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The Last American Frontier

The Last American Frontier. Frontier. Frontier – the line separating areas of settlement from ‘unsettled’ wilderness territory See map on page 90 – ‘The Shifting Frontier’. The Lure of Precious Metals. California gold rush in 1848-1849 Klondike Gold Rush – 1896

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The Last American Frontier

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  1. The Last American Frontier

  2. Frontier • Frontier – the line separating areas of settlement from ‘unsettled’ wilderness territory • See map on page 90 – ‘The Shifting Frontier’

  3. The Lure of Precious Metals • California gold rush in 1848-1849 • Klondike Gold Rush – 1896 • Set off one of the most turbulent gold rushes in history • 100,000 started the trip ; only 30,000 completed the trip

  4. The Indian Wars • American troops, settlers, & Native Americans • 1876 - General Custer & the battle of Little Big Horn • Against the Sioux tribes (Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse) • 1890 – Wounded Knee (South Dakota) • Massacre of 300 unarmed Sioux men, women, & children by American troops

  5. Impact of the Railroads • The 1st Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869 @ Promontory Point, Utah • Reduced cross-country travel from 6 months to 10 days • The increasing number of railroads continued to attract more settlers to the West

  6. Availability Of Cheap Land • Homestead Act 1862 • Granted any citizen 160 acres of government land • If the settler lived on the land for 5 years, farmed & improved the land, then he could own the land • Almost 1.4 million settlers took advantage of the offer under the Homestead Act

  7. The Cattle Industry • After the Civil War, the demand for beef skyrocketed • Several million longhorn cattle roamed the Great Plains in Texas by the end of the Civil War • Some settlers decided to drive these herds of cattle northward along cattle trails towards the railroads • These cattle drives often took over 3 months to complete • Cowboys, who learned how to ride, rope, & brand from Mexican vaqueros, were hired to drive these herds of longhorn cattle north • Eventually 3 main things brought these cattle drives to an end: overgrazing, extended bad weather & winters, and the invention of barbed wire

  8. The Cattle Drives • The Texas Longhorn was lean and rangy, noted more for their speed and endurance rather than for their steak • Over 5 Million Roamed the grasslands of Texas • Typically driven to markets in Austin, Galveston or New Orleans • As railroads pushed further West, suitable “cattle routes” opened up. Creating “Cowtowns” all throughout Kansas, Texas, Nebraska and Wyoming. • Ex: Fort Worth • Led to increased population in Kansas and Nebraska between 1860-1880

  9. Farming on the Great Plains • The Homestead Act as well as the increasing number of railroads continued to stimulate the move westward • Hardships the farmers faced: • Conflict w/ the Indians • Drought • Plagues (grasshoppers, locusts, etc) • Eventually all the ‘good’ land was taken • Lack of trees to build houses • Built sod-houses from the soil & grass

  10. THE FATE OF NATIVE AMERICANS

  11. Government Policy • 1830-1890 U.S government wanted to push Native Americans from their lands onto reservations

  12. The Reservation • Typically smaller • Not near as fertile of land • Government promised adequate food, blankets, and seed to farm • Native Americans were traditionally hunters & not farmers so this clashed with their customs

  13. The Dawes Act - 1887 • Americanization – adopting the culture of other mainstream Americans • Each Native American family was given 160 acres of private land • Each Native American family would become farmers • Those who accepted this offer would become U.S citizens & be given the right to vote • Eventually, almost 2/3rds of this land was bought (or taken) back by white settlers • the purpose of the Dawes Act was to assimilate Native Americans in to the ‘white culture’ • Schools were often times centers to ‘Americanize’ Native American children

  14. American Indian Citizenship Act - 1924 • Some Indians became citizens before American Indian Citizenship Act • Had to take up life apart from their tribes (Became citizens immediately) • 1901 Citizenship Granted to the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma • Passed by the U.S. Congress • Granted immediate U.S. citizenship to all Native American Indians born in the United States • Did not have to give up tribal lands or customs

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