History 121 United States Since 1877 Week One: Course Introduction Chapter 17: The Development of the West, Welcome to History 120! Instructor: Ms. Monica Ketchum Tel.: Faculty Webpage: Class Webpage: Office Hours: Before or after class in the classroom or by appointment only, Room 1709 Textbook Information Norton, Mary Beth, et. al., A People and a Nation: A History of the United States, Volume 2: Since 1865, 9 th Edition ISBN-13: Available for purchase ($120) or rent ($80) in the IVC Bookstore eBook available for download ($73.49) at Rent from($60.49)www.chegg.com Important Dates Last Day to Add Classes: Sat, Sept 3 Labor Day (NO CLASS): Mon, Sept 5 Veterans Day (NO CLASS): Fri, Nov 11 Last Day to Withdraw with a W: Fri, Nov 11 Thanksgiving (NO CLASS): Nov 24-26 Exams and Assignments Exams: Week 5, Week 9 & Week 16 Projects: Week 14 Homework Assignments: Due each week Why Study History? To Understand People and Societies To Understand Change & How the Society We Live in Came to Be To Learn from the Past in Order to Shape the Future Contributes to Moral Understanding Provides Identity Why Study American History? Requirement Gives us perspective on todays issues Essential for good citizenship Connected to histories throughout the world Identity Why Start in 1877? Independence from GB in 1776 Treaty of Paris,1783 W Mississippi River N British Canada S Spanish Florida Louisiana Purchase,1803 US territory doubled W Rocky Mountains US in 1783 Louisiana Purchase, 1803 Why Start in 1877? Convention of 1818 = joint occupation of Oregon Country by GB & US 1819 treaties settle N boundary w/ GB; SW boundary w/ Spain. Florida ceded. Oregon Territory ceded, 1846 Texas annexed, Boundary dispute = US/Mexico war Why Start in 1877? Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848 doubles the size of the US Gadsden Purchase, 1853 adds Mesilla Valley. Alaska purchased from Russia in 1867 Expansion of the US virtually complete by 1877 Hawaii follows in 1898 Why start in 1877? Early national history hot topics: slavery, trade and expansion Civil War erupts in 1861 Slavery abolished 1865 War ends in 1865, Reconstruction begins Reconstruction ends in 1877 New period of US history begins West = lands W of Mississippi River White settlers displace Indians Resources vital for industrialization Land of opportunity The Development of the West 18771900 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. 17 Plains Indians: Hunters depend on buffalo Southwest Indians: Farmers Sheep & Corn Northwest Indians: Fishers Salmon All: Traders/Raiders Native economies undermined by: loss of land to whites salmon/buffalo decline Native American Subsistence Cultures p. 435 Dramatic Buffalo Decline Whites (with Army help) kill many for: railroads farming Accelerate decline in progress: over-hunting for trade with whites diseases from livestock less grazing area 1820: 25 million bison 1880: less than 1,000 BUFFALO SKULLS AT THE MICHIGAN CARBON WORKS, 1895 Once the vast herds of bison had been decimated, resourceful entrepreneurs, such as those pictured here, collected the skulls and sold them for industrial use. In all, nearly 2 million tons of bones were processed. Plain Indians Camp Denver Public Library, Western History Division Transformation of Native Cultures Extensive violence vs. Indians Young men view Indians w/contempt Both commit atrocities Native American population decline: disease (including STDs) less mobile with women/ children adopt bad habits (alcohol, prostitution) Lack of unity among tribes weakens power The Oglala Sioux spiritual leader, Chief Red Cloud in an 1868 photograph. Here he is seen with (l. to r.) Red Dog, Little Wound, interpreter John Bridgeman (standing), (Red Cloud), American Horse, and Red Shirt. He ventured to Washington with this delegation to discuss with President Ulysses S. Grant the various provisions of the peace treaty, just signed, to end the violent conflict over the Bozeman Trail. 25 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Major Indian Battles and Indian Reservations, 18601900 As commercial routes and white populations passed through and occupied Indian lands, warfare inevitably erupted. The displacement of Indians to reservations opened access by farmers, ranchers, and investors to natural resources and to markets. 26 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Plains Indians did not write books or letters as whites did, but they did tell stories and spread news through art. They painted scenes in notebooks and on hides, like this one which depicts the Indians annihilation of General George A. Custers soldiers at Little Big Horn in Depiction of Indians' Annihilation of General George A. Custer's Soldiers Smithsonian Institution, Western History Division Kiowa Preparing for a War Expedition, ca This sketch on paper was made by an Indian artist, Silverhorn, who had himself taken part in the final revolt of the Kiowas in He later became a medicine man, and then served as a private in the U.S. Cavalry at Fort Sill, Oklahoma Territory. SOURCE: Silverhorn (Native American), Kiowa Preparing for a War Expedition. From Sketchbook, Graphite ink and crayon on paper. