Presentation Transcript

1. Expansion into the West

   SSUSH11 The student will describe the growth of big business and technological innovations after Reconstruction. b. Describe the impact of the railroads in the development of the West; include the transcontinental railroad, and the use of Chinese labor. SSUSH12 The student will analyze important consequences of American industrial growth. c. Describe the growth of the western population and its impact on Native Americans with reference to Sitting Bull and Wounded Knee.
2. Problems with the Railroads The first priority was to standardize the track width - when the gauge wasn’t standard, goods and passengers had to be moved to different trains, causing delays The lack of standard signals and unreliable train brakes made train travel dangerous
3. Transcontinental Railroad During the Civil War, work began on expanding the railroads from coast to coast The government helped finance the completion of the railroad because private investors didn’t see any benefit to taking the railroad where people didn’t live Many workers on the railroad were hard working immigrants (including thousands of Chinese immigrants) who took pride in their work
4. The work was dangerous – workers laid track across treacherous terrain while dealing with attacks by Native Americans, accidents, and disease It took 7 years to complete the railroad – the 2 groups working met in Utah on May 10, 1869
5. Improvement of the Railroad Continued problems: trains were noisy, dirty, uncomfortable for travelers and spewed smoke and ash into the countryside New technologies aided the railroad: steel rails replaced iron ones, track gauges and signals became standardized, air brakes were improved Overall, the benefits outweighed the costs – railroads were a faster, cheaper way to transport goods and allowed businesses in all areas to grow
6. Growth in the West The growth of railroads led expansion in the Western US – new towns were built near the railroads Cheap land and new jobs attracted people of other countries and ethnic groups African Americans also headed west This created a problem – Native Americans already occupied this land
7. Impact of Western Growth on Native Americans Because Native Americans didn’t believe that land could be owned, settlers concluded that the land was unsettled – railroads made it easier to move west This led to clashes between the US government and the Native Americans, upset because the government went back on the act which designated the Great Plains as a reservation for Native Americans
8. The Bozeman Trail ran directly through Sioux hunting grounds – in 1868, the Sioux were forced to sign the Treaty of Fort Laramie in which they agreed to live on a reservation along the Missouri river. Sitting Bull, the leader of one of the Sioux groups, never signed it and expected to continue using the traditional hunting grounds which led to more wars American troops and Native Americans fought several times from the time of the signing of the Treaty of Fort Laramie until 1890, especially after the rumors of gold spread, leading to more settlers
9. 1887 – the Dawes Act was passed, aiming to “Americanize” the Native Americans It gave some of the land to Native Americans and put the rest up for sale for settlers – the Native Americans never received any of the money for the sale of about 2/3 of their land
10. Battle of Wounded Knee In December 1890, the US Army ordered the arrest of the Sioux’s chief, Sitting Bull, because of a rapidly growing Ghost Dance movement, a ritual that promised to restore their land and way of life During the arrest, Sitting Bull was killed and the remaining 350 starving and freezing Sioux were arrested and taken to Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota
11. The next day, the soldiers demanded that the Sioux give up their weapons – a shot was fired, no one knows from which side, and when it was over, 300 Native Americans, including several children, were dead This brought the Indian Wars to a bitter end
12. Life in the West Once the Indians were defeated, the area was flooded with homesteaders – people who claimed land Homesteaders had a rough life - they had to build a home, plow their fields for planting, deal with the bugs that attacked their crops, droughts Families had to pull together to survive and succeed
13. The “Wild West” The myth of the Wild West originated from stories about life on the frontier – these dime store novels made the west famous “Buffalo” Bill Cody created wild west shows which supported the stereotype of strong, free men notorious criminals like Billy the Kid also added to the legend