers


  • Tariffs - farmers were against tariffs causing them to lose money as they tried to sell their produce overseas
  • The Money Supply - congress established The Gold Standard as the basis of the amount and values of money, which farmers did not like as it caused them to lose money as they sold their produce at lower prices
  • Farmers wanted a Bimetal Standard money based upon Gold and silver
• Railroads built in the west after the civil war

  1869
• Chief Joseph leads the Nez Perce tribe to leave the Reservation and flee to Canada


  1877
• Railroads became the first true big business in America
• Millions of bison will be hunted to the point of near extinction through total war tactics
• 40 miles short of the border, the Nez Perce tribe attempts to return to the reservation but will be stopped
• By the 1870's, farmers in the west began to support government actions that would help farmers be more successful
• Gold Bugs


  People who favored the gold standard
• Silverites


  People who favored using silver as part of the money supply
• Greenbacks


  People who favored the unlimited printing of paper money
• For the most part the leaders of the major political parties in the late 1800's ignored the needs of farmers
• Farmers did not vote, they were not involved in politics
• However, populists in the west began to change this - farmers became more politically active
• Populism (Forming Politics)


  1. After the civil war, farmers begin to become more involved in politics

  2. To deal with the issues faced in farming, like increased costs of farming seeds, fertilizers and railroad freight

  3. To lobby the government to take action to help farmers
• The Grange started in 1866 as a local farmer organization that allowed farmers to "pool" their purchases of seeds, fertilizer, equipment in large quantities at lower prices
• The Grange also became a group that lobbied the government to help farmers
• The Farmers Alliance was a local political group of farmers that lobbied the government to regulate railroads