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Terrell Bartlett. 28 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. 29 The celebrated artist Frederic Remington (18611909) produced this sketch of Oglala Sioux at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. SOURCE: Oglala Sioux performing the Ghost Dance at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota. Illustration by Frederic Remington, The Granger Collection. WOUNDED KNEE, PINE RIDGE RESERVATION, SOUTH DAKOTA, 1890 Thrown into an open trench, the frozen bodies of the Sioux slaughtered at Wounded Knee were a grim reminder that the U.S. army would brook no opposition to its control of Indian reservations. Land Use and Abuse Quest for rapid wealth 1000s move (mid-1800s) to mine: gold/silver/metals Lumber companies grab millions of acres (Northwest) Oil drilling starts (Southwest) Conservation movement = Preserve resources by limiting exploitation Yellowstone, WY = first national park (1872) Muir found Sierra Club (1892) Extraction of Minerals, Alma, Colorado, 1880s Colorado Historical Society Map 17-1, p. 441 MAP 18.5 The Establishment of National Parks and Forests The setting aside of land for national parks saved large districts of the West from early commercial development and industrial degradation, setting a precedent for the later establishment of additional parks in economically marginal, but scenic, territory. The West, home to the vast majority of park space, became a principal site of tourism by the end of the nineteenth century. 34 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Irrigation Existed among SW Indians, Spanish, Mormons Whites in West reject English riparianism, favor prior appropriation water rights granted to whoever claims first Agencies created to regulate usage WY, 1890 CA organize irrigation districts (IID) CA = leader in irrigation Most profitable fruit/vegetable farms in USA Newlands Reclamation Act (1902): promotes irrigation, not conservation Water, aided by human resolve, coaxed crops from the dry soil and helped make the West habitable for whites. On this Colorado farm, a windmill pumps water for irrigation. Windmill on a Colorado Farm Longmont Museum, Longmont, Colorado This painting by the British-born artist Thomas Hill (18291908) depicts workers tending strawberry fields in the great agricultural valley of Northern California. SOURCE: Thomas Hill, Irrigating at Strawberry Farm, Santa Clara, Courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. 37 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Railroad Construction of worlds rail track (1900) Diverse labor crews: Chinese build east from CA Irish build westward Spur steel, coal, and other industries Create new cities: link to national/global economy (goods/ people) Huge subsidies spur construction: USG give 180 million acres Railroad Construction Land for track + extra to sell: fund construction States add 50 million acres Towns buy rail stock/bonds; offer loans As private companies: railroads want aid fight regulation Many towns boom from railroads Others lose (stock failures, loan defaults) Illinois Central Railroad Advertisement, 1882 Library of Congress Standard Gauge; Standard Time Link railroads together (1880s) Alter concepts of time and space Measure distance in travel time, not miles Earlier, time varied from place to place RR need standardization: create 4 time zones (1883) become national time Farming the Plains (1870s80s) Commercial agriculture: require adaptations to climate and terrain 100s of 1000s of whites migrate Railroads promise instant riches Global population growth create demand Farm life on Plains very difficult: hard work essentials (water, fuel) scarce Map 17.3: rainfall divide settlement Map 17-3, p. 450 Hardship on the Plains Weather (heat, storms, blizzards, floods, prairie fires) and insects Homestead Act (1862): disperse settlement = social isolation Also lonely because many bachelors: many abandon farms for cities Mail-order and RFD reduce isolation some p. 451 In 1887, Lizzie Chrisman filed the first homestead claim on Lieban Creek in Custer County, Nebraska. Joined by her three sisters, she is shown here standing in front of her sod cabin. 46 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. The Ranching Frontier Cattle ranching mushroom, post-1860s Population growth create demand Railroads allow bulk transport: drive cattle 1,000+ miles from TX to rail link inefficient raise herds near rail links Open-range ranching on Plains with massive use of government lands p. 527 Barbed Wire Ranching conflicts w/ farms and sheep herds Barbed wire solve conflict: accelerates farming on Plains Ranching and meatpacking = big business same with mining and agriculture Often negative on environment p. 454 Map 17-2, p. 444 Homework Assignment #1 What factors contributed to Native Americans losing the West and their way of life? Given the climate of the 19 th century, do you think the two groups (Whites & American Indians) could have peaceably coexisted? Why or why not?