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Grant Wrap-Up Western Expansion

Grant Wrap-Up Western Expansion. The Gilded Age . The Grant years: 1868-1872, 1872-1876. Great war leader, but shy/withdrawn in office Could not see political forces/influences at work around him Honest man, but too loyal to those who eventually would betray his trust

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Grant Wrap-Up Western Expansion

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  1. Grant Wrap-UpWestern Expansion The Gilded Age

  2. The Grant years: 1868-1872, 1872-1876 • Great war leader, but shy/withdrawn in office • Could not see political forces/influences at work around him • Honest man, but too loyal to those who eventually would betray his trust • Followed lead of Radical Republican Congress • Horse racing > policy making • Ineffective as a leader

  3. Grant: Finance • Post- Civil War: $432 m. greenbacks issued during war retired from circulation, Congress in favor of “sound” or “hard-money” (gold coins) money supply to contract • D. want to repay gov. bonds w/ greenbacks • Backlash from farmers, debtor groups b/c fear of lower farm prices, debt too difficult to pay. • 1868- Grant opposes “soft money” (greenbacks) as does public • Many see as morally unsound to use paper money not backed by gold

  4. Grant: Scandal • 1869- RR entrepreneurs Jay Gould & Jim Fisk work to purchase high #s of gold • Create public craze, convince traders of a shortage and increasing prices • Purpose to increase value of gold, but in danger if US Gov. sells . Gould argues that gov. selling gold may hurt economy. • Gold prices soared ($132 to $163/oz) unti Sep. 24, 1869= “Black Friday” • Bubble burst when Grant had Treasury sell gov. gold • Fisk out by hiring thugs to intimidate creditors, repudiate debts • 1872- Credit Mobilier scandal spreads • Construction co. overcharged fees to Union Pacific RR $$ for insiders who controlled both CM and UPR • Built TR RR- completed in 1869= “Wedding of the Rails” • Oakes Ames letters reveal scandal- founder of CM, H. of Rep. • Before Grant’s election, but many high rank Repub. given shares of CM in exchange of votes • ETC. : • Sec. of War- took bribes from merchants who traded w/ NAs in West @ Army posts • Post office contracts to those w/ highest kickbacks • “Whiskey Ring” in St. Louis bribed tax officials to scimgov. of revenue

  5. Grant: reform and redemption • 1872: Grant vs. Greeley • Econ. Panic in 1873 due to contraction of $ supply, overexpansion of RR in areas w/ little settlement 6 year long depression • 25 RR defaulted, panic outside of US cause others to unload US stocks. Investment firms close NYSE closed for 10 days • Widespread bankruptcy, unemployment, slowdown in building/construction • Greenback issue revived. • Value less than gold, but were main $ used in exchange • Hold gold or use w/ foreign accounts (problem gold sent out of country) • Gov. issue more greenbacks ($26 mil. Previously withdrawn from public) • Dems gain control of House, win seats in Senate during panic

  6. The new west • Civil War far way for : Mexicans, Asians, Native Americans, white trappers, miners, cowboys, traders, Mormons • Many still propelled by idea of Manifest Destiny, lust for land, passion for profit • What do you see? Pioneers/cowboys overcoming odds to reach goal of freedom/opportunity? Greed and sinful nature, reckless exploitation of land/resourcers, death of NAs? • The last FRONTIER- Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, W. Minneosta (Great Plains) • Geography: water scarce, timber scarce “Great American Desert,” a barrier to cross on the way to the Pacific. Instead, perfect relocation for Nas. • NO log cabins, rail fence, typical tilling methods for farming • New discovery of gold, silver, minerals, transcontinental RR, decrease of buffalo population, rise of range-cattle, use of irrigation  change in pattern of settlement

  7. Miners in 1849 CA • Set precedent- first prospectors, camp followers, saloon keepers, prostitutes, card sharps, hustlers, desperadoes lawlessness, vigilante rule, then stable community • New finds in CO and NV by 1859 • Pike’s Peak, CO • Comstock Lode at Gold Hill, NV • Gold and silver at the lode; $300 m. over 20 yrs • AZ/MT rich in copper • Demand for order in the west new territories, new states • 1864- NV, 1876- CO, 1889- Dakotas, WA, MT, 1890- ID, WY, 1896- UT (after Mormons abandon polygamy), 1907- OK, 1912- AZ, NM (complete 48 continental states) • States from coast to coast • Increase in settlers from east and westmounting pressures with NAs

