Why Were Homesteaders Experiences On The Plains So Difficult? Flashcards
What were homesteaders?
People who used the homestead act of 1862 to get 160 acres of land on the plains in return for a small fee if they farmed it for 5 years.
How did a lack of resources make homesteaders lives difficult?
Point: natural resources on the plains were very scarce which made survival very difficult.
Evidence: homesteads were built out of sod ( mud bricks) and buffalo chips were used for heating.
Analasys: they had to used very poor materials to build their housed because there were no natural resources that could be used so there was very poor housing that wasnt very strong. They even resorted to using buffalo poo/chips for heating because there was nothing else which may have also given them diseases which would have made life even harder.
How did weather make life for homesteaders difficult?
Point: weather was extreme and made it difficult to live
Evidence: extrem summer heat caused fires and tornados destroyed houses.
Analasys: having already very low resources on the plains meant that there was barely anyhting to build a house out of so weak houses would sometimes be destroyed or at least badly damaged by tornadoes. Fires also destroyed crops and made land unfertile which made life impossible if you couldnt farm at all on the plains.
How did infertile land make homesteaders lives difficult?
Point: land was not very fertile so growing crops was difficult
Evidence: turkey wheat had to be brought from russia.
Analasys: land was that infertile that no other crops could survive so turkey wheat had to be imported because it was one of the only farmable crops. This meant making enough for homesteaders themselves to eat was difficult let alone trying to sell it to people for a profit .
How did isolation make homesteading difficult?
Point: some struggled with the lack of contact.
Evidence: homesteaders often luved several miles away from the nearest town and because of this they relied on each other if harvests were bad.
Analasys: it meant mentally they would have felt hopeless and very lonely which wouldve made life harder but if someon got injured then they may die of it because there was no one to help them. Similarly if they were left homeless by their house veing destroyed they were out on the plains with no help which meant some may have died.
