Life After the Civil War
Previous Unit
Reconstruction/African American
Challenges
I. Physical Features
and Climate of the
Great Plains
II. Inventions and
Adaptations of the
Great Plains
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Flatlands
Low rainfall
Erosion
Dust storms
Next Unit
Rise of Big Business
Westward Expansion
1849-1890
Barbed wire
Steel plows
Dry farming
Sod houses
Beef cattle raising
Wheat farming
Windmills
Railroads
III. Reasons for
Westward Expansion
IV. Impact on
American Indians
 Land ownership
 Technological
advances
 Wealth from gold
and silver
 Adventure
 New beginning for
former African
American slaves
 Forced relocation
 Reduced population
 Opposition to
westward expansion
 Assimilation
 Reduced homelands
b/c of Broken
treaties
VOCABULARY
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
1. How did people’s perceptions and use of the Great Plains change after
the Civil War?
2. How did people adapt to life in challenging environments?
3. Why did westward expansion occur after the Civil War?
4. How did the lives of American Indians change with westward
expansion?
Great Plains
adaptations
Transcontinental Railroad
assimilation
Battle of Little Bighorn
Chief Joseph
reservation
Battle of Wounded Knee
Describe the picture using adjectives.
 flat
 peaceful
 dry or hot
If you lived here, what would you do
for fun?
 Play football
 Look at the clouds
 Go exploring
List 2 places where this picture might
be.
 Plains
 Near the dessert
What type of people would not like to
live here?
 City people
 Factory workers
 Rich people ??
What problems/dangers would you face Why would some people rather live
here?
here than New York City?
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Wild animals
Native American raids
Drought
dehydration
storms
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More space
Peaceful and quiet
Clean feeling
Opportunity to make money
farming
 Less discrimination (Irish or
African Americans)
What kind of people would like to live
here?
 farmers
 cowboys
 Native Americans
To survive here, what would you have
to be able to do?
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farm
find food
build shelter
start fires
The Great Plains
After the Civil War, people changed the way they viewed the vast interior of the continent.
Because of new technologies, people saw the Great Plains not as a “treeless wasteland” but as a vast area to be settled.
Where is it?
(Can you name all these states?)
Montana
N. Dakota
S. Dakota
Wyoming
Colorado
Kansas
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Texas
New Mexico
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This place makes me think of…
-Gold Rush
What did people think
before the Civil War?
What did people think after
the Civil War?
Who qGO
The Plains were called the
“Great American Desert.”
Rainfall was scarce and
unpredictable.
There were frequent
damaging storms and
swarms of hungry insects.
The land was hard to farm,
since it had never been
plowed.
Herds of wild bison
roamed the land.
It was a long way from
civilization.
The wind blew long and
hard; there were few trees.
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Would you go to the Great
Plains? Why or why not?
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Irrigation and a decade of
unusually wet weather in
the 1870s made the Plains
habitable.
Crops flourished, and
farmers grew food for
themselves and cash crops
like wheat.
Railroads brought fresh
settlers and supplies.
Pioneers enjoyed being
independent and selfsufficient.
Many people found life
too lonely and difficult in
the prairie.
because …
Answers will vary
California 1849
a peaceful afternoon. . .
- Comstock Lode (Nevada silver)
-Black Hills
Mining
(South Da
I would love to rest on the grass and look up at the clouds.
NO GO
Answers will vary
I would not go. I am a city
person. I like having lots of
activity and action.
II. Invention and Adaptation in the Great Plains
barbed wire, California, cattle, dry farming, goods, mechanized farming, Nebraska,
sod houses, Rocky Mountains, High Sierra, steel plows, subsidy, wheat, windmills
New Tools and Techniques
Adaptation of Existing
Technology
Transcontinental
Railroad
Steel plow made it possible to
prepare uncultivated land for
planting.
To pump water for their crops,
farmers put the wind to work
with windmill.
Railroad engineers crossed the
High Sierra and the Rocky
Mountains.
Pioneers protected their
homesteads with fences made of
barbed wire.
Immigrants brought hearty
strains of wheat suited to the
climate of the Plains.
Railroads transported people out
West and western goods East for
sale.
Settlers on the Plains lived in
sod houses made of earth and
grass.
Entrepreneurs herded wild cattle
to market.
Because they received a large
government subsidy rail-roads
sold land for low prices.
Mechanized farming helped
farmers produce more crops
with less work.
Dry farming made it possible to
grow crops with little rain.
The TCRR stretched 1,700 miles
from (east) Nebraska to (west)
and California.
Template © 2003 Edwin Ellis, Graphicorganizers.com
Record 10 Facts from Charlie Brown onto the Train
NAME
Nathan Hammond
John and Martha Lytle
Matthew and Patience Reynolds
John and Sarah Barfield
Benjamin and Selinda Prim
Otto and Anna Shippen
Azariah and Faith Davis
Richard and Jeanne St. Clair
Jonas Dahl
WILL GO

