Transforming the South and West

(1860s – 1900)

Themes

1.African Americans in the south2.The national government dramatically impacted the

American West: - Railroads - Settlement - Indian policy - Farmers3. Was the government influence and involvement in the

West a positive or negative for the nation?4. Plessy vs. Ferguson

Black Population

• Almost nine million African Americans lived in the United States in 1900• About 90% lived in the South• In the 1870s as many as 15,000 African American families became Exodusters

- One of the first migration of blacks, from the South, heading west (Kansas) - Make their own homesteads• Sharecropping developed as a compromise between former slaves

and landowners

Economics: Sharecropping

• Landowners subdivided plantations into 50 acre plots

• Sharecroppers handed over %50 of their crop as “rent”

• In the deep South 75% of the land was sharecropped

The Barrow Plantation(Before and After)

Sharecropping Map

Economics: Crop-Lien

• Merchants advanced sharecroppers supplies on credit

• Items: seed, tools, livestock, furniture, etc..• In the past, credit was only local. Now it is

state wide• Problem- Interest Rates: Often 50% or more

Results of Sharecropping and Crop-Lien

• Created a cycle of indebtedness • Many African Americans were still illiterate

and did not have the proper education to conduct business

• 1900: 75% of Southern blacks were sharecroppers

Railroads

• Many agreed that connecting the west coast to the east coast would be a great thing for the nation

• However, the main obstacle in such a task is was money.

• Along with money, geographic barriers would prove to be costly

• The majority of the places in the Southwest were still unsettled which would make it difficult to earn profit.

Geographic Barriers

Pacific Railway Act (1862)

• National government intervened in order to off set the cost of construction and to encourage businesses to become more involved.

1. Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads could oversee construction of the transcontinental railroad.

2. The companies received 10 (later 20) sections of land for each mile of track built.

Federal Land Grants to Railroads(1850 – 1900)

“Big Four”

• Collis Huntington, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins are given credit in building the Central Pacific and developing California’s railroad system.

• All 4 were born in New York and traveled West due to the California Gold Rush which began 1848-49.

Pacific Railway Act (1862)

3. The companies received between $16,000-48,000 in low interest loans for each mile of track built.

• This cost the U.S. Government a lot of money.• The Railroad would have NEVER been built so

quickly without the government subsidies.

Problems/Corruption

• Tracks were constructed too quickly and some needed replacement tracks.

• Both the Union and Pacific were fighting against each other to see which could lay more track which meant more loans.

• Surveyors sometimes were bribed to report that the land was rocky or “hilly” in order for the company to receive additional money.

Labor Shortages

• From 1861-1865 labor was short due to the American Civil War

• Central Pacific – Chinese were recruited; later Mormon followers

• Union Pacific – Irish immigrants, former slaves and Civil War veterans

Completion of Transcontinental Railroad

• Both the Central and Union met at Promontory Point, Utah in 1869.

• A trip, on horseback, had once taken 4-6 months might now take 5-6 days.

• Now the west railroads were ready to connect with eastern railroads

• Only problem was that trains kept arriving late• Railroads established time zones; not the

government

When East Meet West

• Promontory Point, Utah in May 1869• The last spike “Golden Spike” was driven into

the ground by Leland Stanford.

Golden Spike

Power of Railroads (Time Zones in 1883)

Railroads Impact on Environment: Buffalo

• By the 1880s the once plentiful buffalo herds had dwindled to a few thousand.

• Why?- Killed to provide food for railroad crews- Buffalo hunters could earn between $1.00 and $3.00 per hide

- Killing buffalo undermined Native American attempts to resist U.S. expansion (whites purposely killed buffaloes because buffaloes were used for Native American economy and spiritual life)

Homestead Act(1862)

• Government encouraged citizens to move out west 1. Adults could select 160 acres of surveyed, unclaimed

land 2. The land had to be occupied for five years and

“improved” (cut down trees, put of fences, and grow crops)

3. After five years the land was their own for a $10.00 fee*ALL 3 had a major impact pertaining to settlement in the

West. This act shows the government was heavily involved with the settlement of the West.

Impact of Homestead Act

• Railroad companies encouraged people to move out west and start a farm

• Allowed over 400,000 families to become landowners.

• Problems!• In order to be successful

people needed additional money (at least $1,000). Buy additional land and irrigation.

Nature’s Obstacles

• Low level rainfall west of the Mississippi River• Mosquitoes proved annoying and

grasshoppers could destroy crops• Summer heat/humidity followed by winter

blizzards made for difficulties • Homes were often made of sod due to the

lack of timber

Precipitation

Farmers

• Many moved West to farm as a result of U.S. policies after the Civil War

• Some had prospered; many had not• Starting in the mid-1880s till 1905 farmers

were not making enough money to pay back their bills

• Farmers now turned “The Grange” for help

The Grange

• Founded by Oliver Kelly (1867)• Goal: Provide education and emotional support

to farmers in the Great Plains and Midwest• Tried to end railroad discounts given to large

businesses• Showed potential of involvement for farmers in

politics• After 1875 membership dwindled.

