THE AMERICAN WEST
1865-1900
Mining Frontier
• Discovery of gold led
massive migration and
immigration to
California.
• 1/3 of western miners
were Chinese
immigrants.
• Gave people riches
and destroyed the
environment.
What was life like for the Indians
on the Great Plains?
• Life centered around
horses and buffalo.
• The buffalo provided
food, clothing, and shelter.
• Small extended family
groups.
• Children learned skills
that they would need from
their parents.
What was the Sand Creek
Massacre?
• In 1864, settlers were
moving into areas of
Colorado where the
Cheyenne Indians
lived.
• The Army took the
side of the settlers and
killed about 200
Cheyenne.
What was the Treaty of Fort
Laramie?
• Signed in 1868 in
which the Sioux
agreed to live on a
reservation.
• However, there were
Native Americans who
did not sign this treaty.
Who was Sitting Bull?
• Leader of the Sioux Indian
Nation.
• Did not sign the Treaty of
Fort Laramie.
• Defeated General Custer
at the Battle of Little
Bighorn in 1876.
• Months later the Sioux
were defeated.
Who was General Custer?
• Led American cavalry
to fight Sioux Indians
at the Battle of Little
Bighorn.
• All of Custer’s men
were killed in what is
famously known as
Custer’s Last Stand.
Song: Please Mr. Custer
• #1 Hit in 1960
• Racist terms like
“injun” and “redskins”
• Kemo Sabe= Friend
• Voice in song does not
want to fight Sioux
because he is afraid of
being scalped.
What is assimilation?
• Native Americans
would give up their
beliefs and culture and
become a part of white
culture.
• Education would be a
key part of becoming
“American.”
Helen Hunt Jackson
• Wrote about the
injustices of the
American government
towards the American
Indian in the book A
Century of Dishonor.
• Most Americans
however still favored
assimilation.
What was the Dawes Act (1887)?
• Act broke up
reservations and gave
some land to each
Native American
family for farming.
• Native Americans
were cheated out of
the best land.
• Whites had killed most
of the buffalo.
What was the Battle of Wounded
Knee?
• The Sioux Indians
performed the Ghost
Dance to try and bring
the buffalo back.
• The Ghost Dance
made the Army
nervous.
• In 1890, the Army
killed 300 unarmed
Sioux.
What were longhorns?
• Sturdy cattle
accustomed to
grasslands.
• Brought to the
American cowboy
from Spanish ranchers
in Mexico.
What was the Chisholm Trail?
• Growing cities increased
the demand for beef.
• Cattle ranchers drove their
cattle along the Chisholm
trail.
• Stretched from San
Antonio, Texas to Kansas
where cattle was shipped
by rail to Chicago.
What was life like for a cowboy?
• Worked 10-14 hours a
day in extreme
temperatures.
• In the winter, cowboys
lived off savings did
odd jobs on ranches.
• In the spring, cowboys
rounded up cattle on
long drives.
Frederick Jackson Turner
• Wrote The Significance of the
American Frontier (1893)
• The frontier experience was an
example of independence and
individualism.
• Forced people to be inventive
and creative as part of the
American spirit.
• Worried that the closing of the
frontier would lead to social
and class conflict.
What was the Homestead Act
(1862)?
• Government offered
160 acres of free land
to anyone who would
farm it for five years.
• By 1900, 400,000
homesteaders had
settled on the Great
Plains.
• Only 10% were settled
by families.
Who were the exodusters?
• African
Americans who
moved from the
postReconstruction
South to Kansas.
What were soddys?
• Homes built in the
Great Plains region.
• Homes were dug into
the sides of hills or
made from sod.
• Warm in winter and
cool in the summer.
• Little light or air in the
home.
What was the Morrill Act?
• Helped establish
agricultural colleges.
(Example: Virginia
Tech, West Virginia
University)
• Established
experiment stations to
develop new types of
crops and growing
techniques.
What were bonanza farms?
• Large, single crop
farms in the Great
Plains.
• Bonanza farms folded
because of droughts
between 1885 and
1890.
Who was Billy the Kid?
• Famous 19th century
American frontier outlaw.
• Bragged that he killed 21
men, but most think he
killed 9.
• Killed at the age of 21.
• Symbolized the
lawlessness of the
American West in the
1880’s.
Song: The Ballad of Billy the Kid
• Recorded by Billy Joel
in the 1970’s.
• Billy the Kid has
become a American
legend.
• Many movies, TV
Shows, and songs
have been made in his
honor.
Who was Oliver Hudson Kelley?
• Started an
organization called the
Grange movement.
• Original purpose was
to provide a place for
farm families to
discuss social and
educational issues.
• Spent most of time
fighting railroads.
What was the Farmers’ Alliance?
• Organizations that
included teachers,
preachers, and
newspaper editors who
sympathized with
farmers.
• Educated farmers
about lower interest
rates and protests
against railroads.
What is Populism?
• Pushed for reforms for
farmers.
• Called for direct
election of senators
and secret ballot.
• Strong 3rd party in
election of 1892 and
1896.
What is bimetallism?
• A monetary system in which
government would give people
either gold or silver in exchange
for paper currency or checks.
• Populists were for bimetallism
like William Jennings Bryan.
• Silverites favored bimetallism
because more dollars would be
available and prices and wages
would rise.
Who was William Jennings
Bryan?
• Leader of the Populist
Movement
• Famous Cross of Gold
Speech in support of
bimetallism
• Supported cause of the
farmers
• Lost 3 presidential
elections (1896, 1900,
1908)
Who was William McKinley?
• Elected President in
1896 and 1900.
• Supported the gold
standard.
• Protected the interests
of American big
business
How is the Wizard of Oz
symbolize Populism?
• Dorothy= average
American,
kindhearted
• Kansas= Populist
stronghold
• Scarecrow=
Midwestern farmers
• Tin Man= Industrial
workers
Wizard of Oz Symbolism
(continued)
• Cowardly Lion=
William Jennings
Bryan
• Ruby(Silver)
Slippers=
bimetallism
• Yellow Brick Road=
gold standard
• Emerald City=
Washington D.C.
Wizard of Oz Symbolism
(Continued)
• Wizard of Oz= President
Grover Cleveland
• Glinda the Good Witch=
Populists from Midwest
and South
• Wicked Witch of the
West= Drought
• Oz= ounce
Wizard of Oz (Symbolism)
• Munchkins= little
people enslaved by
the Wicked Witch of
the East
(industrial/banking
interests in cities)
• Winged Monkeys=
Indians of the Great
Plains
What was the gold standard?
• Backing dollars solely
with gold.
• “Gold bugs” favored
gold because prices
would be kept from
rising.
• Republicans like
William McKinley
supported gold
standard.