Slide 1

Slide 2 1.To acquire Wealth a. Cheap Land b. Gold and Silver c. Land Speculation Reasons for Westward Expansion Land Speculators: people who bought up large areas of land in the hope of later selling it for a profit Slide 3 2. Lack of Foreign Threat a. European nations were gone b. Mexican Wars were over Reasons for Westward Expansion Slide 4 3. Homestead Act of 1862 160 acres of land: 21 years of age or older American citizen Pay $10 fee Build a home and live in it for 6 months out of every year Land had to be farmed and improved upon ** Once all requirements were met the land was theirs to keep. Reasons for Westward Expansion Slide 5 Daniel Freeman's Homestead Application Slide 6 Daniel Freeman's Proof of Improvements Slide 7 Daniel Freeman's Certificate of Eligibility Slide 8 By 1900, individual homesteading families had filed 600,000 claims for more than 80 million acres Problems: Settlers could not meet all requirements Some could not survive economically Most settlers had no farming experience Fraud was problematic: speculators would establish fake homesteads and land office agents rarely visited claims Slide 9 Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 Provided support for state colleges Millions of acres given to state governments who sold it to land speculators at.50/acre. States used the money to build colleges. Reasons for Westward Expansion Slide 10 Transcontinental Railroad Slide 11 Slide 12 Slide 13 Introduce the Simulation. Our time period is the 1860s and 1870s. The way we are measuring land is acres, sections, and townships. Life as a homesteader is hard. Weather can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Homestead Simulation Slide 14 Jefferson Township Slide 15 Pick One Name Out of the Hat (or Box). Fill in your name and place of origin. Choose Identity Slide 16 Farmer Banker Blacksmith Rancher Prospector (Gold Digger) Saloon Owner Doctor Choose your Occupation Slide 17 If you drew a person whos Place of Origin is not the United States, Role a die. 1-3 you are a U.S. Citizen. Are you a U.S. Citizen? 4-6 you are an Immigrant who is not a Citizen of the United States Slide 18 Are you married or single? What is your spouses name? Do you have kids? How many? What are their names? How old are they? Write this information on your sheet. Family Slide 19 Go around the Classroom and choose a number 1- 100. You CANNOT choose a number that has already been taken. Beginning Wealth Slide 20 Slide 21 Draw a numbered slip of paper. Choose your homesteads in the order that you received your slip of paper. If you have one adult in your family, you get one quarter section. If you have two adults, you get two quarter sections each. (All children are under age 21) You CANNOT choose the sections that are unavailable for homesteading (marked with a *) Choose your homestead Slide 22 Slide 23 Slide 24 Draw an X wherever you choose on your quarter section of land to signify your family home. Draw a dot/black filled in circle to signify farm buildings. Building on the Homestead Slide 25 Slide 26 Farming Income Chart Farmers Decision Form Homesteaders Earnings Form Examine Forms Slide 27 Slide 28 Fill out Year 1 on Farming Decision Form. One Student will roll a die for the entire class. The number that comes up is the column we will use on the Farming Income Chart. Calculate the amount of money you made. Farming Decision Form Slide 29 Slide 30 Fill out Year 1: Add income (money you made), subtract expenditures (money that you spent) Homesteaders Earnings Form Slide 31 Slide 32 The following homesteaders draw a fate card and apply it to their total: Helms, Rodgers, Austin, Casas, and Dearborn. Fate Cards Slide 33 Before we start Year 2, you can decide whether to buy or sell land. The government can sell unsettled land for $1.50 an acre. (Each Quarter Square is 160 Acres, so to buy one you need to pay $240 ) You can sell your land to classmates for whatever they are willing to pay you. Year 2 Slide 34 Fill out Year 2 on Farming Decision Form. One Student will roll a die for the entire class. The number that comes up is the column we will use on the Farming Income Chart. Calculate the amount of money you made. Farming Decision Form Slide 35 Slide 36 Fill out Year 2: Add income (money you made), subtract expenditures (money that you spent) Homesteaders Earnings Form Slide 37 Slide 38 The following homesteaders draw a fate card and apply it to their total: Dean, Carlen, deJong, Marsh, and Samuels. Fate Cards Slide 39 Before we start Year 3, you can decide whether to buy or sell land. The government can sell unsettled land for $1.50 an acre. (Each Quarter Square is 160 Acres, so to buy one you need to pay $240 ) You can sell your land to classmates for whatever they are willing to pay you. Year 3 Slide 40 Fill out Year 3 on Farming Decision Form. One Student will roll a die for the entire class. The number that comes up is the column we will use on the Farming Income Chart. Calculate the amount of money you made. Farming Decision Form Slide 41 Slide 42 Fill out Year 3: Add income (money you made), subtract expenditures (money that you spent) Homesteaders Earnings Form Slide 43 Slide 44 The following