AMERICAN EXPANSIONTopic 11

American definition of the “frontier”

Native Peoples Most conflict with white settlers Existence focused on bison (buffalo) and

horses Nomadic lifestyle; No concept of private

ownership of land Warfare and “counting coup” Animistic Religion

THE “AMERICAN WEST”

Homestead Act of 1862 Varying nationalities Exodusters Single women

Not easy!

1889: Oklahoma Land Rush April 22, 1889. The “Sooners”

HOMESTEADING

Began in the late 1850s with the Texas longhorns

1866 – Joseph G. McCoy and Abilene, KS Chisholm Trail and the legend of the

American cowboy Cowboy myth vs. reality

Cattle kingdom is short-lived. 1880s: Overgrazing and overstocked 1886: blizzard killed 50-85% of cattle 1887: drought and heavy snows

CATTLE KINGDOMS

Following the CA gold rush, additional discoveries in the Rocky Mountains, Black Hills, Nevada, etc. Encourages settlement, but in

a different way

Boom-and-bust towns Dangerous Inflation Income Women benefitted!

MINING FRONTIER

Initial conflicts: Destruction of the bison Transcontinental railroad Fashion Sport hunting Climate issues

The Army Enforce tribal treaty rights; Protect

the RR; Protect settlers “Inefficient use of land”

CONTACT AND REASONS FOR CONFLICT

1860s – 1890s: Frequent conflicts Government creation of reservations Focus on resettlement and control of

native populations

Increasing conflict Treaties signed under threat of force Board / Bureau of Indian

Commissioners

All tribes to move onto reservations or face forcible removal and/or death

Battle of Little Bighorn – George Armstrong and the 7th Cavalry

THE INDIAN WARS

Indian schools

Dawes Severalty Act – 1887

Wovoka’s Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee

ALTERING GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

Farming organizations Patrons of Husbandry (The Grange)

Original purpose – socialization Munn v. Illinois

Farmers’ Alliances Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific

Railway Co. v. Illinois The Co-Op movement

Cooperative purchases of machinery

Non-profit entities

ORGANIZING THE INDIVIDUALISTS

1890s – Combined needs of farmers with support for bimetallism

Platform of reform Direct election of Senators Secret ballots Initiative, referendum, and recall Abolition of national banks Government ownership of telegraph

and railroads Progressive income tax Free and unlimited coinage of silver

THE POPULISTS

Rocketed to the forefront in 1893 with Depression

Election of 1896 William Jennings Bryan William McKinley

Short-lived party, but parts of the platform absorbed into later progressive reforms

THE POPULISTS

US has a duty to improve others and take their natural place among the world’s greatest nations

Goals of American imperialism Increase international

markets Spread Christianity Racial Superiority and

“Civilization”

Anti-imperialist beliefs

AMERICAN EXPANSION

Cuba Use of guerilla warfare; General Valeriano Weyler Yellow Journalism – Hearst and Pulitzer McKinley - isolationist

February 9, 1898 – insulting letter about McKinley

February 15, 1898 – USS Maine explosion

War lasts 114 days, but helps establish an American empire Treaty of Paris: Philippines, Puerto Rico

SPANISH AMERICAN WAR

John Hay – Open Door Policies Urged nations to respect the territorial

integrity of China Self-determination?

Election of 1900 – McKinley reelected Shot by an anarchist on September 6,

1901 Teddy Roosevelt becomes president

TURN OF THE CENTURY