1. THE GREAT WEST & THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION Chapter 26 American Pageant, 13 th ed.

2. America moves West Army troops met formidable resistance by Native Americans 20% of U.S. soldiers were African American (buffalo soldiers) After Civil War Americans moved to the West Encountered Native Americans & buffalo Within 30 years, this landscape would change Between 1860 & 1890 Indians were sent to small reservations laden with empty promises

3. Hostilities increase 1864- Sand Creek, CO U.S troops attack Indian camp, kill 400 1866- Sioux ambush US Calvary in MT, killing all; one of the few Indian victories (whites abandon region temporarily) 1868- Ft. Laramie Agreement guarantees new reservation to Sioux 1874- gold discovered in Black Hills of North Dakota, white settlers swarm to region that was part of Sioux land and Indians took to the warpath 1876- Gen. George Custer attacks Indian force on Little Bighorn River (MT), superior Indian force wipes out all of Custer’s troops

4. Hostilities decrease  Many people sympathized with Native Americans  Most just wanted white assimilation  Disease, the railroad, extermination of buffalo and firewater all ended native resistance

5. Forced assimilation  1887 Dawes Severalty Act  dissolved tribes as legal entities  wiped out tribal ownership of land  provided families 160 acres of land  citizenship in 25 years if behaved  Reservation land not allotted was sold to settlers; proceeds used for education  Tried to make farmers out of Indians, ignored tradition of tribally held lands  Forced assimilation was Indian policy for 50 years

6. Mining Westward  Mining’s first great boom  Discovery, population boom, communities form  Gold and silver discoveries across West (CA, CO, ID, MT, NV)  Boomtowns emerged, much crime & chaos  Federal government supported large mining operations- provided inexpensive land, approved patents, provided RR land to move out ore  Mining boom helped fuel industrial growth  Caused conflict with Native Americans

7. Farming Westward  Homestead Act 1862  allowed settlers to acquire 160 acres of land by living on it for 5 years & making improvements  Public land given away to fill it up, provide a family farm (500,000 people took advantage)  More families than that bought land from railroads& land companies  Land speculators took advantage of system to grab up best land  Railroads tempted immigrants with cheap land  Higher wheat prices, iron plows made marginal land more attractive  However…  160 acres inadequate to make a living; yields low  Drought persistent problem, farming techniques led to “Dust Bowl” of the 1930’s

8. Moving Westward  Cities in the West served as a safety valve for defunct miners & farmers  “Oh shucks, I lost my farm. I’ll just move West.”  Good in theory, but an expensive venture  Some large-scale farms emerge  Tied to industry, reliant on one another  Farming becomes mechanized and agribusiness appeared

9. Failing farms  Reasons for failing farms  Tenant farmers  Operated at a loss  Farmers overproduced driving prices down  Government over assessed their land for taxes  Corporations supplied farm equipment, seed, fertilizer; controlled prices  Grain storage operators and railroads charged high fees  Nature conspired against farmers- grasshoppers, floods, drought  In the South the boll weevil wreaked havoc on the cotton crop in the 1890’s  Farmers were slow to organize; individualistic & independent, not well educated  The first major farmer’s organization was the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry (The Grange)  Established cooperatively owned stores, grain elevators and warehouses  Entered politics to control grain, freight prices, had biggest success in Upper Midwest

10. Populist Party  Late 1870’s Farmers’ Alliance established in Texas  Grassroots movement  By 1890 over 1 million members  Organized to break control of RR’s through cooperative buying and selling  Ignored plight of tenant farmers, excluded blacks  Racial division kept farmers from working together  Blacks formed Colored Farmers’ National Alliance  Populist Party arose as the direct successor to the Farmer’s Alliance  Populist party’s presidential candidate in 1892 was James B. Weaver  Influential Populist leaders were James B. Weaver, Mary Lease, Ignatius Donnelley, and William “Coin” Harvey  In a bid to win labor’s support, the Populist Party opposed injunctions against labor strikes

11. Populist Party Cartoon 1892

12. Jacob Coxey  Panic of1893 strengthened Populists’ position; depression loomed  Armies of unemployed began marching to protest plight of labors & farmers  Coxey’s “army” marched on Washington D.C., to demand that the government relieve unemployment with a public works program

13. Election of 1896  William “hard money” McKinley (R-Ohio) vs. William Jennings Bryan (D- Neb)  A “monetary” battle: gold standard or silver standard; Populists back silver  A Republican victory  McKinley was a “trust” man, for big business and big money  Gold Standard Act of 1900 allowed paper currency to be redeemed freely in gold, victory for conservatives

14.  Adams, L. (2010). Retrieved on January 10, 2011 from http://lisaacademy.org/webshare/social%20studies/dean/APUSH/The%20Great%20West%20and%20the%20Agricultural %20Revolution.ppt. http://lisaacademy.org/webshare/social%20studies/dean/APUSH/The%20Great%20West%20and%20the%20Agricultural %20Revolution.ppt  [Image of Helen Hunt book]. (20110. Retrieved on January 10, 2011 from http://booksxyz.com/profile1791691.phphttp://booksxyz.com/profile1791691.php  [Image of Indian land for sale]/ (20100). Retrieved on January 10, 2011 from http://www.virginiawestern.edu/faculty/vwhansd/his122/Images/Indian%20Land.jpg  [Image of William McKinley]. (2011). Retrieved on January 11, 2011 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/williammckinley http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/williammckinley