Review for Social Studies Unit 3 Nebraska Settlement and Displacement

Sod Houses One of the first things pioneers had to do when they arrived on the prairie was to build their home. There were few trees on the prairie, so pioneers had to use the resources that were available to them. Sod houses or dugouts were the houses of choice.

The Homestead Act FREE LAND A law called The Homestead Act gave away land in Nebraska and other places in the west. You could get 160 acres of free land. You just had to be 21 years of age, live on the land for 5 years, build a house and make improvements to the land, and pay a small filing fee.

One Room Schoolhouses If you were a farm child in early Nebraska, you might have gone to school for three months in the spring and three months in the fall. Not every child had time to go to school. Chores and farm work came first because your family’s survival depended on it. There was one teacher for the whole school. He or she often lived with a family in the area.

Nebraska Becomes a Territory Free or Slave? People in the United States were concerned about Nebraska becoming a territory. Why? The main issue was slavery. Many people thought it was not right for white people to own black people and make them work in horrible conditions. Others wanted the practice of slavery to continue. Both sides wanted new states to take their side. The slavery issue in Nebraska had to be solved before the government would consider making a new territory.

Railroad Influences The railroad changed the way many people traveled. People could travel by train during the day and night, in any kind of weather, all year round. They could travel faster, farther, and carry more with them in the baggage cars. People could also ship goods to the West. The United States wanted to make Nebraska a territory so that railroads and settlers could use the land.

The Underground Railroad Life was so cruel and hard for slaves. Some free blacks and whites joined together to help slaves escape to freedom. They called themselves conductors, and they set up a system of safe houses and hiding places called The Underground Railroad. It was not really a railroad, and it was not underground. It was a secret system to help slaves escape. The journey was not easy. Slaves had to travel mostly at night so they would not be seen. They used the moon and stars to find their way.

Steamboats and River Towns Getting people to the territory would be easier with better transportation. Once settlers were here, they needed to be able to ship things to other places. That would help businesses make money and grow. About the time Nebraska became a territory, steamboats began making regular visits to the river cities. The large boats brought travelers, business people, and new settlers to the territory. The boats carried tons of supplies to the growing towns along the Missouri River. They also carried supplies from Nebraska to other places in the West.

Daniel Freeman The Homestead Act made land available on January 1, But that was also New Year’s Day- a holiday! The land offices were not supposed to open until the next day, so people would have to wait to put in their claims. Daniel Freeman wanted to homestead in the West. He was a soldier on his way to fight in the Civil War. He stayed in Nebraska just long enough to claim the first homestead. Then he went off to war. His was the first homestead in Nebraska.

Solomon Butcher How do we know what life was like for homesteaders? A lot of what we know comes from looking at photographs. Solomon Butcher spent most of his life taking pictures of homesteaders. He loved to take photographs, but that was no easy job in early Nebraska! Cameras then were big, heave, black boxes on tall legs. Butcher had to cover his head and camera with black cloth to keep out light. The camera used heavy glass plates instead of film.

Life for the Pioneers Thousands of people homesteaded because they wanted a better life. Some people found that life. They were happy to have their own land and their own home. They found homesteading to be quite an adventure. They had to be very self-sufficient. They had to make and grow their own food, soap, clothing, candles etc.

Life on the Reservation for Native Americans As more and more settlers moved to the plains. Native Americans were forced off their lands and their way of life began to change rapidly. Many tribes were forcibly moved to reservations.

2 Tribes move to Nebraska The Winnebago and Santee moved to Nebraska. More and more settlers were moving to their lands. Life was hard on the reservations. Many people died from starvation and diseases.

Red Cloud Red Cloud was a famous Native American. He went with his first war party when he was 16 and came back a hero. Red Cloud kept the peace and remained friendly to whites. He was highly respected leader of the Lakota Sioux. Some people say he is the only Indian leader to have won a war against the US government.

The Trail of Tears The Ponca had lived near the Niobrara River for many years. But they found they had to move to Oklahoma about the same time as the Pawnee. They did not want to go. Many of them had to walk all the way, and the weather was very bad. The Ponca had a few horses and almost nothing to eat as they trudged through the muddy or frozen trails. along the way and at the new place., many people died. Their sad journey was sometimes called the “Trail of Tears.

Boarding Schools Indian children from all over were sent to boarding schools to learn the ways of the white man. The students learned to speak, read, and write English. They also learned a trade. Some worked on the dairy farm or in the horse barns. Some learned to make things, such as harnesses or clothes. Their way of life changed dramatically.

Gold in the Black Hills By treaty the sacred Black Hills of South Dakota belonged to the Sioux. But all of that changed when General George Armstrong Custer of the U.S. Army led his men into the Black Hills. He may have been there by accident, or he may have gone there to see what the area looked like, but what he found was gold. Word spread quickly and gold fever spread. Gold seekers had no right to go to the hills, and that led to many wars.

Pony Express One freight compnay started a system to carry mail on horseback. Pony Express riders delivered mail from station to station across the West. Pony Express riders had to be young, lightweight, and very tough. They rode fast for 50 to 100 miles each day. That meant a letter went from coast to coast in about two weeks.

Reservation Life The government thought it found a way to help the farming tribes, and, at the same time, make more land available to settlers. Government leaders wrote more treaties and made reservations for the tribes. A reservation was a small area of land, usually just for one tribe. Life was very hard on these early reservations because their whole way of life have changed. They had no way to earn money, and no training on how to live the new life they had been forced into.