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The American West Chapter 16. The West may be called the most distinctively American part of the America because the points in which it differs from the East are the points in which America as a whole differs from Europe." James Bryce, The America Commonwealth , 1888 .
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The American WestChapter 16 The West may be called the most distinctively American part of the America because the points in which it differs from the East are the points in which America as a whole differs from Europe." James Bryce, The America Commonwealth, 1888
The Great Plains and Native Americans 100,000 living on GP 6 distinct linguistic groups: • in the Southwest: Mandans,Arikaras, Pawnees • In the Central Plains: the Kiowas, andComanches • In the North: the Arapahos, Cheyennes, the Blackfeet, Crows, and the Sioux nation.
Most notable, the Sioux Nations – Lakota Sioux, Dakota Sioux etc… • Nomadic until the introduction of the horse by the Conquistadors • Heavily reliant on the buffalo • Trade with whites was easy in the beginning • Superior in making a life on the Great Plains
The Sioux Reservation • Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 relegates the Sioux to South Dakota • Red Cloud and Sitting Bull, most notable chiefs • Battle of Wounded Knee was Sioux Nation and American Army
Wagon Trails – most notably OREGON TRAIL, 1843 • 2,000+ miles between the Mississippi River and Oregon Territory, • Basically a LONG track of ruts • Before the settlers, there were MOUNTAIN MEN in the territories, the Coeur Du Bois (1820s and 1830s)
Railroads • The Railroad Act of 1862 put government support behind the transcontinental railroad and helped create the Union Pacific Railroad, which subsequently joined with the Central Pacific at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869, and signaled the linking of the continent.
Railroads • Pony Express – Missouri to California • Telegraph Lines – Coast to coast, 1861 • Government provided grants and loans to Union Pacific and Northern Pacific Companies to build transcontinental railroad
Duluth Minnesota the NEW Chicago?Jay Cooke and the Northern Pacific RR Land Grants, Government loans…increase the American Debt…
Jay Cooke Financier of the Civil War Northern Pacific Railroad Company How are these things related to the Panic of 1873? Cooke was able to raise money to finance the war by selling bonds to smaller banks who had invested in railroads - most notably the UNION PACIFIC (transcontinental). Cooke was unable to garner the support for investment into the Northern Pacific – which led to its failure and indicative of the larger post war recession that includes a scarcity of dollars and panic on behalf of investors.
Cattle Kingdom The Cowboy’s Life
The Romaticized West BILLY THE KID: Doc Holliday True Grit Don’t let your boys grow up to be cowboys – why not?
Homesteaders a simple life of self sufficiency Really? Simple? An extension of the yeoman lifestyle…have you figured out that YEOMAN is key term??? How simple do you think this is?
Oliver KelleyOrder of the Patrons of Husbandry “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” Organized to fight the railroad oppression of the homesteader.
Native Americans Assimilation and Reservations
Reservations • Reservations 1830 – 1890 • Reservations today
Zitkala-Sa(Gertrude Simmons Bonnin) Kill the Indian, Save the Man Americanization schools Assimilation through schooling
Wounded Knee • Chronology • Wounded Knee memorial movie
The Far West The ‘49ers and mining Fewer than 100,000 Euro-Americans lived in the entire Far West when it became a U.S. territory in 1848.
Mining Mine strikes in Sierra Nevada (Cal.), Rockies (Mexico – Canada), Black Hills (S. Dakota) San Francisco was the hub for mining – with the influx of miners the west becomes even more WILD Foreign miners tax $20 per month Vigilance Committee enforced laws – using extra legal measures • ...we had over nine pounds of gold dust in our pan. But it was the hardest work I had ever done. My back ached, my feet were wet and cold and my hands were numb. I realized then, that, while there was plenty of gold in the ground, it could not be picked up with ease. Hard labor and often poor results to many, with lucky finds to the few, I could then look into the future and see. A pang of pity passed through my mind as I thought of the many physically weak men I had seen rushing through Sacramento to the mines and of the many I had seen on my tramp to Columbia and journey to Jackson, who were totally unfit to cope with the conditions of hard work, exposure and privation it required to mine in the placers for gold. The Autobiography of Charles Peters, Preface, p. 11
Hispanic Conflict White discrimination against Mexican Story of the 5 Joaquins – Mexicans who organized foreign miners to protest the foreign mining tax
Chinese Immigration Chinese Chinese Exclusion Act opens opp. for Japanese in Californian agriculture
African American miners • By 1852, more than half of the 338 African Americans in Sacramento were free people. http://www.calgoldrush.com/part3/03blacks.html#ixzz1A2KXVoMm
John Muir There was nothing trimmed about John Muir…he was a NATURALIST and CONSERVATIONIST – nature and its beauty should remain untouched and simply appreciated by man – SIERRA CLUB America’s Best Idea MAJOR BREAK happens in early in 1900s with Gifford Pinchot who is a naturalist – man should USE, TAME nature
