Chapter 16 Flashcards
- What was the character of the competing groups including Chinese
Chinese-
o Industrious and successful (whites thought they were rivals or threats)
o Were discriminated against
o They worked long hours w/low wages and demanded little
- What was the character of the competing groups including Hispanic
Hispanics-
o Railroads were established in their regions
o Moved into an impoverished working class serving the expanding capitalist economy of the US
- What was the character of the competing groups including Indian Tribes
Indian Tribes-
o Interaction between Pueblos and Spanish (Mexicans)
o Developed a system: Spanish/Mexicans on top, Pueblos next, then people w/no tribes on bottom
o Vulnerable to diseases
o Not as economically and industrially advanced
- Describe the location of and character of the mining communities
- Mineral-rich region of mountain and Plateaus in the far west
- Began in 1860 and declined in 1890
- Pan and placer mining: shallow surface deposits of ore by hand
- Lode or quartz mining: dug deeper beneath the surface
- Federal land policies that encouraged settlement?
- homestead act
- timber culture act
- desert land act
- timber and stone
- Timber Culture act of 1873
Timber Culture Act of 1873-
o Additional 160 acres of land given if agree to plant 40 acres of trees on the land
- Homestead Act of 1862
Homestead Act of 1862-
o Permitted settlers to buy plots of 160 acres for a small fee if they occupied that land for 5yrs and improved it
- The Desert Land Act of 1877
Desert Land Act-
o Allowed claimants to buy 640 acres at $1.25 an acre, provided that they irrigated part of their holdings within three years
- Timber and Stone Act
Timber and Stone Act-
o Applied to non arable land authorized sales at $2.50 per acre for “unsuitable farm land”
- Describe the growth of the cattle industry
- Mexican ranchers had developed the techniques and equipment
- Texas had the largest herds of cattle in the country
- they were transported through railroads (animals were descended from imported Spanish stock)
- long drive and open range (long trails to take to the marketplace)
- winter 1886 up to 90% of all live stock died
- Turner’s Frontier Thesis
Fredrick J. Turner delivered a memorable paper called The Significance of the Frontier in American History(argued the end of the “frontier” also marked end of one of the most important democratizing forces in American life)-both inaccurate and premature
-WEST was NEVER a Frontier
- Federal legislation affecting Indian populations:Dawes Act
Dawes Act-
o Provided for the gradual elimination of tribal ownership of land and the allotment of tracts to individual owners
o Could not gain full title to property for 25 years
o Took Indian children away from their families to send them to boarding school run by whites (they believed the young people could be educated to abandon tribal ways)
o TOOK INDIAN LAND AWAY TO AMERICANIZE THEM
- Federal legislation affecting Indian populations:Indian Wars
Indian Wars-
o Natives fought the American troops for rights to land and culture.
o Both won and lost, but the battles were mostly very one sided, and resulted in something more of a massacre than a battle.
o Time: 1800’s
- Growth of farming industry: success of farmers
-Railroads produced surge of western settlement
SUCCESS:
- barbed wire(to separate open range cattle from land)
- diverted waters from Rivers and Streams: drilled wells
- commercial agriculture increased
- Growth of farming industry: FAILURES of farmers
Failures of Farmers-
o Lands that had been fertile returned to semi-desert
o Couldn’t pay debts and lost farms due to decreasing crop prices and increasing production prices
o Reversed migration: white settlers moved back east
o Overproduction led to drop in prices and economic distress
