Westward Expansion I

Heading West to find a home

Homestead Act 1862

Who went West?

Morrill LandGrant Act

• Promised free land was motivation for some to move west.

• Pres. Lincoln passed the Homestead Act in 1862.

• It gave settlers free land 160 acres to develop into farms.

• Settlers only had to pay a small fee & promise to stay on the land for 5 years.

• It was responsible for settling 10% of the U.S. (400,000 people)

• A variety of people went west.• Farmers, immigrants, former slaves & single

women.

• Passed in 1862, by Congress• It gave federal land to state gov’t in order to

establish land-grant colleges.• Agricultural colleges were scientific & mechanical

methods of farming were taught & responsible for the development of the agriculture in the Midwest

2

Why did people go West?

ReligionThe Church ofJesus Christ ofLatter-Day

Saints

What ispolygamy?

Smith

• Economic, Political, & Religious reasons motivated people to move West.

• Some ppl went west to practice a certain way of life

• Religion was only one reason to move.• Founded by Joseph Smith• The Mormons would be their official name.• Smith published The Book of Mormon, which

became the foundation of their faith.• This group would often be ridiculed • They practiced polygamy.• It is the practice of having more than one

wife.

• In 1844, a mob killed him and forced his group to seek somewhere else to live & practice their beliefs.

3

Who would take over?

Taking NativeAmerican Land

Oklahoma Rush, 1889

The Day of the Race

• Brigham Young• He & the Mormons traveled West from Illinois to

present day Utah.

• @ the end of the 19th century, most of the farmable land West of the Mississippi River was taken.

• Settlers wanted the gov’t to open up Indian territory for settlement.

• Was a result of the territory opening up.• The gov’t sponsored a race where 50,000 home

seekers went to claim their land.• Ppl gathered @ the OK border waiting to hear

the gunshot.• Ppl couldn’t wait to claim their land.• They rode horses, bicycles, wagons and were on

foot.• Some went before the gun shot & got to their

land “Sooner”.4

Challenges ofWestwardMovement

Sod Houses

Challenges w/ N.A.

Who were Buffalo Soldiers.

• Pioneers faced hardships along the way.• Many died or turned back.• Those who made it had challenges ahead.• Pioneers found it difficult to start over.• The western frontier was poorly protected • Animals, weather & N.A. caused threats to the

pioneers.• Building homes was also difficult.• There were no trees, so they had to resort to using

soil matted w/grass roots to build sod houses.• Small 1 room structures built into the sides of

hills.

• N.A. were unhappy w/ the pioneers settling their territories & reservations.

• In the early 1870s the U.S. troops began campaigns to keep N.A. on their land.

• Buffalo Soldiers were a part of the troops.• Black soldiers.• African Americans also went West for freedom.

5

The Role of Women

Railroads & Immigrants

Who Built the R.R. & with what?

• They had more freedom & flexibility• They also worked clearing land, planting,

harvesting, cooking, spinning & weaving.• They also would take on key roles in creating

social institutions like schools & churches.– They wanted to get rid of prostitution, gambling

& other vices that prohibited the growth of towns.

• The Union Pacific tracks would join the Central Pacific tracks in Promontory Point, Utah on May 10, 1869.

• The Transcontinental R.R. helped the population & economy expand.

• B/c of the R.R. the development of mining & cattle ranching grew as well.

• Mainly Irish & Chinese Immigrants.• They used shovels, picks & dynamite.

6

Immigrants

Chinese Exclusion Act

Mexican Influence

• Also helped develop the West through mining, farming & construction.

• The Chinese became the target of an Anti-Chinese Movement.

• They experienced violence, discrimination & segregation.

• Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882.

• It would ban further immigration from China

• In the West their influence was strong• The Spanish introduced the horse to

Americans.• 1 in 3 cowboys were Mexican Vaqueros• Mexican Vaqueros were skillful, influenced

cattle drivers & had a strong impact on SW culture.

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Graphic Organizer: create a chart that explains showing all the groups who went west, why, and the

results of their quest Who Why Results

Warm-up

• Open up to your warm up section or take out a sheet of paper.

• Title it “The Indian Wars” & number 1-8.• You will take 8 video facts & at the end of the

video use those facts to help you write a 20 word GIST

Westward Expansion II

Westwardexpansion onAmerican

Indians

What werebuffalo used for?

War w/American Indians

• Some areas in the west weren’t good farming land, but were good for ranching.

• It was also good mining land.• Both would damage N.A. culture.• Cattle drives would wipe out plant life.• The economy & livelihood of the Plains Indians

depended on the buffalo.• Clothing, food, weaponry & artistic materials.• Almost all the buffalo were killed to feed RR

workers, protect RR tracks, for sport &/or made it easier for settlement.

