1. America: Pathways to the Present
Chapter 14
Looking to the West
(1860–1900)
Sec 1
Moving West

2. Moving West What conditions lured people to migrate to the West?
Chapter 14, Section 1
What conditions lured people to migrate to the West?
Where did the western settlers come from?
How did the American frontier shift westward?

3. The Lure of the West
Chapter 14, Section 1
Push-pull factors-events/conditions that either force (push) people to move or strongly attract (pull) them to do so
“Push”
Civil War displaced thousands of farmers, former slaves, and other workers.
Eastern farmland too costly.
Failed entrepreneurs sought a second chance
Ethnic and religious repression caused people to seek freedom
Outlaws sought refuge.

4. “Pull” Factors Government Incentives
Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864
RR received public land and sold to settlers
Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862
States given land to create “land grant” schools
Homestead Act, 1862
For a small fee settlers could have 160 acres, eventually own after 5 yrs
Land speculators
Bought huge tracts of land to sell for a profit
Lure of Private Property
“Gold Rush”, wanting to own land, etc

5. Settlers From Far and Wide
Chapter 14, Section 1
Germans and Scandinavians farmed Great Plains
Wheat and dairy farmers
Irish, Italians, European Jews, and Chinese settled in concentrated communities on the West coast.
mining and railroad construction
After Civil War, thousands of African Americans rode or walked westward, often fleeing violence and exploitation.
Benjamin “Pap” Singleton led groups of southern blacks on a mass “Exodus,”
Exodusters
50,000+

6. Conflict with Native Americans
America: Pathways to the Present
Chapter 14
Looking to the West
(1860–1900)
Sec 2
Conflict with Native Americans

7. Conflict With Native Americans
Chapter 14, Section 2
What caused changes in the life of Plains Indians?
How did government policies and battlefield challenges affect the Indian wars?
What changes occurred in federal Indian policies by 1900?

8. The Life of the Plains Indians
Chapter 14, Section 2
Great Plains “Indians”
Encounters with whites dated back to fur traders 1700’s.
Trade buffalo hides for guns.
made hunting for buffalo easier.
Horse brought upheaval.
Warfare among Indians rose to new intensity
Many still farmers, hunters, gatherers.
Others nomads
Rise of warrior societies led to a decline in village life
raided more settled groups.

10. Indian Wars and Government Policy
Chapter 14, Section 2
Before the Civil War, Native Americans west of the Mississippi continued to inhabit their traditional lands.
Railroad and Gold rush brought more white settlers to region
views of land contrasted with Native American tradition.
felt justified in taking the land because they would use it more productively.
Natives viewed them as invaders.
Govt treaties tried to restrict movement of Natives
restricted them to reservations, federal lands set aside
Some federal agents negotiated honestly; others didn’t.
Many settlers ignored negotiations
stole land, killed buffalo, diverted water, and attacked camps.
Acts of violence on both sides set off cycles of revenge.

11. Contest for the Plains
Sand Creek Massacre 1864, Col. John Chivington led Colorado Volunteers in attack on Cheyenne and Arapaho
Indians told they would be safe on the reservation.
Nearly 200 Cheyenne men, women and children were slaughtered
corpses mutilated
1875- Gold discovered in Black Hills and govt. wanted to open up area to mining.
Black Hills promised to Native Americans in previous treaty
Indians led by Chief Sitting Bull and Chief Crazy Horse resisted
army was sent to place Indians on the reservation by force.
1876 US military met up with Sioux and Cheyenne at Big Horn Mts in Montana

12. Little Big Horn June 1876: “Custer’s Last Stand”
7th Cavalry Col. George Armstrong Custer ordered badly outnumbered troops to rush Indian camp
made a stand on a nearby ridge
Whole regiment destroyed.
Known as the Battle of Little Big Horn.
Custer and over 200 men under his command were killed

14. Reservation Policy
US govt repeatedly called on the army to force Indians onto reservations
Many refused to go
Sitting Bull escaped to Canada, where he stayed until 1881
Geronimo and 36 Indians held out against the Army (and 5000 soldiers) until 1886
Chief Joseph chased over 1000 miles over 4 months as he tried to escape to Canada

15. Reservation Policy
Last major conflict was in 1890 after some Sioux left the reservation in S Dakota
“Ghost Dance” scared US soldiers
Sitting Bull killed
Rest of Sioux try to surrender at Wounded Knee
Over 300 Sioux killed and left to die in freezing ground
Last major conflict of Indian Wars

16. Key Events in the Indian Wars, 1861-1890
Chapter 14, Section 2

17. Attempts to Change Native American Culture
Chapter 14, Section 2
Many believed that Native Americans needed to give up their traditions and culture
learn English, become Christians, adopt white dress/customs, farming and trades.
Assimilation, the process by which one society becomes a part of a more dominant society by adopting its culture.
In 1887 the Dawes Act divided reservation land into individual plots. Each family headed by a man received 160 acres.
Many Native Americans did not believe in individual property,
Did not want to farm the land.
Farming went against their notion of ecology.
Some had no experience in agriculture.
Between 1887 and 1932, 2/3 of this land became white owned.

18. The Opening of Indian Territory
Chapter 14, Section 2
55 Indian nations forced into Indian Territory
Still almost 2 million acres of unclaimed land
Congress agreed to buy out Indians
April 1889, thousands of homesteaders ready to claim land.
“Boomers”
Sooners- snuck past govt officials “sooner” than they should have and took the best land
Congress created Oklahoma Territory in 1890.
remainder of Indian Territory was open to settlement.
Americans finally conquer Indians after 50 years and many deaths