THE GREAT WEST & THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION Chapter 26 American Pageant, 13 th ed.

America moves West Army troops met formidable resistance by Native Americans 20% of U.S. soldiers were African American (buffalo soldiers) After Civil War Americans moved to the West Encountered Native Americans & buffalo Within 30 years, this landscape would change Between 1860 & 1890 Indians were sent to small reservations laden with empty promises

Hostilities increase Sand Creek, CO U.S troops attack Indian camp, kill Sioux ambush US Calvary in MT, killing all; one of the few Indian victories (whites abandon region temporarily) Ft. Laramie Agreement guarantees new reservation to Sioux gold discovered in Black Hills of North Dakota, white settlers swarm to region that was part of Sioux land and Indians took to the warpath Gen. George Custer attacks Indian force on Little Bighorn River (MT), superior Indian force wipes out all of Custer’s troops

Hostilities decrease  Many people sympathized with Native Americans  Most just wanted white assimilation  Disease, the railroad, extermination of buffalo and firewater all ended native resistance

Forced assimilation  1887 Dawes Severalty Act  dissolved tribes as legal entities  wiped out tribal ownership of land  provided families 160 acres of land  citizenship in 25 years if behaved  Reservation land not allotted was sold to settlers; proceeds used for education  Tried to make farmers out of Indians, ignored tradition of tribally held lands  Forced assimilation was Indian policy for 50 years

Mining Westward  Mining’s first great boom  Discovery, population boom, communities form  Gold and silver discoveries across West (CA, CO, ID, MT, NV)  Boomtowns emerged, much crime & chaos  Federal government supported large mining operations- provided inexpensive land, approved patents, provided RR land to move out ore  Mining boom helped fuel industrial growth  Caused conflict with Native Americans

Farming Westward  Homestead Act 1862  allowed settlers to acquire 160 acres of land by living on it for 5 years & making improvements  Public land given away to fill it up, provide a family farm (500,000 people took advantage)  More families than that bought land from railroads& land companies  Land speculators took advantage of system to grab up best land  Railroads tempted immigrants with cheap land  Higher wheat prices, iron plows made marginal land more attractive  However…  160 acres inadequate to make a living; yields low  Drought persistent problem, farming techniques led to “Dust Bowl” of the 1930’s

Moving Westward  Cities in the West served as a safety valve for defunct miners & farmers  “Oh shucks, I lost my farm. I’ll just move West.”  Good in theory, but an expensive venture  Some large-scale farms emerge  Tied to industry, reliant on one another  Farming becomes mechanized and agribusiness appeared

Failing farms  Reasons for failing farms  Tenant farmers  Operated at a loss  Farmers overproduced driving prices down  Government over assessed their land for taxes  Corporations supplied farm equipment, seed, fertilizer; controlled prices  Grain storage operators and railroads charged high fees  Nature conspired against farmers- grasshoppers, floods, drought  In the South the boll weevil wreaked havoc on the cotton crop in the 1890’s  Farmers were slow to organize; individualistic & independent, not well educated  The first major farmer’s organization was the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry (The Grange)  Established cooperatively owned stores, grain elevators and warehouses  Entered politics to control grain, freight prices, had biggest success in Upper Midwest

Populist Party  Late 1870’s Farmers’ Alliance established in Texas  Grassroots movement  By 1890 over 1 million members  Organized to break control of RR’s through cooperative buying and selling  Ignored plight of tenant farmers, excluded blacks  Racial division kept farmers from working together  Blacks formed Colored Farmers’ National Alliance  Populist Party arose as the direct successor to the Farmer’s Alliance  Populist party’s presidential candidate in 1892 was James B. Weaver  Influential Populist leaders were James B. Weaver, Mary Lease, Ignatius Donnelley, and William “Coin” Harvey  In a bid to win labor’s support, the Populist Party opposed injunctions against labor strikes

Populist Party Cartoon 1892

Jacob Coxey  Panic of1893 strengthened Populists’ position; depression loomed  Armies of unemployed began marching to protest plight of labors & farmers  Coxey’s “army” marched on Washington D.C., to demand that the government relieve unemployment with a public works program

Election of 1896  William “hard money” McKinley (R-Ohio) vs. William Jennings Bryan (D- Neb)  A “monetary” battle: gold standard or silver standard; Populists back silver  A Republican victory  McKinley was a “trust” man, for big business and big money  Gold Standard Act of 1900 allowed paper currency to be redeemed freely in gold, victory for conservatives

 Adams, L. (2010). Retrieved on January 10, 2011 from %20Revolution.ppt. %20Revolution.ppt  [Image of Helen Hunt book]. ( Retrieved on January 10, 2011 from  [Image of Indian land for sale]/ (20100). Retrieved on January 10, 2011 from  [Image of William McKinley]. (2011). Retrieved on January 11, 2011 from