The Completion of Manifest Destiny

Transforming the West After the Civil War the country again looked west To whom and why would the west appeal to many Americans at this point in history?

Industry Requires Raw Materials Industry needs ore – no longer is gold and silver the only things to mine New mining technology – water mining Very bad on the environment Needed to get the ore east to the plants The financial motive to build a Transcontinental Railroad

1st Transcontinental Railroad Built between 1862-69 Changed the coast to coast trip from Months to weeks This would unite America.

AMC – TV show about the Transcontinental Railroad

How does this picture represent this age in the middle United States?

The cowboy and Farmers of the west Larger urban populations east required more food The Cowboy moved the cattle to the trains and cowtowns Open range – there were no fences (branded cattle)

Homestead Act of 1862 Unrestricted settlement on public lands to settlers Requiring only residence, cultivation, and some improvement Any person who was head of a family or was age 21, a U.S. citizen was eligible. 160 acre plots

Sodbusters The settlers that moved to the mid-west often lived in homes like this. What is this house made of?

Frontier living http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/5317532

Rain follows the plow Railroads also encouraged farming in the west Rain follows the plow – belief the if you plowed the soil in an arid region rain would follow (Watch Out!!!!!!) High demand for grain back east Farmers bring an end to the cowboy Barbed wire – end of the open range

Questions Why would the government give away free land? Besides the US government who else has a great deal of land that it could sell cheap and still make a lot of money? What is a sooner?

The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889      The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 started at high noon on April 22, 1889, with an estimated 50,000 people lined up for their piece of the available two million acres.  The Unassigned Lands were considered some of the best unoccupied public land in the United States

Competition, Conflict & Change Miners hurt the farmers land and water Sheep hurt the grazing land for cattle Cows and sheep ate farmers crops Farmers fenced in open range which hurt cattle men Farmers rerouted water that would be used in mining Mining water contamination hurt livestock Cattle men rerouted water that would hurt others down stream. Many people would be killed over these issues

Transcontinental RR Questions What did the continental railroad signify? By the end of the Civil War where did the railroads end?  How does the government decide on how much to pay the companies building the railroads?  Besides money how else are the RR companies paid?  Did the RR companies use honest practices while building the RR? Explain Why did the US Govt. allow these practices What was the east to west RR company? Where did everything the plains Indians have come from?  How many Buffalo were on the plains before the railroads came to the Great Plains?  How would the mass hunting of the Buffalo be the beginning of the end for the last free Native Americans?  Who ended up being the labor force for the west to east RR company (Central Pacific) What was the great obstacle for the Central Pacific?