Farming and Populism
Explain how the U.S. Government
encouraged western settlement
• Passed the Homestead Act
that gave 160 acres of land
away if you farmed it for 5
years
• This was advertised all
over the world and many
immigrants came from
Europe
• Exodusters came west
from the South
Describe Farming Life on the Great
Plains
•
•
•
•
Very challenging
Built homes from sod
"Sodbusters"
Faced blizzards, prairie
fires, tornadoes,
grasshoppers, and drought
• John Deere invented steel
plow
• Prices started to fall,
railroads charged high
prices
• Formed the Grange
The Rise of Populism
• Populist Party - the
People's Party
• Wanted gov't to adopt
free silver
• Farmers backed
Populist Party
• Were defeated at
elections
The Closing of the Frontier
• The Oklahoma Land
Rush of 1889
symbolized the end of
the frontier
• Some felt that the
frontier gave even the
poor a chance to be
successful through
hard work and
perseverance