The National Farmers’ Alliance and Industrial Union

• Founded in Texas in 1877• Goal - not to keep a Jeffersonian Agrarian society BUT to bring American farmers into the modern world of industry• Strategy: support a system that allowed farmers to

store their products in warehouses until the best prices were available.

• The Alliance would eventually split into different groups - One group which dealt with politics would be known as the People’s Party or the Populists.

Natives American Population (1500 – 1900)

• In 1500- between 10 to 12 million Native Americans lived in what is now present day United States

• By 1900 the population dwindled to about 500,000

• What happened?• As more settlers moved west, they came into

contact with Natives Americans who already lived there.

Major Indian/White Clashes

Battle of Washita(1868)

• With many successful Indian raids in the Oklahoma and Kansas by the Southern Cheyenne and Southern Arapaho.

• Maj. Gen. Phillip H. Sheridan, in command of the area, devised a plan to attack the tribes during the winter months.

• October of 1868 Lt. Col. George A. Custer and the 7th Cavalry and road towards the Washita River.

• In the early morning Custer ordered the attack on the Cheyenne.

• Black Kettle’s Cheyenne were taken by surprise and defeated• 21 Army soldiers died.

Oklahoma Land Rush (1889 – 1906)

Little Bighorn, Montana (1876)

• In late 1875, Sioux and Cheyenne Indians were fed up with the intrusions of whites on their lands in the Black Hills.

• A large group of Indians gathered with Sitting Bull to fight.

• The army sent three columns into the Black Hills to defeat the now allied Native American tribes.

Little Bighorn, Montana (1876)

• Before the main attack could commence Custer charged onto the battlefield which divided his forces.

• Custer sent 1 column under Captain Frederick Benteen north of the village.

• Another column led by Major Marcus Reno was to attack the south.

• Custer did not know that the Indian village contained more than three times his strength.

Little Bighorn, Montana (1876)

• Reno’s forces were halted and defeated.• The Indian forces that defeated Reno’s column joined

the fight against Custer’s attack of 210 men. • Custer ordered the men to shoot their horses to

provide cover but to no avail.• Custer along with all his men were killed. • Natives there stripped the bodies and mutilated all the

soldiers. They believed that the soul of a mutilated body was forced to walk the earth for eternity.

• Known as, “Custer’s Last Stand”

Dawes Act (1887)

• Too much conflict and death between whites and Native Americans

• Congress passed the Dawes Act in 1887 in order to assimilate Native Americans into society

• *Congress believed that whites were superior to Native Americans traditions. Tribal traditions should be destroyed and reservation lands should be broken up.

Reservation Land

Dawes Act (1887)

1. Each Indian head of household received 160 acres of land to farm or 320 acres for grazing

2. Additional family members received 40 acres of land each

3. Land was held in trust by the government for 25 years

4. Participation was mandatory

Impact of Dawes Act

• Why was the act mandatory ?• As a result 2/3 of all tribal land was lost

between 1890 – 1930• Land left over following the allotments to

Native Americans was opened to settlement for whites

Ghost Dance (1880s)

• Religious movement which opposed the Dawes Act

• Originally popular in the Great Basin and associated with Prophet Wovoka

• All whites would die and dead Indians would return to earth, if Indians:1. Lived together in peace2. Abandoned “white” influences3. Danced a particular dance

Ghost Dance and Sioux

• Ghost Dance was popular among the Sioux Indians living in the Dakota territory

• It was outlawed by military authorities because it was seen as a resistance against the government

• Tension increased as Sitting Bull was killed when authorities tried to arrest him in December 1890

• Sitting Bull was targeted because he was one of the leaders of the Ghost Dance

Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee

1. Cavalry was rounding up many Sioux near Wounded Knee Creek

2. Wounded Knee Massacre (December 9,1890)• About 300 Indians killed; including

seven infants• 29 U.S. Soldiers killed

Battle at Wounded Knee

• Local residents of South Dakota demanded that the Sioux end the ritual of the Ghost Dance

• It was said that Indian groups that participated in the Ghost Dance were more hostile

• When the Army was called in and took 300 Sioux Indians to Wounded Knee Creek on Pine Ridge Reservation.

Battle at Wounded Knee

• On the morning of December 29, 1890, the army demanded the surrender of weapons from all 300 Sioux.

• A shot rang out, no one knows who shot first, but the 7th Calvary massacred all 300 men, women, and children.

Legalized Segregation

• Plessy vs. Ferguson:- All railroad cars in the state of Louisiana were

racially segregated by law- Homer Plessy sued because that is not equal

treatment under the law

Plessy vs. Ferguson: The Ruling(1896)

• Supreme Court ruled: Separate facilities for different races were legal as long as they were equal in quality

• “Separate but Equal” doctrine

Jim Crow Laws

• State and local laws that established legalized segregation all over the United States

• Just about everything was segregated: hospitals, theaters, court rooms, schools, cemeteries, etc..

• North, south, west, east: ALL segregated

Jim Crow

Jim Crow

Conclusion

• The American West and South changed dramatically in years following the Civil War as a result of policies adopted by the U.S. Government.

• How would you evaluate these policies?