homesteaders draw a fate card and apply it to their total: Edwards, Bensen, Novak, Lee, and Holt. Fate Cards Slide 45 Before we start Year 4, you can decide whether to buy or sell land. The government can sell unsettled land for $1.50 an acre. (Each Quarter Square is 160 Acres, so to buy one you need to pay $240 ) You can sell your land to classmates for whatever they are willing to pay you. Year 4 Slide 46 Fill out Year 4 on Farming Decision Form. One Student will roll a die for the entire class. The number that comes up is the column we will use on the Farming Income Chart. Calculate the amount of money you made. Farming Decision Form Slide 47 Slide 48 Fill out Year 4: Add income (money you made), subtract expenditures (money that you spent) Homesteaders Earnings Form Slide 49 Slide 50 The following homesteaders draw a fate card and apply it to their total: Davis, Nelson, Boone, Murphy, O'Toole and McKenna Fate Cards Slide 51 Before we start Year 5, you can decide whether to buy or sell land. The government can sell unsettled land for $1.50 an acre. (Each Quarter Square is 160 Acres, so to buy one you need to pay $240 ) You can sell your land to classmates for whatever they are willing to pay you. Year 5 Slide 52 Fill out Year 5 on Farming Decision Form. One Student will roll a die for the entire class. The number that comes up is the column we will use on the Farming Income Chart. Calculate the amount of money you made. Farming Decision Form Slide 53 Slide 54 Fill out Year 5: Add income (money you made), subtract expenditures (money that you spent) Homesteaders Earnings Form Slide 55 Slide 56 The following homesteaders draw a fate card and apply it to their total: Juarez, Hudson, Moore, Caluchi and Sage. Fate Cards Slide 57 Frontier Election! Why was government necessary on the frontier? Offices up for election: County Commissioners (3 total) Sheriff (1 Total) County Judge (1 Total) County Treasurer (1 Total) Year 6 Slide 58 Interested Candidates: Get the Petition Form from Mr. Beem, and get at least 8 signatures from other students who are affirming your candidacy. Turn in your petition to Mr. Beem. After the petitions are signed, we will hear the campaign speeches of the candidates and vote! DURING THE CAMPAIGN, farmers follow the same procedures as the previous years. Candidates forego any farming for year 6. The die will be rolled after the petitions are given to the candidates. Campaign Slide 59 Each Candidate has the option to make a Campaign Speech advocating for your vote. Campaign Speech Slide 60 Vote for the following: 3 Commissioners 1 Judge 1 Sheriff 1 Treasurer The one who receives the most votes (or top 3 for Commissioners) wins the election and will have their post and paycheck! The election winners will NOT continue to farm, and they will make their paycheck for year 6 Election Slide 61 Now that the community is growing, taxes are needed to pay for the things the community needs, like a school, law enforcement, government, and roads. Include these taxes in year 6. Subtract your taxes from the Other category. The Treasurer will go around and total the amount of taxes collected for the year. Taxes Slide 62 Slide 63 The following homesteaders draw a fate card and apply it to their total: Peterson, Luckman, Cohen, Braun, and Gibson. Fate Cards Slide 64 Read Frontier Roads together. County Commissioners discuss their plans for the roads. Farmers: Make your decisions and do steps for year 7. Die will be rolled after Frontier Roads is discussed. After County Commissioners come up with a plan, they will present it to the community. Landowners whose land the roads will pass through can either accept or reject the plan. Frontier Roads Slide 65 Slide 66 Great! If plan is accepted Slide 67 County Commissioners have 2 options: 1) Change the route and propose it to the community again. 2) Take the issue to court, and have the judge decide the issue. Issues: A) whether or not the road should still be built through these areas, even with objections B) if built, how much objectors should be paid. If plan is rejected Slide 68 County Commissioners draw the roads on the map. Once decisions are final Slide 69 Figure out how much you have earned. Pay your taxes! Finish Year 7 Slide 70 The following homesteaders draw a fate card and apply it to their total: Ericson, Lucas, Sherman, Fitzgerald and Gunther. Fate Cards Slide 71 Railroads are coming through! Follow the directions on the Railroads sheet. Railroads Slide 72 Slide 73 Make decisions for Year 8. Remember the effects of the railroad coming through to your profit and land value (Yippee!), but also remember that the higher land value also affects your taxes. Taxes = 1/20 of the value of the property + $10 per house. Calculate your totals. Slide 74 Who has the highest total at the end of the game? Who is the Winner Slide 75 Write a letter of at least 5 sentences to a family member back home in the Eastern United States. In that letter, talk about your experience in the west. (How have you survived? Have you made money? What was your fate card? Were you elected to public office? Were you successful? Did you fail?) Turn in your letter before you leave. Final Activity