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Settling on the Great Plains

Settling on the Great Plains. Notes: Chapter 5 Section 2. I.) Railroads Help Settlers Move West. Federal land policy + transcontinental railroads = rapid settlement of the west! 1850-1871 federal govt. make huge land grants to RR Two railroad companies race to lay track:

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Settling on the Great Plains

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  1. Settling on the Great Plains Notes: Chapter 5 Section 2

  2. I.) Railroads Help Settlers Move West • Federal land policy + transcontinental railroads = rapid settlement of the west! • 1850-1871 federal govt. make huge land grants to RR • Two railroad companies race to lay track: 1. Union Pacific 2. Central Pacific

  3. D. The Central Pacific and Union Pacific tracks meet in Promontory, Utah May 10 1869 (Transcontinental) E. The workers: 1. Civil War vets 2. Irish 3. Chinese 4. African Americans

  4. II.) Government Help Settlers Move West • Homestead Act of 1862- act passed by Congress offering 160 acres of free land to any citizen or head of household 1. 1862-1900 over 600,000 families took advantage 2. Exodusters- African-Americans who moved from the south to Kansas • Problems: 1. Railroads & Govt. gobble up land 2. Cattlemen fence off land 3. miners & woodcutters claim natural resources

  5. C. Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889-as part of the Homestead Act, federal govt. offers a major land giveaway in Oklahoma 1. in less than one day settler claim 2 million acres

  6. III.) Closing of the Frontier • In 1872 federal govt. creates Yellowstone National Park • In 1879 federal govt. railroad companies forced to give up landholdings in the West • In 1890 Census Bureau declared the frontier no longer existed

  7. IV.) Life on the Plains • Settlers face droughts, floods, fires, blizzards, raids by outlaws, and Native Americans • Trees are scarce = build home from land itself 1. Soddy- home made by settlers by sod • Women’s Role 1. worked the land, prepared food, cared for home, and raised the children

  8. V.) Agriculture Support • 1837 John Deere invents steel plow • 1847 Cyrus McCormick invents reaping machine • 1869 Spring-tooth Harrow to prep soil • 1841 Grain drill to plant seed • 1874 Joseph Glidden invents barbed wire • 1878 Corn binder and reaper • Outcome: 1. more grain available to wider market 2. 1830 bushel took 183 mins. 1900 bushel took 10 mins.

  9. VI.) Agricultural Farmers A.) Morrill Act of 1862 & 1890- federal govt. gives land to states to establish agricultural colleges B.) Hatch Act of 1887- established experiment stations for development of new agricultural tools 1. Great Plains nickname: “the Breadbasket of the Nation”

  10. Farmers debts rise • Cause & Effect of Prices: 1. price of wheat high = farmers can repay loans price of wheat low = farmers need to raise more crops to meet financial needs • Cost of shipping rises 1. railroads charge high fees to ship

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