WARM UP  Put your homework in the turn in bin by the door. Please write your class number on the paper. Class numbers can be found on the wall by the U.S. and World maps!  What did the Dawes Act do? (Write the question and answer on your warm up sheet.)

1.3 SETTLING THE GREAT PLAINS What was life like for settlers?

WHAT WAS THE WORST HOUSEHOLD CHORE YOU’VE EVER HAD TO DO? Share your thoughts with a partner.

WHAT MADE SETTLEMENT POSSIBLE?  Railroads made westward access easier.  Homestead Act: offered 160 acres of free land to heads of households  Not all land was equally useful!  By 1890, the frontier was closed.

WHAT WERE THE PLAINS SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE? Think back to “Home on the Range”!

LIFE ON THE PLAINS  Few trees  houses were built from sod (soddies)  Infested with snakes and other pests  Nothing was wasted!  Women worked alongside men to maintain the home

FARMING  Steel plows, barbed wire, and other technology made farming easier  Morrill Act financed agricultural colleges that help develop new farming techniques

Barbed wire prevented animals from trampling crops and wandering off. By speeding up harvesting, the reaper saved crops from inclement weather. The steel plow made planting more efficient in root-filled soil.

FARMERS IN DEBT  Farmers took out loans to try to compete with giant bonanza farms  As farms grew bigger, so did farmers’ debts!

Oregon Trail 2.0

BACKSTORY You are a video game developer in charge of creating the new game Oregon Trail 2.0. The game will take a character through many different aspects of life out west such as: Gold rush (and bust) Construction of the Transcontinental Railroad Cattle driving Home on the Range Because Oregon Trail is an educational video game, you will have to educate players on these events as a part of the game!

YOUR TASK  Create a screen shot from Oregon Trail 2.0 telling the player about ONE of the events/groups of people below:  Miners in the gold rush  Railroad workers and the transcontinental railroad  Cowboys herding cattle on the Chisholm Trail  Farmers building homes on land from the Homestead Act  Your screenshot should include:  Title that explains what the screenshot is about  A date of the event you are illustrating and the location of where you are  A colored illustration related to the topic  A short paragraph explaining what the screenshot is about. This paragraph should answer who, what, where, when, and why.  Paragraph should include one pro and one con for this group.

RUBRIC You need to have:Points: Title that explains the screenshot5 Date and location of the screenshot5 Illustration5 Paragraph answers who, what, where, when, why10 One pro and one con5 points each TOTAL35 points

WARM UP  What was life like for settlers on the Great Plains?

1.4 THE PLIGHT OF THE FARMER What problems were farmers facing?

PROBLEMS FOR THE FARMER  Farm prices plummeted due to overproduction caused by numerous farms and better methods so farmer’s incomes fell greatly.  Banks were foreclosing on farms when loans went unpaid  Railroads were charging excessive rates for transporting farm goods to markets

DECREASING WHEAT PRICES YEARBushels Grown (millions) Price per bushel (dollars) $ $ $ $ $ $ $.62

FARMERS’ DEBT CYCLE CROP PRICES FALL FARMERS LOSE MONEY TAKE OUT LOANS BUY MORE LAND & EQUIPMENT TO MAKE MORE $ PAY HIGH PRICES TO SHIP GRAIN FARMERS LOSE MONEY

MORE MONEY, MORE PROBLEMS The removal of greenbacks (paper dollars not backed by gold or silver) from the economy after the Civil War led to inflation. This meant that the money left in circulation (tied to the gold standard) became more valuable. So why is that a problem?

DEBT!!!  Farmers had mortgaged their farms to make ends meet when farm prices fell.  The removal of greenbacks meant that farm prices would fall even more and that the farmers would have to pay their debts, dollar for dollar, using money that was far more valuable than the money they originally borrowed.

GREENBACKS V. HARD MONEY NOTHING! Which bill do you want in your pocket?

FARMERS ARE RAILROADED Railroads had a monopoly on the shipment of farm products from the west to markets in the east (where most people lived). Railroads engaged in price gouging, charging artificially high prices because farmers had no other transportation options. This forced farmers into even more debt but made tremendous profits for the railroads.

PANIC OF 1893  General businesses collapsed as well as the stock market.  By year’s end 8,000 businesses and 400 banks had failed.  3 million workers lost jobs. By December % of the work force was unemployed

WARM UP Get a warm up sheet from the back table. Write the question and answer on the warm up sheet.  How did the removal of the greenbacks negatively affect the farmers? Turn in your DBQ that is due TODAY in the turn in bin by the door. Please write your class number on the DBQ. Class numbers are found on the sheets on the wall by the U.S./World Maps.

POPULISM Can people fight back against the government?

IMAGINE…  You are thousands of dollars in debt…  The product that you spend several months of the year growing is not making you any money…  You are being overcharged just to ship your crops to a location where they can be sold… What would you do to fight back?

FARMERS FIGHT BACK  Grange: famers alliance that fought high prices railroads charged for shipping grain  Farmers’ Alliances educated farmers on their rights

POPULISM=PEOPLE’S PARTY  Increase in the money supply to raise the prices of grain  Graduated income tax Won 10% of the vote in 1892

GOLD STANDARD (GOLD BUGS) Every paper dollar had to be backed by a dollar’s worth of gold in the US treasury

BIMETALLISM (SILVERITES) Paper dollars were backed by gold AND silver AND

ELECTION OF 1896  Populists supported Democrat William Jennings Bryan for President  Favored bimetallism  Republicans supported William McKinley and the gold standard  Supported by the rich, industrialized North McKinley wins and Populism collapses.

WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN  Made famous speech “Cross of Gold” With a partner, read the quotes from the speech and answer the questions.

THE WIZARD OF OZ AND POPULISM  Author L. Frank Baum worked at a newspaper in South Dakota and supported William Jennings Bryan  Many have found that there can be comparisons made between the story and the Populist movement

KANSAS IN THE LATE 1800S  Farmer discontent and Populist politics were concentrated in Kansas  Suffering from a drought—many farmers going through hard times  Farmers wanted the free coinage of silver to help them out of debt

DOROTHY’S KANSAS  Kansas is shown without color  Dorothy wants to get out (“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”)

OZ  Oz is bright and colorful  Oz = ounces

THE EMERALD CITY  Main political city of Oz represents Washington, D.C.  Green for $$$

CYCLONE Cyclones used in many Populist political cartoons Some pamphlets compared the depression of the 1890s to a cyclone

THE RUBY SLIPPERS Originally silver, changed to ruby because of color technology Symbolize the power of the silver movement

YELLOW BRICK ROAD  Represents the gold standard  Journey on road is dangerous— gold standard might not be wise

DOROTHY Represents common people From a Kansas farm Does not see the power of slippers at first

THE SCARECROW Represents farmers Farmers thought to be ignorant— looking for a brain

THE TIN MAN Industrial workers Wants a heart—dehumanized

THE COWARDLY LION Represents William Jennings Bryan—Populist leader who was a powerful speaker but had no real power Looking for courage—Bryan thought to be a coward by some

WICKED WITCH OF THE EAST Stands for wealthy people of the East favoring gold currency Symbolic of big businesses and corporation who also wanted gold standard Dorothy kills her—defeats people who wanted gold currency

WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST  Personification of harsh natural forces of west, such as the drought  Killed by water, just like drought

THE WIZARD OF OZ Represents leadership during the depression of the late 1890s Government seemed powerless, just like the Wizard had no real power