Westward Expansion (1865-90) Flashcards
3
Detail population growth in the West
- 1860 - 800,000
- 1890 - 6.2m
- Yet in this time, NA population halved
3
Describe Manifest Destiny
- Belief that American had God given right to expand its dominion across North American continent
- Linked to beliefs in democracy, capitalism and Christianity
- Would inform assimiliation into ordered American culture (Americanisation)
6
Describe the Gold Rush
- To keep annual growth rate at 3.8% natural resources had to be exploited
- Rumours of there being gold in the Black hills of Dakota had begun in the mid 1870s
- Small deposits found in 1874; larger deposits found in deadwood in 1875
- Thousands moved there
- Land held by NAs under Treaty of Laramie 1868
- Govt made no intervention
1
Describe the terms of the Homestead Act 1862
Govt would release 160 acres of land to individual for free, as long as they farmed on the land for at least 5 years
4
Describe the effects of the Homestead Act 1862
- Encouraged Western Expansion
- By 1865, 20k homesteaders had settled out on the plains
- At expense of NAs
- Led to Bonzana farms - by 1880, 3000 of these farms had more than 1000 acres
1
Describe the Timber and Culture Act 1873
extended the land by 160 acres on Homestead Act as long as 40 acres of it were trees
6
Describe the Dawes Act 1887
- Congress passed Act ending the reservation system
- Authorising the federal confiscation and redistribution of land
- Aimed to destroy tribal governing councils
- Assimilate NAs into mainstream US society by replacing their communal tradition with an individualistic culture
- Climax of integrationist policy
- Reformers hailed it as it would end tribal relationship
2
Describe the terms of the Dawes Act
- 160 acres to each head of family
- Only NAs who accepted individual plots would become US citizens after 25yrs
3
Describe the problems of the Dawes Act
- Act assumed NAs could become farmers, which was against their way of life
- Coincided with agricultural depression (+drought in 1887)
- Most NAs had little understanding of what act entailed
4
Describe the effects of the Dawes Act
- In 1887, NAs held some 138m acres - would be 48m in 1934
- Led to huge surplus of land, commercially sold to white people
- Within a very short time, most had sold or lost their land to the whites and fallen into poverty
- Living standards of the NAs would deteriorate rapidly
2
Describe the change to the Dawes Act
- 1891 amendment to the Act ended policy of awarding 160 acres to the heads of families
- Instead each NA individual would be awarded 80 acres each, regardless of status
5
Describe how railroads contributed to Western Expansion
- Union Pacific, first transcontinental railway, completed in 1869
- Dangerous routes could now be avoided
- Railroad track grew from 35k miles in 1865 to 200k in 1893
- Vanderbilt and m&a/monopolisation of industry spurred railroad boom
- Enabled greater mobility for Eastern speculators
3
Describe Ghost Towns
- Mining towns experienced sudden economic booms
- Quickly deserted by prospectors once mineral riches had been found elsewhere
- e.g. Virginia City in Nevada
3
List developments in farming 1865-90
- Farming
- Cattle-ranching
- Cowboys
5
Describe cattle-ranching
- Invention of barbed wire in 1873 helped control land
- Disputes between groups over unscientific assertions that sheep-dung poisoned water
- Meatpacking business grew with Armour and Company in 1867, with a large facility in Nebraska
- Force, fraud and perjury to maintian land rights
- Severe winter of 1885-87 (+ drought in 1887) saw up to 90% of Western cattle die
meatpacking - slaughter and processing of animals for sale
