Bell Ringer
This is called a
Leadership Tree
Each kid has reached a
different level of
leadership.
You task is to choose
which kid represents you
best with regards to this
class. Write an analytical
paragraph explaining why
you chose the kid you
did.
Bonus: Pick which kid
you think I am as your
teacher. Feel free to be
honest—you won’t hurt
my feelings 
The South and the West
Transformed
Chapter 8
The New South

Many people began to call for the South
to become more industrialized
◦ Pre-Civil War the South just shipped raw
materials (cotton, ore, wood)
◦ Urban cities developed in Nashville and
Birmingham

More small farms popped up as the old
plantations deteriorated
The New South

Railroads were still found mostly in the
North
◦ Southern cities were isolated from the rest of
the nation until the 1890s/1900s
◦ Once they began connecting areas new cities
became more successful such as Atlanta,
Dallas, and Nashville
◦ Southerners petitioned the federal
government to pay for these new railroads
The New South

The South lagged behind despite these
changes
◦ Mostly due to the Civil War’s destruction of their
region

To develop they needed natural resources,
labor, and capital
◦ They had resources, but labor had been killed off
during the war, and capital was spent on the war
◦ You also needed well trained people to work and
people who had money to spend
The New South

The South spent less on education than
anywhere else (still true in many cases)
◦ Public education was limited

Skilled workers were discouraged by low
wages so they stayed in the North
◦ If they lived in the South they would move north

Most of the South’s wealth was put in the
hands of few people
◦ The banks in the South didn’t survive so there
were few ways to get loans
Southern Farmers Face Hard Times

Most Southerners had relied on cash crops
◦ These are crops that are sold for cash instead of
being grown for personal use
◦ Cotton and tobacco had been the most popular

Because the South had an excess supply of
cotton it dropped the price (value) of it
◦ This meant farmers were getting less money for
the same amount of cotton
◦ The boll weevil (bug) began destroying cotton
crops
 These issues led to cotton production dropping by 50%
in some areas
Southern Farmers Face Hard Times

A group of farmers in Texas came
together to deal with the crisis that they
were facing
◦ They created the Farmers’ Alliance
◦ There goals were:
 Force railroads to lower freight prices so they
could sell stuff to the North
 Regulate interest rates that banks could charge for
loans
◦ They would achieve both (eventually)
Black Southerners Gain and Lose
Review: What were the 13th, 14th, and 15th
amendments?
 Because African Americans could vote and
serve in the military (still faced HEAVY
discrimination)
 The Farmers’ Alliance (in some areas)
allowed for black people to join their
organization

◦ This opened the door to seeing that
interracial groups could easily work together
Black Southerners Gain and Lose

African Americans also gained access to
education
◦ The government and northern philanthropists
paid for schools for black people
◦ These schools were able to teach black
people at least how to read and write
 Other schools went further to actually teach them
the same subjects that white kids learned
Black Southerners Gain and Lose
Before we get to warm-fuzzy we must
remember that racism was still really
strong
 The Ku Klux Klan intimidated black
people

◦ There goals were to keep society segregated
 Even churches that were once integrated were no
segregated
◦ They also pushed to remove all black
government officials
Black Southerners Gain and Lose

Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of
1875
◦ Guaranteed black patrons the right to ride
trains and use public facilities (hotels, etc.)

The Supreme Court would later limit this
law by saying that these issues were left
for local governments to decide
◦ This opened the door for Southern
businesses to enforce discriminatory laws
Assignment
Turn in your Mass Culture worksheet
 If you were in charge of the South’s
“comeback” what do you think would
have been necessary to rebuild it in a way
that discrimination would have been
limited and their economy would have
been prosperous?

◦ Write a two paragraph response including as
many details as possible
Westward Expansion and the
American Indians

More than 250,000 Natives lived west of the
Mississippi
◦ While most Americans didn’t know what the
difference was between them, there were very
distinct cultures of Natives

Geography was a significant influence
◦ In the northwest, tribes were larger as food supply
was plentiful
◦ In the southwest tribes were smaller due to lack of
food
 In NM/AZ the Natives were able to grow corn, beans, and
squash
 There you will find cliff dwellings
◦ Many tribes were nomadic, following herds
Westward Expansion and the
American Indians

The tribes had a common thread—they
viewed nature as sacred not a resource
◦ This led to many conflicts with the white people

Under Andrew Jackson the Natives had been
sent to the “Great American Desert”
(Oklahoma)
◦ They were moved again when the Americans
decided they wanted to build a transcontinental
railroad
◦ The Natives were put onto much smaller pieces
of land called reservations
 Could not find food not had freedom which resulted in
poverty and suppression
Westward Expansion and the
American Indians