• Most N.A. fought for their land.• They attacked wagon trails & mining camps.• N.A. refused to give up their land.• Their resistance to white settlement would often

lead to violence.

11

Chief Joseph

The Battle of theLittle Big Horn

• A Chief of the Wallowa band of the Nez Perce.• Resisted white infringement in the West.• He tried to lead several hundred Indians on a march

to freedom in Canada.• They were stopped by the U.S. troops & sent back

to the reservation system.• Most back in OK got sick & later died.• Chief Joseph would survive & move back to Idaho,

then to Washington where he would later die.

• Fought b/w the U.S. Calvary & a force of Sioux & Northern Cheyenne Warriors.

• 1874, discovery of gold in the Black Hills led to a rush of whites in N.A. territory.

• The Sioux attacked the whites under Chief Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse.

• Scouts located the Sioux on the Little Bighorn River.• Gen. Custer prepared to attack @ once.• Custer was unaware of the N.A. power b/w 2,500-

4,000 men.• Custer & his men were wiped out 12

Key people ofLittle Big HornOutcome

Wounded Knee

Ghost Dance

Sitting Bull

• Gen. Custer & Sitting Bull leader of the Sioux

• Custer & his men were outnumbered, lost the battle & Custer lost his life.

• Another conflict b/w N.A. & the U.S.• In the late 1800s, the Sioux began practicing ghost

dances; it promised the return of their land, the rise of dead ancestors, bringing back buffalo, getting rid of the whites & a future of prosperity & peace.

• The Ritual caused whites concern & the U.S. gov’t sent the Army.

• The Army believed that Chief Sitting Bull was the leader of a future rebellion & tried to arrest him.

• During the arrest, the people started a gun fight that resulted in the death of 14 people including Sitting Bull.

• The Sioux fled & the U.S. Army would catch up to them in 3 days.

• The military would search their camps & another shot was fired.

• What was seen as a surprise attack the military killed 170-370 Sioux people 13

Key Ppl inWounded KneeOutcome

More Conflict

Colonel Chivington

• Sioux Indians, Sitting Bull & Colonel James Forsyth

• About ½ of Sioux men were killed right away, women & children fled, but soldiers would catch up and kill them. In the end 300 Sioux men, women & children were dead.

• Colorado Territory, Cheyenne's were raiding ranches in 1864.

• The Army officials offered forgiveness if they would return to Sand Creek.

• Black Kettle lead the raids in mining camps but then wanted peace.

• He would lead his ppl back.

• Chivington didn’t want peace. • He didn’t believe the N.A. could understand or adjust.• He & his troops opened fired on the N.A. & killed

about 150 ppl, mostly women, children & the elderly.• Burning the camp, the troops returned to Denver.

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Sand Creek Massacre

SCM key ppl

SCM outcome

Reformers & theAmerican

Indians

• In another massacre a group of white men killed over 200 men, women & children; most of which were sleeping @ the time

• The gov’t condemned this as the Sand Creek Massacre.

• The gov’t responded by offering the survivors a $ compensation.

• Cheyenne Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle & Col. Chivington.

• 200 men, women & children were killed.

• Helen Hunt Jackson caught the nations attention about the mistreatment, betrayal & suffering of the N.A. in her book, A Century of Dishonor.

• She explained how the N.A. were being taken advantage of & it helped raise concerns about N.A. rights.

• Her book lead to the Dawes Severity Act of 188715

Dawes Act • It was to assimilate N.A. into the U.S. culture.• It also converted tribal lands to individual

ownership & extended land grants to individual Indians.

• The Dawes Act was a failure • Most N.A. didn’t want t give up their tribal

identity nor be assimilated into white culture.

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Who-What-Where-When-Why Poems

Poem Topics• Sitting Bull• Chief Black Kettle• Crazy Horse• Chief Joseph• Wounded Knee • Sand Creek Massacre• Battle of the Little Big

Horn

FormatWho:What:Where:When:Why:

Also include illustrations, symbols, or pictures

Story Board Project

• Research the topic/event using your textbook chapter 7 section 2 & Coach book lesson 11

• For each paragraph that you read about the topic/event write a short summary, create an illustration & write a question. Divide paper into the same number of paragraphs read.

Story Board topics

• Making Treaties p262• Inconclusive Battles p263• Sand Creek Massacre p263• Battle of the Little Big Horn p264-265• The Battle At Wounded Knee & Wounded Knee

Massacre p265• Critics of Federal Indian Policies/ Attempts to change

Native American Culture p266-267• The Opening of the Indian Territory p267