Homesteaders Tackling Issues

Question 1

How did railroads make Homesteads lives easier?

Answer 1

-Homesteaders could visit people much more easily and cheaply than before, which reduced the isolation of homestead life.
-Homesteaders could order manufactured products that made life easier
-towns sprang up at regular distances along the railroads, which gave homesteaders a place to meet each other, compare farming ideas, sell crops and buy products and access entertainment

Question 2

When was the “self- governing” windmill invented and when did it get steel blades?

Answer 2

1854

1870 - steel blades

Question 3

What was the purpose of the windmill?

Answer 3

they were used to pump water out of the ground to help farmers irrigate their land and make it more fertile for crops

Question 4

What were the advantages and problems with windmills?

Answer 4

Pros: - could pump water out of quite deep wells (up to 30m)
- in 1870 steel blades meant the windmills could stand up better to the strong prairie

Cons: - not powerful enough to pump up water from VERY deep wells (more than 30m) and needed constant maintenance
- it was not until the 1880s that these problems were overcome

Question 5

When was the barbed wire invented?

Answer 5

1874

Question 6

What was the purpose of barbed wire?

Answer 6

used to fence off crops to protect them from livestock and other animals

Question 7

what were the advantages and problems of barbed wire?

Answer 7

Pros: - much cheaper than buying timber for fences

-more effective at blocking livestock than smooth-wire fencing

Cons : - not widely used until 1880s
-early types broke and rusted
-in 1874, it was ten times more expensive than the 1880s

Question 8

When was the sulky plough invented?

Answer 8

1875

Question 9

what was the purpose of the sulky plough?

Answer 9

strong ploughs were used to plough up the tough weeds and prairie grass on the great plains

Question 10

What were the advantages and problems of the sulky plough?

Answer 10

Pros: - very strong, easy to operate, ride-on steel plough that made ploughing up tough weeds and prairie grass much easier
- 50,000 ploughs were sold in the first 6 years of production

Cons: - six times as many “walking” ploughs were sold in the same period - these were cheaper and farmers understood them
- early sulkies were unstable and could tip up

Question 11

What did the Mennonites (migrants from Russia) discover and how did this affect farming on the plains?

Answer 11

-they discovered that “Turkey red” wheat grew well on their Kansas farms
-Soon farmers with good land were able to export grain, which was a major boost to settlement on the Plains

Question 12

When was the timber culture act established?

Answer 12

1873

Question 13

What was the problem with the 160 acres allocated in the Homestead act?

Answer 13

it could not support the average family

Question 14

How did the timber culture act solve the problems of land holdings being too small?

Answer 14

it allowed a homesteader to claim a further 160 acres if they promised to plant trees on a quarter of it.

Question 15

why were trees important ( timber culture act) (3)

Answer 15

-act as a “wind break” as it slowed down the Great Plains winds to shelter crops from damage
-provided settlers with timber for building houses, fences and furniture, and for repairing equipment
-provide settlers with fuel

Question 16

What was the significance of the timber culture act 1873?

Answer 16

By 1878, 16 million acres had been claimed under this act

Question 17

What did homesteaders use for fuel as an alternative to timber?

Answer 17

dried cattle and buffalo dung

Question 18

What natural disasters did Homesteaders face?

Answer 18

-Pests, such as grasshoppers, could destroy a whole seasons’ crop
-Prairie fires spread quickly and burnt everything
-there were no solutions to the problems

Question 19

Which act (apart from timber culture act) also solved the problem of land holdings being too small and what did the act do?

Answer 19

The desert Land Act 1877 let settlers buy 640 acres of desert land cheaply

Question 20

Due to lack of timber, there was nothing to build houses with. What was the solution to this?

Answer 20

people built sod houses made from blocks of earth

Question 21

What increased the problem of disease?

Answer 21

sod houses were hard to keep clean and has no sanitation

Question 22

How was the problem of disease solved?

Answer 22

women cared for the sick, using their own remedies

as communities grew, doctors arrived

Question 23

why was their a lack of education?

Answer 23

most homesteads were too far from towns with school

Question 24

How was the problem of lack of education solved?

Answer 24

women taught the young

As communities grew, single female teachers arrived and schools developed