american west

Question 1

what was the state of lawlessness in the 1840s?

Answer 1

the west was still small and migrants had to rely on eachother so lawlessness wasn’t a big problem

Question 2

how big did a territory have to be to have a sheriff? when was this rule in place?

Answer 2

60,000 people, during the 1840s and 1850s

Question 3

when did california begin to have problems with law and order? why?

Answer 3

in the 1850s because of the rapid expansion of the gold mining communities

Question 4

what were the most common crimes in california

Answer 4

claim jumping
salting a claim
drunken violence
racial hatred

Question 5

what led to an increase in chinese migrants? when did this occur?

Answer 5

1851/1852 due to famine in china

Question 6

what was the increase in chinese migrants in the early 1850s?

Answer 6

from 2000 migrants in 1851 to 20,000 in 1852

Question 7

when did the gold run out in california? what did this cause?

Answer 7

1850-1851
this caused unemployment and many miners beginning to work underground, which was a much harder job
the unemployment created disenfranchised men which increased lawlessness

Question 8

what were the problems with communication in the 1840s-1860s?

Answer 8

news had to travel by horseback and therefore took a long time to reach law enforcement

Question 9

what were the main causes of crime in san francisco in the early 1850s?

Answer 9

in 1851 crime rates were high in san francisco because of limited law enforcement and an influx of chinese migrants

Question 10

what did people do in SF to make up for lack of law enforcement?

Answer 10

began vigilante justice groups in 1851. 89 suspects were hanged without trial

Question 11

when was billy the kid born?

Answer 11

1859

Question 12

when was the civil war?

Answer 12

1861-1865

Question 13

why did the civil war cause lawlessness?

Answer 13

deserters would run away and hide out in western territories

Question 14

who were the Reno Gang?

Answer 14

a group of civil war deserters who carried out train robberies

Question 15

when did the reno gang’s train robberies occur?

Answer 15

in 1866, 1867 and 1868

Question 16

how much money did the reno gang’s fourth robbery produce?

Answer 16

$96,000

Question 17

when was the pinkerton agency set up?

Answer 17

1850

Question 18

what was the pinkerton agency?

Answer 18

a private law enforcement agency used to track down outlaws and bring them to justice. they were far more reliable than actual law enforcement.

Question 19

why did the railroad have an impact on lawlessness?

Answer 19

once frontier towns were connected to bigger towns by rail and telegraph, lawlessness fuelled by isolation decreased

Question 20

when did abilene hire wild bill as the town marshal?

Answer 20

1871

Question 21

why was wild bill fired as abilene’s town marshal?

Answer 21

although he succeeded in scaring the cowboys into submission, he spend the majority of his time drinking in saloons

Question 22

after wild bill was fired from his position as marshal of abilene, what did the mayor decide to to in order to keep law and order?

Answer 22

ban the cowboys

Question 23

when was the great die up?

Answer 23

1886-1887

Question 24

what was the great die up?

Answer 24

a harsh winter killed off many of the cattle living on the plains

Question 25

what did ranchers do after the great die up? what did this cause?

Answer 25

they used barbed wire to fence of their land and protect their remaining cattle. this caused tension between them and the homesteaders as it stopped the homesteaders from accessing water

Question 26

what were the beef bonanza years?

Answer 26

the cattle ranchers trying to control the beef market

Question 27

what did ranchers do to try to control the beef market?

Answer 27

they bought land which homesteaders were living on to raise their cattle
they killed sheep and ruined sheep farmers to stop the lamb market advancing
they bought land with water supplies to stop farmers and homesteaders accessing water

Question 28

what impact did the homestead act have on lawlessness? when was this the case?

Answer 28

from 1862 onwards, families began buying 160 acres using the homestead act. families were far more stable and law abiding than earlier frontier men and so lawlessness decreased