RAILROADED: THE LIMITS OF NATIONAL EXPANSION

Week Two

I. The Golden Spike

Union Pacific (1939)

II. Conquest of the West

A. Turner and the Frontier Thesis Historian at the University of

Wisconsin Speech at the 1893 Chicago

Columbian Exposition prompted by the U.S. Census Bureau, which declared that “the frontier has closed”

Frederick Jackson Turner

Dances with Wolves

II. Conquest of the West

The frontier is the source of American exceptionalism. It creates freedom by "breaking the bonds of custom, offering new experiences, [and] calling out new institutions and activities.”

What is the West? How does the West shape the nation?

Turner, The Frontier in American History (1920)Table of Contents

I. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FRONTIER IN AMERICAN HISTORY

II. THE FIRST OFFICIAL FRONTIER OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY

III. THE OLD WEST

IV. THE MIDDLE WEST

V. THE OHIO VALLEY IN AMERICAN HISTORY

VI. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY IN AMERICAN HISTORY

II. Conquest of the West

B. Cultural Appeal of the West1. Taming Nature Albert Bierstadt and the

Rocky Mountain School: grandiose scenes of the West

National Parks: Yosemite Act (1864)

Railroads: Pacific Railway Act (1862)

Albert Bierstadt, “Yosemite Valley” (1868)

II. The Cultural Appeal of the West

2. Clashing Civilizations “merciless savages” “noble savages” Civilization: Attempt by

white Americans to civilize the dark, uncivilizedtribes of the west

Indian Wars: Battle at Little Bighorn (1876)

“The Death of General Wolfe” (1770)

“Pigeon’s Egg Head (The Light) going toand returning from Washington” (1839)

“The Death of General Wolfe” (1770)

John Gast, “American Progress” or “Manifest Destiny” (1872)

II. The Cultural Appeal of the West

C. Rugged Individualism

Concern over the urbanization and softness of Americans

Symbolized by the cowboy

Promoted through dime novels, railroad executives, dude ranches for eastern tourists, and theater

City Slickers (1991)

II. The Cultural Appeal of the West

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show Established by William Cody, founder of the Pony

Express Brings the West to the East—even Europe Annie Oakley, western celebrities, and Sioux perform

mock battles and stagecoach robberies

Wild West Show

Annie Oakley (1894)

II. The Cultural Appeal of the West

D. Pioneering utopias

1. The Farm Homestead Act (1862) Jeffersonian vision

renewed: bonds of family, community, and order

New advances in agricultural science

2. Mormonism Persecution in New York,

Ohio, and Missouri force a migration to the Great Basin

II. Realities of the West

Limerick’s revision of the “frontier thesis”

A. Community, not individualism Coordinated efforts of immigrant communities Role of industry and government

B. Hardship, not adventure Constant movement Hard work as routine chores dominate daily life

C. Exploitation, not equality Chinese, Native Americans, cowboys,

farmers, the land

III. The South and Reunion

A. Destitution Death, social disruptions, economic

disruptions Cobb, “An Unreconstructed Southerner”

(1868)

Richmond, 1865

III. The South and Reunion

B. Reconstructing a New South

Promise of Reconstruction: redistribution, Freedmen’s Bureau, Civil Rights Bill of 1866

Failure of Reconstruction: persistence of racial prejudice, Depression of 1873, sharecropping

III. The South and Reunion

C. Reunion 1877 Constructing a New

South: carpetbaggers and redeemers

Jim Crow: from relative integration to segregation; lynchings; laws

Postcard of the lynching of Lige Daniels, Center, Texas, USA, August 3, 1920.

The back reads, "He killed Earl's grandma. She was Florence's mother. Give this to Bud. From Aunt Myrtle."

Lynching in Marion, Indiana, 1930

Epilogue

MLK Day I-80 Golden Spike Capitalistic greed,

overspeculation, and regulation