Topic 4 - Settlement and Conflict on the Plains Flashcards
What was the new Transcontinental Railroad and how was it put in place?
- A railroad that crossed the whole country.
- In 1862, Lincoln approved a Pacific Railroad Act that promised to provide money to companies willing to build a railroad connecting the East and West of the USA.
- Railroad companies were given land and money to construct railroad lines.
- The Union Pacific company built from the East to the West.
- The Central Pacific company built from the West to the East.
- The Line was completed in 1869, by which time both companies owned more land than the whole state of Texas.
How did the Railroads impact companies and investors?
Railroads made the companies and people associated with them very wealthy.
How did the Railroads impact Native Americans?
The Railroads cut through Native American lands and disrupted the buffalo hunting grounds. They also encouraged more settlers and cattle ranchers to settle on Native American lands on the Plains.
How did the Railroads impact the workers?
Thousands of workers were needed to build the lines. Over 12,000 workers were Chinese immigrants. They received little pay and worked in dangerous conditions. Accident rates among all workers were high, especially when blasting through the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
How did the Railroads impact the USA?
New towns were created on railroad lines. Many of these were, violent, drunken and unruly. Towns soon grew large and law and order improved. The first railroad inspired the building of other lines across the West. By the 1880s, the journey across the USA could be made in days instead of months.
What happened too the cattle industry and how did it affect the USA?
- The American Southwest was full of Texas Longhorns.
- After the Civil War, many Texan soldiers returned home to find that their cattle stocks had grown hugely while they had been away at war.
- Some people realised they could make money by driving cattle to railroad shops and then selling beef to cities or Indian agents (people who managed Native Americans reservations).
- Taking cattle over the Plains to be sold became known as the long drive. People were trying to make their money from it.
- Long drives caused conflict with Native Americans whose hunting grounds were disrupted.
Cow towns:
- Located on railroad lines.
- Places where cattle were brought and sold.
- Cowboys could rest and spent their wages at cow towns.
- Early cow towns were violent and drunken places but by the 1870s they had developed their own laws and hired sheriffs.
Cattle Ranches:
- Located on the Plains.
- Set up so the cattle didn’t have to be driven all the way from Texas.
- Cattle ranches needed a lot of grass and water.
- Overgrazing was a big problem.
Why did people move to the Plains?
- The Homestead Act offered 160 acres of land free for 5 years.
- Cheap land could be bought on the Plains.
- The 1860s were an unusually good period for rain on the Plains.
- New technology meant water could be extracted from the ground more easily.
- Railroad companies advertised the Plains as a great place to farm.
- Formerly enslaved people could buy land to farm and escape the South.
- Railroads allowed people to sell farmed goods to cities more easily.
- A banking crisis in the 1870s meant that many people were out of work.
What difficulties did homesteaders face on the Plains?
- The Plains were a long way away from big towns so getting supplies was difficult.
- Not many trees so building houses were hard.
- Houses were small and cold in the winter.
- A lack of clean water meant that cholera and typhoid were common and killed many.
- Families often lived miles from the nearest town so people became lonely.
Why were the Plains difficult to farm on?
- Harsh winds could destroy crops.
- The extreme summer heat would cause fires on the prairie grasses and crops struggled to grow as there was little water.
- Ploughing the land to grow crops was hard as the land hadn’t been farmed before.
- Buffalo and wild cattle could trample across farmland and ruin a year’s crop.
What solutions did homesteaders come up with to survive
- Homesteads (houses) were built of sod (earth) and were built quickly and cheaply.
- Farmers grouped together to build churches, schools, small stores and communities.
- Wind pumps were used to harness the prairie wind and they could be drilled into the ground and draw up clean water.
- Farmers learned dry-farming techniques and brought new types of wheat (Turkey red).
- Barbed-wire fencing was a cheap way to enclose land.
- Homesteaders worked together to plough land and shared crops to be more effective.
- Women helped with Ploughing.
- Children collected buffalo chips (dung) to be burned for cooking and heating.
What lead to the reservation policy?
- By 1860s the Plains were being viewed as potential land for white settlers.
- Transcontinental railroads disrupted Native American hunting grounds and lead to tension.
- Settlement of Colorado and the Plains after Pikes peak lead to conflict over land and resources.
- Government began a policy of moving Native Americans on to reservations so they wouldn’t interfere with white settlement.
- Many Native Americans refused to keep reservation agreements.
What caused Little Crow’s War?
Little Crow (a Dakota chief) had signed a reservation agreement in 1861 in return for supplies from the US government. When the Dakota were starving in 1862, the reservation agent refused to open up the emergency stores.
What happened during Little Crows War?
In the Summer of 1862, Little Crow led his warriors and attacked white farms and settlements in Minnesota. They killed about 500 settlers. The Minnesota militia (soldiers) attacked all the Dakota in the area, whether they had taken part or not. They rounded up men, women and children and took them to huge prison camps.
