Chapter 15

The South and West Transformed

The New South Henry Grady wants to industrialize South Farming becomes more diversified – wheat, grain, tobacco,

fruit Railroads link cities; Atlanta major hub Growth was slow though – education limited, lacked

technical schools, low wages, banking was slow to recover after Civil War

Had resources but not much capital & labor Cotton still strong but boll weevil caused gradual drop in

production Farmer’s Alliance – attempted to pressure railroads to lower

rates, wanted government to regulate interest rates

Black Southerners Could vote, serve their country, own

businesses, farm, get an education Reality: many lives did not change Civil Rights Act of 1875 gave further rights

but local governments ignored or overturned

Courts later left it up to local govt. to decide who could use public facilities

More terror and intimidation

American Indians Expansion puts pressure on Indians (Americans

saw them as the same group) Policies of resettlement, reservations, removal Treaties broken time after time; buffalo

slaughtered for hides Sand Creek Massacre – troops massacred

Cheyenne & Arapaho Indians (unarmed) in response to Sioux attacks on settlers – growing frustration exploded

Peace plans fail over and over

Indians cont. Battle of Little Big Horn – Sioux Indians massacre General

George Custer & men Chief Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull eventually crushed &

forced to surrender Chief Joseph led his Nez Perce tribe on a long trek to avoid

reservations but finally surrendered, “I will fight no more forever.”

Ghost Dance hoped to banish settlers Final resistance – Sitting Bull killed at the battle of Wounded

Knee End of the Indian Wars Dawes Act – from reservations to allotment system; forced

to farm (not enough land); encouraged to convert, assimilate

Sand Creek Massacre

The West Mining towns spring up all over the west (Pikes Peak,

Colorado; Carson River, Nevada) Large mining companies prosper; boom towns to ghost

towns (vigilante justice) Transcontinental Railroad links east and west; intensifies

settlement Cattle industry expands – open range system had worked

(branded and roamed freely) Demise of open range: barbed wire, supply exceeded

demand; horrible weather reduced herds, farmers and sheepherders encroached

Cowboy culture emerges; cattle drives, cow towns & colorful characters – Jesse James, Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok, Doc Holliday; rodeos

Farmers Farmers settle the plains Homestead Act 1862 gave 160 acres to anyone

willing to farm Exodusters – those who fled South after

Reconstruction (many former slaves) Sometimes conflicts between miners, ranchers,

sheepherders, farmers Land rushes, lotteries – would have races to stake

out land Prejudice towards Mexicans, Indians, Chinese