1. The Final American Frontier

2. One Nation, Once Again  Southern states left embittered and devastated from the war-destruction of cities, farms, and railroads caused the South to be the poorest region after the Civil War.  The North and Midwest emerged with strong industrial economies that led the United States into the global economy in the 20 th century.  Land west of the Mississippi River offered new opportunities and settlers flooded into this region after the war.

3. Seeking New Opportunities ► After the Civil War, settlers including white southerners and African Americans began to move west seeking new opportunities to the region between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean.

4. Era of the American Cowboy ► After the Civil War, a growing demand for beef to feed people in eastern cities created a need to get cattle from west to east. ► Marked by long cattle drives, in which Cowboys herded cattle for hundreds of miles over unfenced open land in the West to take the cattle to market. ► When railroads reached the Great Plains, demand for the cowboy decreased because animals could be transported by rail (easier and faster).

5. Why did settlers move West? ► Homestead Act of 1862 ► A law that gave free public land (160 acres) in the Western territories to settlers who would live on and farm the land for 5 years ► Gave Southerners an opportunity to restart their lives after the Civil War. ► No confederate soldiers could apply for land grants ► The US government had distributed more than 270 million acres of land ► Railroads were awarded the best and most productive land.

6. How did settlers get West? ► Pacific Railway Act of 1862 ► Provided federal support for the building of the Transcontinental Railroad ► Between 1850-1871, 170 million acres of land was given to railroad companies in exchange for the construction of the transcontinental railroad ► Opened new lands in the west for settlement and linked resources (in West) and markets (in the North- East)

8. How did the Settlers Make a Living? ► Mechanical Reaper ► Invented by Cyrus McCormick ► Made farming profitable and increased productivity in the semiarid Midwest ► Transformed the Midwest into the breadbasket of the United States

9. How did Westward Migration Transform America? ► By the turn of the century (1900), the Great Plains and the Rock Mountain region of the American West were no longer a mostly unsettled frontier, but were fast becoming regions of farms, ranches and town.

10. What Effect did Westward Migration have on those already living in Western Territories? The forcible removal of American Indians from their lands would continue throughout the remainder of the 19 th century as settlers continued to move west following the Civil War Settlers targeted the buffalo for food, fur, and sport: 1800-65 million buffalo in North America 1890-1,000 buffalo in North America Native Americans on the Great Plains depended on buffalo, which provided hides (homes [tepees], clothing, shoes, blankets), food, and fuel.

11. Cultures Clash in the West ► Battle of Little Bighorn - Custer’s Last Stand (1876)  Native tribes led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse destroyed the U.S. 7 th Cavalry. ► Battle of Wounded Knee (1890)  Hundreds of Sioux men, women, and children were killed by the American army.  Final battle between Native Americans and American military.

12. Manifest Destiny Realized In 1860, 5 million white and African Americans lived west of the Mississippi River. In 1890, 18 million- included European immigrants. As the population moved westward, many new states in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains were added to the United States. By the early 20 th century all the states that make up the continental United States, from Atlantic to Pacific, were part of the United States.