The Last West and the
New South
1865-1900
Daniel Acosta
Zamir Borja
Helen Cai
The West-Settlement of
the Last Frontier
Land Between The Mississippi & The Pacific
By the 1900s
In the 1800s




“Great
American
Desert”
Arid Land
Great Herds of
Buffalo
Native
Americans





Modernized
10 New States
Endangered
Buffalo
Depleted Native
American
Population and
Culture
Pioneers: Miners,
Cattlemen &
Cowboys, Farmers
The West-Settlement of
the Last Frontier
The Mining Frontier
Discovery of Gold
 Steady Migration of
Prospectors
 Boomtowns
 Immigration Increased


Miner’s Tax
Chinese Exclusion
Act of 1882


Resolved Currency
Crisis
Native Americans
Lost Land
The West-Settlement of
the Last Frontier
The Cattle Frontier


Free, Wild Herds of Cattle
Construction of Railroads


Cow Towns Were Established Effects
Eased Cattle Transportation Overgrazing





Winter Blizzard and
Drought
Homesteaders
Huge Ranches
Beef Dominated
American Diets
Legend of the Cowboy
The West-Settlement of
the Last Frontier
The Farming Frontier
Homestead Act of 1862
160 Acres of Free Land to
Encourage Farming on Great
Plains
 Best Land Went to Railroad
Co. and Speculators
Invention of Barbed Wire &  “Dry Farming”, DeepMail-Order Windmills Drilled
Plowing, Dams and
Deep Wells Helped
Irrigation Saved Many
Severe Weather, Falling Crops
Prices, and Rising Cost of New
Machinery Ruined Many



The West-Settlement of
the Last Frontier
The Farming Frontier
Turner’s Frontier Thesis


End of Frontier with the
Settlement of Oklahoma
Territory
Frederick Jackson Turner
wrote “The Significance of the
Frontier in American History”


Frontier Promoted
Independence, Individualism,
and Broke Down Social
Divisions
Feared the end of Fresh Land
Would Lead to Conflicts Similar
to Europe
The West-Settlement of
the Last Frontier
Removal of Native Americans



The Frontier was the Native
American Homeland
Increased Settlement led to
Removal and Loss of
Freedom
Misunderstanding between
U.S. govt and Plains
Indians’ Lifestyle
The West-Settlement of
the Last Frontier
Removal of Native Americans
Reservationist Policy
 President Andrew
Jackson Removed
Eastern Native
Americans to Lands
West of the Mississippi
 Broken as
Transcontinental
Railroad was Planned,
Wagons increased, and
Reservations were
Increasingly Assigned
 Plains Tribes Refused
to Cooperate


Indian Wars
Increased Migration of
Miners, Cattlemen, and
Homesteaders
Fighting Broke Out
Between Indians and
U.S. Troops





Sioux Wars
Sand Creek, CO
Little Big Horn
Treaties Made and
Broken
Most of Buffalo
Slaughtered
The West-Settlement of
the Last Frontier
Removal of Native Americans
Dawes Severalty Act Ghost Dance
Assimilationists
(1887)
 Final Effort  Helen Hunt Jackson, A



Divided Tribal Lands
into Plots of 160 Acres
or Less per Family
25 Years or More Led

to Citizenship
Best Land Sold
 Disease and Poverty
Ravaged Population
to Drive
Whites from
Ancestral
Lands
U.S. Govt
Suppressed
Movement

Wounded
Knee

Sitting Bull
Century of Dishonor
Emphasized Education,
Training and
Conversion to
Chritianity
 Carlisle School
The West-Settlement of
the Last Frontier
Removal of Native Americans
U.S. Policy in 20th
Century


1924- Grated U.S.
Citizenship to All Native
Americans
Indian Reorganization
Act of 1934

Promoted
Reestablishment of
Tribal Organization and
Culture
The New South


South was continuing to
recover from the
devastating Civil War
Some had the vision of a
self-sufficient Southern
economy

Henry Grady, a newspaper
writer began to write
articles for economic
diversity, and laissez-faire
capitalism
The New South: Economic Progress

Prospering Southern
Cities



Memphis, Tennessee
Richmond, Virginia
South overtaking New
England in Textile Industry
and cotton because of
cheap labor
Railroads helped in
postwar growth in the
South
The New South: Continued Poverty



South was a poor,
agricultural area
Economy was
dominated by the
North
Most southerners were
farmers, making it
difficult for them to
make a good living

The poverty of the
majority was caused
by two main factors:



The South’s late start at
Industrialization
A Poorly Educated
Workforce
Failed to invest in
technical and
engineering schools
unlike the North
The New South: Agriculture


“Cotton is King”
However, some tried
to diversify the crops
instead of staying on
cotton

George Washington
Carver

Organizations were made
to start political reforms to
solve the farmers’
economic problems


Farmers’ Southern Alliance
Colored Farmers’ National
Alliance
The New South: Segregation

Discrimination and the
Supreme Court

Civil Rights Cases of
1883
Plessy v. Ferguson
(1896)


“Separate But Equal
Accommodations”
Jim Crow Laws

Segregated Facilities
for Balcks and Whites
The New South: Responding to
Segregation

Bishop Henry Turner


International Migration
Society
Ida B. Wells



Fighting against
lynching and the Jim
Crow laws
Had to move to the
North
Free Speech
The New South: Responding to
Segregation

WEB Du Bois


Booker T. Washington


National Negro Business
League
Teaching African
Americans skilled trades,
the virtues of hard work
and economic self help
Demanded an end to
segregation and the
granting of equal rights
civil rights to all Americans
Farm Problems: North, South, and West
Changes in Agriculture
 Falling Prices
 Rising Costs
Farm Problems: North, South, and West
Important Supreme Court
Cases:


Munn vs. Illinois (1877): The
Supreme Court upheld the right
of a state to regulate
businesses of a public nature,
such as railroads.
Wabash vs. Illinois (1886):
Individual states could not
regulate interstate commerce.
This decision nullified many of
the state regulations achieved
by the Grangers.
Farm Problems: North, South, and West
Oliver H. Kelley
Farm Problems: North, South, and West
Important Acts of Congress:
 Interstate Commerce Act (1886): It
required that railroad rates be “reasonable
and just”. Also it setup the Interstate
Commerce Commission (ICC), which was
mainly useless for farmers and instead
helped railroads.
The End!
Don’t Worry, We’re More Than Halfway
Through Now People
=]
Paul Says YAY!