Frontier & Industry (Cowboys, Indians & Robber
Barons??)
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I. Ending the Frontier A. Miners look away from California 1.
California gold strikes slow (started in 1849) 2. Colorado, Idaho,
Nevada, Dakotas 3. Boom & Bust Towns 1. Explain how the
Railroad changed America. What was the most important RxR built
(when & by who)? What was happening out west that helped get
the RxR built? Name 3 ways railroads improved between the 1860s and
1900. What was shipped west and what was shipped east?
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Study Guide #1: Railroads B. Gold & Mines Bring Railroad
West 1. The RAILROADS a. Government gives Money & Land (130
million acres) b. Transcontinental Railway *Union Pacific West from
Omaha, NE - African American & Irish Labor - Through flat
plains and Rocky Mnts. *Central Pacific East from Sacramento CA -
Chinese Labor - Over Sierra Nevada Mountains ** Lines Meet at
Promontory Point, UT May 10, 1869**
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Proposed routes for the first Transcontinental Railroad (1855):
Secretary of War Jefferson Davis recommended the SOUTHERN ROUTE,
through the Newly acquired Gadsden areas. Why do you think
Jefferson recommended this route? Why do you think it wasnt chosen
as the real route?
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Which company was able to build more track? Predict WHY they
were able to do this!
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Chinese workers a case study: CHINESE LABOR: Quotes by Leland
Stanford ( A large majority of the white laboring class on the
Pacific Coast find more profitable and congenial employment in
mining and agricultural pursuits, than in railroad work. The
greater portion of the laborers employed by us are Chinese, who
constitute a large element in the population of California. Without
them it would be impossible to complete the western portion of this
great national enterprise, within the time required by the Acts of
Congress. As a class they are quiet, peaceable, patient,
industrious and economicalready and apt to learn all the different
kinds of work required in railroad building, they soon become as
efficient as white laborers. More prudent and economical, they are
contented with less wages. We find them organized into societies
for mutual aid and assistance. These societies, that count their
numbers by thousands, are conducted by shrewd, intelligent business
men, who promptly advise their subordinates where employment can be
found on the most favorable terms.
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Sierra Nevada
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1.What is the Transcontinental Railroad? 2.Describe the Golden
Spike (location, date, and significance). P.591 3.Look at the
picture: 1.List the people, objects and activities presented 2.What
do you think is missing? Why?
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c. New Inventions Expand RxR *Standard Gauge (rail lines all
the same size) *Air Brakes (travel safer) *Janney Car Couplers (all
cars can be hooked and unhooked easily) d. Helps Economy *Raw
Materials shipped from West to East *Finished Goods shipped from
East to West. Ex. Takes lumber to factories & Factories ship
finished furniture West *Companies can Mass Produce and ship large
quantities on the train all over America Study Guide #1: Railroads
Janney Car Coupler
Slide 17
A. CATTLE KINGDOM 1. Longhorn Cattle- Tons of cattle in TEXAS
2. Problem: How do you get the cattle to the people?? a. Big cities
in the east, ex. NY, Philly, Boston b. Solution: The Cattle Drive
*Goal: Get TX. Cattle to railroads towns *WHO? - COWBOYS Ex.
Confederates, Ex Slaves, Young *Dangerous and Tiring: *Stampede
*Indians * Rustlers *Weather *The Land MOO 2.Explain how the Great
Am. Desert became the Great Plains / Bread Basket of America.
Describe the role and lifestyle of the two different groups of
Americans who began to use the Plains first. Which one survived?
What organizations were created to help farmers and how did they
use cooperatives?
Slide 18
Study Guide #2: Great Plains 3. Cow Towns Trails meet Rails a.
End of cattle trails, cattle were sold and shipped (Abilene &
Dodge City KS / Cheyenne, WY) -Rough Towns ** Cowboys + $ =
Fun?????????
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Study Guide #2 The Great Plains B. Farmers on the Plains 1.
Homestead Act (1862) a. 160 acres, $10 fee, work land for 5 years
b. Brings settlers to the Plains c. Railroad and Steamship
Companies advertise the free land in Europe and the East 2.
Sodbusters & Homesteading a. Houses made of Sod (No Trees = No
Timber) b. Dry farming *Wind Mills Water *Light Steel Plows Break
Thru Sod *Barbed Wire Keep Cattle Out of Fields (Uh, Oh! Do
Ranchers like this??)
Slide 24
History of the Homestead Act -Passed in 1862 by Abraham Lincoln
-Any CITIZEN (or person who intended to become one), over the age
of 21, could make a claim -Given 160 acres of land for a filing fee
(typically $5) -Had to live on the land for FIVE YEARS, build a
dwelling, and farm the land. -If you did this, land was
yours!!!!!!!
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Advertisement for Railroad lands Family searching for a
Homestead
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Study Guide #2 3. The Grange & Populist a.Farmers have a
tough time * Weather *Rail Monopolies * Crop Failures *Loneliness
*Debt to Banks b. The Grange Support and Help *Cooperative buying
(Costco style), helps against Railroads *Education (Library) &
Social Events (Dances)
Slide 31
Study Guide #2 C. Farmers v. Cowboys 1. Range Wars a. Farmers
putting up fences *Cowboys cant get through to RxR b. Farmers Win
*RxR come to Ranches (the South) & Too Many farmers Farmers
RULE
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A. Native Americans (Werent we here 1st?) 1. Life on the Plains
(Nomadic) a. The Buffalo-uses *Most important food for Indians
*ShelterClothes & Tipi from hide *Tools made from Bone and Guts
b. RxR & Government Kill Buffalo *1872 to 1875- 9 million
killed, 800 in 1895 *Ruins lifestyle and culture of Native Am. 3.
Describe the struggle between Native Americans and white settlement
on the Great Plains. How did the U.S. actively try to eliminate the
Native Americans? Explain Reservation Policy and the Dawes Act. Who
was Wovoka and the Ghost Dance?
Slide 33
General William Tecumseh Sherman wrote in 1867: "The more we
can kill this year, the less will have to be killed the next year,
for the more I see of these Indians the more convinced I am that
they all have to be killed or be maintained as a species of
paupers."
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Uses of the Buffalo Buffalo Population
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B. Taking the land 1. Reservation Policy a. Keep Indians in
limited areas b. U.S. Government would Help ** Three
Promises--Three Lies 1. Provide Food and Supplies Lie- Poor Quality
2. Keep Settlers Out Lie- Whites get land 3. Provide Protection
Lie: Army very Mean 2. The End of a Culture / DAWES ACT a. Make
them White (Goal of Dawes Act) *Broke up reservations to make
private land (Indians do not believe in land ownership) b. Make
them farmers, like settlers Study Guide #3: Native Americans
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3. The Lost Fight a. The Ghost Dance *Nevada Indian Wovoka-
prophet *Tells tribes to use this ceremony to call on the past
greatness of the tribes **Whites & Govt scared to Death!
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Study Guide #3: Native Americans b. Wounded Knee (The last
massacre) **Sioux, led by Sitting Bull, gather to perform Ghost
Dance **Whites frightened, and arrest Sitting Bull (Somehow shot
during scuffle) ** Scared and angry Sioux gather at Wounded Knee,
S.D. after shooting **Army opens fire with new machine gun on women
and children who are starving and freezing RESULT- 1. Indians
defeated 2. Great Plains Settled Country Grows 4. RxR Feed
Factories in East