1. Just because we can, should we?

2. Was Westward Expansion Justified?

3. Westward Expansion #1

4. Continental exploration and expansion increased greatly between 1800-1850.

5. Reasons for Expansion Trade Religion Riches (fortune and glory)
Railroad building
Farm land (cotton)
Land ownership
National pride and power

6. Manifest Destiny- American mission to include all land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in the United States.
meaning our “obvious or undeniable fate”.

7. Manifest Destiny

8. Transcontinental RR A RR that would span the continent
1862 Congress gave job to Union Pacific RR and Central Pacific RR
Completed in May, 1869-Promontory Point, Utah
Connected the east to west
Land Grants given by the Federal Government

10. rk
Completed by immigrant workers (Irish and Chinese)

12. Impact of RR
Standard Time-Time Zones

13. Impact of RR
Brought settlers to the frontier causing clashes with native Americans

14. Impact of RR
Brought supplies to the frontier-lumber, food, necessities
Linked the nation economically
Western cities provided raw materials (lumber, livestock)
East-manufactured goods-sold to westerners

15. Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
population:
,000
,000

16. “Gold Fever”
Boomtown –town with a sudden burst of economic activity or population growth.

17. Rush Ends Few became rich
By 1890s the mining boom was over ghost towns
But, Led to statehood for manyNevada, Colorado, etc.

18. Native Americans
The U.S. government continues to herd the Native Americans on to reservations-land set aside for Native American tribes

19. Importance of Buffalo
Plains tribes relied on Buffalo
Various uses

21. End of the Buffalo 60 million buffalo had once roamed the plains
Hired hunters killed them to feed RR crews and supply eastern factories with leather
By 1880 buffalo were dying out and Plains Native Americans were being forced onto reservations.
buffalo

22. Conflict Native American chiefs (Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse) resist.
Battle of Little Big Horn (1876)-Lt Col. George A. Custer is defeated and killed with all of his men by the Sioux and Cheyenne
book
battle of little bighorn

23. Surrender of the Native Americans
1877-Crazy Horse surrenders
Nez Perce Chief Joseph 1877-“I will fight no more, forever”
1881-Sitting Bull surrenders
Apache, Geronimo 1886-”Once I moved about like the wind. Now I surrender.”

24. I Will Fight No More Forever Surrender Speech by Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce
I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toohulhulsote is dead.
The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led the young men is dead. It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people,
some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food. No one knows
where they are--perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children
and see how many I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.

25. Wounded Knee 1890-Sioux gathering to perform a ghost dance ritual
White officials thought they were preparing for war
Dec, 29, 1890 at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, troops open fired
Killed more than 200 men, women, and children
Last armed conflict with Native Americans in the West

26. Dawes Act-1887 assimilate this Don't live that way. ...dress like me
...talk like me
...think like me
...learn like me
...worship like me.
In short, see the world as I do.
Assimliaton- a person or group’s language and culture begin to resemble those of another group

27. Dawes Act
A law that divided Native American land into private family plots. Much of the land was not suitable for farming.
It was designed to breakup the tribes and promote the assimilation of Indians into American Society.
Assimliaton- a person or group’s language and culture begin to resemble those of another group

28. Schools
Many Americans wanted to “civilize” the Native Americans by putting them into American schools and making them speak English.
They also wanted to convert them to Christianity.
Names were changed to “Americanize” the Native Americans
Little girls praying beside their beds, Phoenix Indian School, Arizona. Photographed by Messinger, June 1900.

29. Effect of the declining Buffalo
The great buffalo herds disappeared from the frontier making life difficult for Native Americans.
Many had to turn to the U.S. Government for assistance and ended up on reservations.

32. Farming
Farmers saw the Great Plains as an incredible opportunity

33. Homestead Act Signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1862
160 acres of land to live on and improve the land for 5 years
“Homesteaders”-those that took advantage of the Act
“Exodusters”-African Americans from the South who went westward to escape violence and poverty

34. By the time it was over, some four million settlers had filed claims to be allowed to receive the land, which covered 270 million acres in 30 states. This accounted for roughly ten percent of the landmass of the country /#ixzz3GP3arxOM Follow on Twitter

36. Farm Life Very difficult-harsh weather, lack of supplies
“sodbusters”-farmers used sod to build homes
Blizzards, fires, tornadoes, grasshoppers, drought
farm video
grasshoppers

37. Closing the Frontier
By 1890 fenced fields replaced what had once been the open frontier
By million people had lived between Mississippi and the Pacific Ocean-census bureau officially declared the frontier closed!

39. Crash Course U.S. History-Westward Expansion

40. Just because we can, should we?