Me-American West

• Climate/terrain on the Great Plains
• The Great Plains were hard to farm,had harsh weather conditions with droughts,hailstorms and more.Also,the vegetation was sparse with long prairie grass


  Name some conditions of life on the Great plains
• Tipi


  Tent-like structure that the Native Americans lived in
• Squaw


  Name for mother/women in a tribe
• The buffalo dance often included...

  Dressing up as buffalo and dance together to bring the herd closer to them
• Ways the Natives hunted the buffalo

  Used horses to reach the hunt,crawled along the floor to scout buffalo,dressed as wolves to make a stampede and move them in right direction,make buffalo fall into valley,used spears,bows and arrows
• 
  

  Ways that the buffalo was used:


  Tongue-used as a hairbrush

  Fur-used as clothing,stuffing and rope

  Tanned hide-used as rugs,bags,tipi covers
• Reasons the buffalo was important to the Natives

  Only food source,lack of supplies on Plains,used for protection
• Men were responsible for...

  Hunting,protecting the band,looking after the horses
• Women were responsible for...

  the tipi,collected water,looked after children,made clothes
• Children did/did not...


  Didn't attend school,boys taught to hunt,girls taught to maintain home
• Old people were responsible for...

  Gave advice to council,when they were too old to travel,they were left behind
• Native American Chiefs


  Weren't elected-became chief because of wisdom,spiritual power or knowledge,wore feathered war bonnets to show their status
• Roles of Native American Councils

  Made important decisions,took advice from local chiefs,only men on the council,smoked ceremonial pipe to get help from spirits
• Beliefs of Native Americans

  Land was sacred and the "mother" of them,believe in Great spirit,Visions influenced decisions,Black Hills sacred to all
• Beliefs of Europeans


  Fenced off land,mainly Christian,didn't accept Native beliefs,owned land,mined valuable resources
• Importance of Native beliefs in causing issues with Europeans

  Settlers lived off resources on land,Europeans would fence off the land-anger the Indians,Settlers gave poor land to Indians due to savage beliefs,owning land later disturbed buffalo
• Government policy towards Native Americans

  Continuously unfair and prejudiced,leading to assimilation
• 1830-Indian Removal Act


  Forced them to move away from eastern states and west of Mississippi river,became known as Indian territory,which was protected from tribes and white settlers
• 1834-Indian Trade and Intercourse Act


  Set out border between US and Indian territory,prevented white Americans from settling on Indian land,prevented sales of guns/alcohol,guarded by US army
• 1851-Indian Appropriations Act


  Funds the moving of the Indians to reservations in Oklahoma,provided government money to encourage them to take up farming
• Context-1840s


  1848-US wins war with Mexico and gains territory in the West,Mostly California
• Reasons for migrating West

  Economic crisis in 1830s meant people lost jobs,savings,unemployment hit record levels

  Rich and fertile land in Oregon-encouraged those to farm there

  Belief in Manifest Destiny-belief that white Americans had right to populate all of America,often used in government message/acts

  Many jobs required-as more people moved,more servises were needed meaning more jobs were available

  Establishment of Oregon Trail made it easier to reach the West Coast
• Problems with migration


  Time-had to set off at the right time to plant crops

  Risk of Plains Indians

  Cost-needed lots of equipment so was a high cost

  Climate/terrain-unpredictable and hard to cross over

  Health-no access to doctor so disease was common
• The Donner Party


  Group migrating West in 1846
• The Donner Party's journey

  1. Initially smooth and followed the Trails

  2. George Donner decided to head down an off-cut called Hasting's Cut-off

  3. Hasting's Cut-off claimed to reduce the journey by two weeks but added 100 miles

  4. Strain was harder and on difficult terrain

  5. Axle broke on their wagon

  6. 5 feet of snow fell that night, leaving them stranded for 5 months

  7. Food ran low, so they first ate their pack animals, then sticks and stones, wood and resorted to cannibalism

  8. Barely one person survived
• The Donner Party's journey was initially smooth and followed the Trails
• George Donner decided to head down an off-cut called Hasting's Cut-off
• Hasting's Cut-off claimed to reduce the journey by two weeks but added 100 miles
• The strain was harder and on difficult terrain
• The axle broke on their wagon
• 5 feet of snow fell that night, leaving them stranded for 5 months
• Their food ran low, so they first ate their pack animals, then sticks and stones, wood and resorted to cannibalism
• Barely one person survived
• Mormons


  Religious group that practised polygamy, which made them hated by many in the East
• Mormon Migration


  1. Settled in Missouri

  2. Set up secret police that scared locals, forced to leave

  3. Settled in Ohio

  4. Set up bank that went bankrupt, forced to leave

  5. Joseph Smith killed, Brigham Young made new leader

  6. Young had vision to settle Mormons in Salt Lake

  7. Planned route, organised groups, trained people, gathered supplies

  8. Planted crops along route for next group

  9. Successfully built settlements and irrigation systems in Salt Lake
• Salt Lake had never been farmed before or lived in
• California Gold Rush


  Gold was discovered by James Marshall in 1848,leading to 100,000 people moving there in 1849.These were all gold prospectors,who became known as the 49er's.They travelled along the Oregon Trail and many also found opportunities to sell tools to the prospectors to use,allowing them to make fortunes.This meant California was seen as a place of opportunity,some getting rich and others becoming farmers.As a result,California's population reached 300,000 by 1855.Overall,this was massive economic growth.
• Consequences of the California Gold Rush

  Led to an increase in violence and crime

  West is now seen as a place where people could be free and have a fresh start

  Money from the Gold Rush helped pay for the first Transcontinental Railroad,making it even easier to travel west

  The financial success allowed America to overcome economic difficulties through successful businesses and trade

  Many Indians were killed by the migrants and conflict between the two was common

  Farming also took off due to the fertile land,allowing products to be sold around the world,making even more money
• US Civil War-1661-65


  North vs south/Confederate us Union

  North-focused on industry and wanted slavery abolished

  South-focused on agriculture and wanted slavery