Aim: How did America close the western frontier? Do Now: a) Remember the Market Revolution: How do these inventions lead towards Westward Expansion? Homework: The Muscle That Built The Rail Reading and discussion questions.

Do Now: Remember the Market Revolution? How do these inventions lead towards Westward Expansion? Vulcanized Rubber Steamboats Telegraph Canals Railroad Sewing Machine Steel Plow

Homestead Acts The first Homestead Act was passed in 1841. The terms of this act allowed people to purchase 160 acres of Plains land at a very small price. In a bid to encourage more people to move from the overcrowded eastern states onto the Plains, the US government passed another Homestead Act in 1862 Under the terms of this Act, available Plains land (2.5 million acres) was divided into sections or homesteads of 160 acres. People could now claim 160 acres of land. The only requirement on their part was that they paid a small administration charge and built a house and lived on the land for at least 5 years. Anyone could lay claim to the land even foreign immigrants and former slaves. However, although 160 acres seemed like a vast amount of land, it was not enough to support a family if they wished to make a living from farming the land or raising livestock. It was thought that homesteaders ideally needed at least double that amount if they were to make an adequate living from the land. After 1875 when better farm machinery had been developed and larger amounts of land could be more easily ploughed, this was even more important. The government accepted the criticisms that 160 acres was not enough and passed a further act in 1877 called the Desert Land Act. This act allowed people to buy 640 acres of land in areas where there was little rainfall and irrigation schemes were needed to work the land. Although it was the intention of the act to provide individuals with the opportunity to make a new life for themselves, land speculators managed to acquire large amounts of land cheaply which they later sold at a great profit. They managed to get the land by getting their employees register for it.

Why did settlers move west? The Homestead Act – Free land up to 160 acres. Applicant must improve the land Homestead Application Proof of Improvements

Why did settlers move west? Exoduster – freed slaves moving west – post reconstruction for an economic opportunity.

Why did settlers move west? Bonanza Farms – Huge one crop farms, usually located close to the railroad.

Why did settlers move west? The Morill Act – set up schools to educate settlers about farming and surviving on the frontier.

Why did settlers move west? How successful was the government’s efforts to promote settlement of the Great Plains? What problems do you believe settlers would face with moving westward?

Dawes Act of 1887 Dawes Act- designed to assimilate Native Americans by cultivating in them the desire to own property and to farm. The Act was an attempt to Americanize the Native Americans by giving them 160-acre farms and American citizenship when they “civilized”. Until 1887 the United States’ policy was to gather Native Americans on reservations. The Dawes Act reversed the policy, dissolving community-owned tribal lands, giving the land to individual families and citizenship to those who accepted this land. Assimilation into American society rather than separation on reservations became the new policy of the United States’ government. The change in policy was in part due to violence between whites and those on reservations and the result of Helen Hunt Jackson’s A Century of Dishonor. The book depicted the treatment of the Native American’s through sorry stories of broken treaties, massacres, and forced movement to reservations. Unfortunately the Dawes Act created new problems, and the United States’ treatment of the native population continued as a blemish on the American nation as an example of American intolerance for those who are different. The Act failed, the land was poor and the Native Americans were not used to farming.

Problems Faced By Farmers Mining, Farming, and Ranching was difficult and hard work. Conflict with Native Americans who occupied the land led to the Indian Wars. Dawes Act passed in 1887, intended to “Americanize” Native Americans by distributing reservation land to individual ownership. The United States government wanted Native Americans to assimilate to American culture.

Closing Question What attempts were made by the United States Government to close the western frontier? Was the United States Government successful in closing the western frontier? Why or Why not?