  8. Horace Greely- “Go West, young man!” • Benjamin “Pap” Singleton- born a slave in TN, escaped to Detroit. Later called to rescue blacks. Felt future was in farm ownership. • “The Advantage of Living in a Free State”- circulated after learning of cheap land in KS. 1878- 7,500 acres purchased to form Dunlap, “Exodusters” • Fear by Southern whites of labor loss blockades of rivers, roads West • Most homesteads too small to make a living. Many blacks hiring selves out to white farmers. Many crop failures (drought, dust storms, fires). All lead many blacks to flee to cities.

  9. INDIAN WARS • 1851- Treaty at Fort Laramie • WY: NA Chiefs agree to tribal borders, not bother emigrants on trails through land • Peace for several years, but road building by army and settling by whites continued deeper into NA land (encroach vs. pass through) • 1850-1860: 150k American settlers into Sioux territory in violation of treaty • Early 1860s-late 1870s, Indian Wars rage on frontier • NA raids on trains, mining camps • 1864- Col. J.M. Chivington “90-day volunteers” approach NA camp @ Sand Creek. Ignore white flag of truce, slaughter 200 • 1867- Indian Peace Commission established to remove causes of the wars • Should be accomplished at expense of tribes persuade them to reservations

  10. Indian raids begin- impact trains, mining camps • Result of forced acceptance of treaties  reduced land • 1864- Col. John Chivington & “90-day” volunteers @ Sand Creek • NA camp flying white flag • Troops slaughter 200 • 1867- Report on the Condition of the Indian Tribes Indian Peace Commission • Medicine Creek Lodge (KS)- Kiowa, Comanche, Arapaho, Cheyenne  w. OK • Sioux  Black Hills (Dakota territory) • General Philip Sheridan: Civil War vet, sent to scatter NAs and force treaties • “The only good Indian is a dead Indian.”

  11. Custer’s last stand • OR…The Battle of Little Bighorn- June 25, 1876 • Col. George Custer- Civil War vet, reckless, glory-seeker, last in class at West Point • Expedition into Black Hills w/ gold seekers, followed by miners • Into Sioux hunting lands • Army did nothing to back promise of protecting grounds from settlers, but did move against Sioux wandering across range • Great Sioux War- 15 months through WY, MT, SD, NE • Custer found main camp of Sioux & n. Cheyenne allies • Custer + 209 move in surrounded by 2,500 warriors all dead • Crazy Horse • 7th Cavalry 4+ miles away • Army regain momentum and force Sioux off land, require payments • Forced onto least valuable land, starvation, disease

  12. Wounded knee • By 1886, Indians Wars nearly at close • Chief Joseph- Nez Perces (ID): war launched when refused to give up land. Caught headed to Cananda, exiled in OK • Chief Geronimo (Apache) captured after 15 years of fighting • 1888- Wovoka ill, delirious. Imagined he saw spirit world, learned of deliverer coming to rescue Nas and restore land. Told others must perform ceremonial dance @ new moon to bring about deliverer = Ghost Dance • 1890- white authorities alarmed at spread, persistence, fervor of NAs. • Sioux chief Sitting Bull killed • Dec. 29, 1908- @ Wounded Knee, SD: rifle fired (from who?). Nervous soldiers react and fire into surrendering group of Nas • “Battle” kills 200 NAs, 25 soldiers

  13. Indian policy • Those on frontier lack tolerance, but Easterners see slaughter as immoral & seek reform • Dawes Severalty Act of 1887- attempt to “Americanize” by dealing with NAs as individuals, not tribes • Introduce individual land ownership, agriculture • Communal land 160 acres per head of family • To “protect” land, gov. held control through a trust for 25 years • After, person owned land & earned citizenship • 1924- all NAs granted citizenship

  14. Act well intentioned, but harmful. • Reservations broken up • Loss of NA land to whites • Inexperienced with ownership, land not distributed to families sold off, fraud • Est. 86 mil. of 130 mil. Lost • Most NA land remaining unsuitable for AG • Traditional culture lost

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