American West 1890s—A Pivotal Decade

John Mix Stanley 1814-1872

Frederick Jackson Turner “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” American Historical Association Chicago, July 12, 1893 “Frontier thesis”

American Frontier Thesis American Frontier not European Tradition Values Democracy Individualism Nationalism Expansion Development

End of Frontier Census of 1890 Frederick Jackson Turner Frontier gone Closed first period of American history Watershed of history

End of Frontier Native Americans Prior to 1850s Native Americans independent nations After 1850s annihilation of Native Americans Buffalo American policies Break up of tribal lands Reservations

End of Frontier The Cowboy Open-range stockman Homestead Act of 1862 Restricted public lands Fenced land Railroads

End of Frontier The Farmer Severe droughts Overproduction Low prices Sharp decrease in Western migration Scare timber Little water Agricultural technology

End of Frontier The Miner Dominant industry since 1849 Metal values decline Termination of federal purchases Mining technologies

End of Frontier Panic of 1893 Failure of Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Borrowed heavily for infrastructure Cut profits Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 repeal

End of Frontier National Economy National rather than sectional 16,000 business bankrupt (1893) Mining industry Lumber industry Industrialization of the West

End of Frontier National Politics Populists Rural unrest Against capitalist exploitation For federal regulation of industry Rural unrest Transportation Land Money

End of Frontier Socio-cultural Shifts Rise of urban centers West demographics More women and children Safe place of civilization and culture Romanticism becomes Realism

American Frontier McVeigh, Stephen. “The American West in the 1890s—a Pivotal Decade.” The American Western. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press, 2007. 1-12. Print.