Manifest Destiny: idea that the US was ordained to expand to the Pacific Ocean. Some proponents suggested we should absorb Canada, Mexico, and the nations of Central America and the Caribbean. The popular concept justified rapidly expanding white settlement throughout the mid to late 19th century. How does this painting represent the concept of Manifest Destiny?

Homestead Act (1862): Gave 160 acres to any citizen (intended) who was head of a household and would cultivate the land for five years; a lot of the land had been reserved for Native Americans through treaties. * Great Land Rush of 1889

Farming as Business Improved farming technologies: –Mechanical Reaper (Early Combine) –Barbed wire –Dry farming –Steel Plow –Windmills –Hybridization –Seed drills Led to Bonanza farms: –Specialized in a single cash crop –The rise of ‘agribusiness’.

New Technology Eases Farm Labor Reduced labor force needed for harvest. Allows farmers to maintain larger farms. Mechanized Reaper Keeps cattle from trampling crops and uses a minimal amount of lumber, which was scarce on the plains. Barbed Wire Allows cultivation of arid land by using drought-resistant crops and various techniques to minimize evaporation. Dry Farming Allows farmers to cut through dense, root-choked sod. Steel Plow Smoothes and levels ground for planting. Harrow Powers irrigation systems and pumps up ground water. Steel Windmill Cross-breeding of crop plants, which allows greater yields and uniformity. Hybridization Keeps cattle from trampling crops and uses a minimal amount of lumber, which was scarce on the plains. Improved Communication Array of multiple drills used to carve small trenches in the ground and feed seed into the soil. Grain Drill Farms controlled by large businesses, managed by professionals, raised massive quantities of a single cash crop. Bonanza Farm

Farming Technologies and Innovations

Bonanza Farms 10,000 acre farms Wheat boom of the 1880s Population in Dakotas tripled Overproduction, high investment costs, droughts, and reliance on one-crop agriculture brought an end to the boom 1890 prices fell, some lost everything

Morrill Land Grant Acts- created agricultural colleges to educate farmers. Able to farm the dry, tough plains; became “breadbasket” of US Government Help