WILL STAY

REASON WHY/WHY NOT
Push/Pull Chart Sheet
Teacher Copy
U.S 4a; 2a
Economic
Opportunity
Health
Freedom
Adventure
“PULL” CARDS
X
There’s gold out there and I’m going to find it.
It will be less crowded so there will be less illness.
There are so many job opportunities in the West. I could be
a miner, farmer or even a rancher.
X
X
X
I can travel to the West faster because of the railroads
X
I can be independent in the west and start a new life filled
with excitement and adventure.
X
X
“PUSH” CARDS
I can not live where there are Black Codes that restrict
former slaves.
X
I am an immigrant and I experience discrimination where I
live.
Ever since my business failed, I have been unemployed.
X
X
There is no way for me to own land in the East. It is very
expensive.
X
These cities are too crowded. More immigrants are coming
all the time.
X
X
X
What was the Homestead Act?
The Homestead Act of 1862 has been called one of the most important pieces of Legislation in the history of
the United States. Signed into law in 1862 by Abraham Lincoln after the secession of southern states, This Act
turned over vast amounts of the public domain to private citizens. 270 million acres or 10% of the area of the
United States was claimed and settled under this act.
A homesteader had only to be the head of a household and at least 21 years of age to claim a 160 acre parcel of land. Settlers from all walks of
life including newly arrived immigrants, farmers without land of their own from the East, single women and former slaves came to meet the
challenge of "proving up" and keeping this "free land". Each homesteader had to live on the land, build a home, make improvements and farm for
5 years before they were eligible to "prove up". A total filing fee of $18 was the only money required, but sacrifice and hard work exacted a
different price from the hopeful settlers.
The Filing Process
People interested in Homesteading first had to file their intentions at the nearest Land Office. A brief check for previous ownership claims was
made for the plot of land in question, usually described by its survey coordinates. The prospective homesteader paid a filing fee of $10 to claim the
land temporarily, as well as a $2 commission to the land agent.
With application and receipt in hand, the homesteader then returned to the land to begin the process of building a home and farming the land, both
requirements for "proving" up at the end of five years. When all requirements had been completed and the homesteader was ready to take legal
possession, the homesteader found two neighbors or friends willing to vouch for the truth of his or her statements about the land's improvements
and sign the "proof" document.
After successful completion of this final form and payment of a $6 fee, the homesteader received the patent for the land, signed with the name of
the current President of the United States. This paper was often proudly displayed on a cabin wall and represented the culmination of hard work
and determination.
The Homestead Act remained in effect until it was repealed in 1976, with provisions for homesteading in Alaska until 1986. Alaska was one of the
last places in the country where homesteading remained a viable option into the latter part of the 1900s. The Taylor Grazing Act of 1934
substantially decreased the amount of land available to homesteaders in the West. Because much of the prime land had been homesteaded
decades earlier, successful Homestead claims dropped sharply after this time.
The Homestead Act of 1862 is recognized as one of the most revolutionary concepts for distributing public land in American history.
Repercussions of this monumental piece of legislation can be detected throughout America today, decades after the cry of "Free Land!" has faded
away.
Summary of the Homestead Act U.S.
What was the purpose of the Homestead Act?
 The Purpose was to encourage people to settle the west.
What conditions and requirements did someone need to meet to obtain land?
 21 years old
 Head of the household
 Farm the land (Improve the land in some way)
 and live on the land for 5 years
 $18
Questions I still have about the Homestead Act:

Boomers and Sooners
The Great Land Rush
DIRECTIONS: As you read the selection, sketch a drawing that depicts the main idea of each of the following topics. Write a caption for
each picture.
Caption:
Caption:
Caption:
Caption:
Caption:
Processing Activity: Chief Joseph
“I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed… The little children are freezing
to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no
blankets, no food… I want to have time to look for my children, and see how
many of them I can find… My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now
stands I will fight no more forever.”
-Chief Joseph, 1877
Picture It!
Directions: Read Chief Joseph’s famous quote from the day the Nez Percé tribe
surrendered to the U.S. Army. What images come to mind as you read the
quote? Draw a picture below representing your image(s).
Little
Big
Horn
Date
_____________________
defeated the
_____________________
June 25, 1876
Wounded Knee
_____________________ defeated
the _____________________
December 28, 1890
Names of
the Native
Americans
Chief Sitting Bull and
Crazy Horse were leaders
of the Sioux and
Cheyenne tribes.
Sioux
Sitting Bull
Chief Big Foot
shaman Wovoka
Names of
the white
Leaders
Lieutenant Colonel
George Custer led the US
Army.
Seventh Cavalry
Where?
Big Horn, Montana
near the Little Big Horn
creek
Wounded Knee Creek
Great Plains
Conflict
Why?
Sioux and Cheyenne
didn’t want settlers in the
sacred Black Hills so they
left the reservation
Result
When the Americans killed
Sitting Bull, they expected
rebellion so they arrested Big
Foot who had been seeking a
peaceful haven. During
confiscation of weapons,
massacre occurred.
Custer and his army were It disheartened other
killed. However, this
American Indians, causing
victory for the American them to give in to the
Indians allowed the
American Settlement.
government to set strict
rules and take the Native
Peoples’ land.
Little
Wounded Knee
Big
Horn
SOL II.4a Reasons for Westward Expansion—Impact on American
Indians
F
Forced relocation from traditional lands to reservations
(Chief Joseph, Nez Perce)
R
Reduced population through warfare and disease
(Battle of Wounded Knee)
O
Opposition by American Indians to westward expansion
(Battle of Little Bighorn, Sitting Bull, Geronimo)
A
Assimilation attempts and lifestyle changes
(e.g., reduction of buffalo population)
R
Reduced their homelands through treaties that were broken
Create an illustration for each reason listed above.
F
R
O
A
R
My Conclusion
REVIEW
Physical Features and Climate of the Great Plains
F
L
E
D
Reasons for Westward Expansion
L
A
R
G
E