The Natives were “attacked” by the white
people in two other ways
◦ Diseases killed off a large portion of the
population
◦ The buffalo they depended on were killed off,
typically for sport, with the meat and hides
left to waste
New Settlers and Native Americans
Clash


With increased communication and
transportation technology the collision
between Americans and Natives became
inevitable
“If you strike into the broad, free West, and
make yourself a farm from Uncle Sam’s
generous domain, you will crowd nobody,
starve nobody, and neither you nor your
children need evermore bet…”
◦ What is this snippet from the New York Tribune
forgetting about?
New Settlers and Native Americans
Clash

During the Civil War, the Natives attempted to resist white
encroachment by attacking settlements in MN
◦ American response was to fight back and push the Sioux all the
way to the Dakotas

In 1864, after a series of Sioux attacks that led to hefty
distrust between the two groups, a group of CO militia
opened fire on an unarmed camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho
◦ The camp had been ordered under protection by the U.S. Army
◦ The Natives tried to signal friendship by holding up the
American flag
◦ In the end many were left dead

After the Civil War, white and black soldiers were sent to
subdue the Natives
◦ Anything you could plunder you were allowed to simply take
◦ Government said it was necessary to maintain order
New Settlers and Native Americans
Clash

In 1866 Red Cloud (Plains) lured Cpt.
William Fetterman’s troops into an ambush
◦ All troops were killed

This led many to question the U.S.’s Native
policies
◦ Reformers called for education of Natives
◦ The Indian Peace Commission was created to
determine how to peacefully resolve the issue
with Natives
 They concluded that lasting peace would only come if
the Natives assimilated
New Settlers and Native Americans
Clash

The Fort Laramie Treaty was signed in 1866
◦ U.S. agreed not to build RR through Sioux territory
and they abandoned three forts
◦ The Sioux agreed to live on reservations
 The U.S. government would provide the land and adequate
supplied through the use of an agent

The Bureau of Indian Affairs was in charge of
overseeing the reservations
◦ The agents who were supposed to disburse
payments/supplies often stole it
 That led to battles with horrible outcomes
◦ Honest agents often didn’t have the necessary
supplied to help the Natives
The End of the Indian Wars

Natives were kept in impoverished areas
◦ Failed promises led to frustration
◦ Frustration led to young warriors turning violent
 Americans crushed these uprisings

The U.S. government failed to uphold the
Treaty of Medicine Lodge
◦ The Red River War was fought in response to
white buffalo hunters on Native lands, white
lawlessness, and supplies not being delivered
◦ The Comanche lost this war
The End of the Indian Wars

White people rushed to the Black Hills (SD) to
find gold
◦ This and the eastern part of MT were Sioux hunting
lands

Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull led a group to
drive out the white people
◦ U.S. responded by sending in troops led by George
Custer
◦ Custer’s 250 came across 2000 Natives
 Crazy Horse led a charge at the Battle of Little Big Horn
 All of Custer’s men were killed
◦ Sitting Bull escaped to Canada by the time
reinforcements showed up, but Crazy Horse and his
men surrendered
The End of the Indian Wars

In Idaho the government wanted to move
the Nez Percés
◦ Most had become Christians as well as
successful horse/cattle breeders
◦ They ran for 1,300 miles before Chief Joseph
surrendered
 “I will fight no more forever”
 They were banished to Washington, D.C.
The End of the Indian Wars

Natives in Wounded Knee, SD held a
religious revival based on the Ghost
Dance
◦ A spiritual dance that declared that peace
would come after the white man—referring
to the afterlife but Americans took it to be
more of a threat
◦ Governmental officials, fearing this attitude
order the arrest of Sitting Bull
◦ Hostilities broke out killing about 100 people
The Government Promotes
Assimilation
“There is not among these three hundred bands
of Indians one which has not suffered cruelly at
the hands either of the Government or of white
settlers. The poorer, the more insignificant, the
more helpless the band, the more certain the
cruelty and outrage to which they have been
subjected…It makes little difference where one
opens the record of the history of the Indians;
every page and every year has its dark stain…”
Helen Hunt Jackson
A Century of Dishonor
 Is this someone who supports assimilation?

The Government Promotes
Assimilation

Congress passed the Dawes General
Allotment Act (a.k.a. Dawes Severalty Act)
◦ Replaced reservations by giving each Native
family 160 acre farm
 What about their tribal life and communal
property?
◦ They hoped that the younger Natives would
embrace farming culture and integrate with
the rest of American society
 Didn’t work…
Miners Hope to Strike it Rich