1. WESTWARD EXPANSION Causes and Effects

2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
SS.912.A.2.7 Review the Native American experience.
SS.912.A.3.1 Analyze the economic challenges to American farmers and farmers' responses to these challenges in the mid to late 1800s.

3. Westward Expansion Main Idea
The lives of the Plains Indians and American settlers were greatly changed due to the westward expansion of the United States

4. Source http://diazsocialstudies.org/ahistory_units_1.htm#UNIT7.1

5. Westward Expansion Manifest Destiny:
It's is Americas "God-Given" right to add and settle lands of America from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans

6. Manifest Destiny: “Go West Young Man”
Causes of Westward Expansion
Manifest Destiny: “Go West Young Man”
The west was viewed as the great untapped Frontier
Manifest Destiny – The belief that it was America’s mission to expand from ocean to ocean, spreading democracy and freedom
Americans believed it was their God-given duty to conquer the Western territories and unify the Nation

7. Westward Expansion
Great Plains Culture of the Native American Indians:
The buffalo and horse were the key things for their way of life or culture
Buffalo gave them food, clothing, shelter
Native Americans lived in family groups or clans.

8. Westward Expansion Gold and Silver:
Gold or silver was found in areas of Indian Reservations
New treaties were formed in order to get Indians out of those areas so new settlers could mine gold or silver

9. Causes of Westward Expansion
Gold Rush
1848 Gold Discovered in California
Thousands of Americans head West lured by the idea of becoming instant millionaires
West becomes the land of opportunity
Americans were on the move

10. Westward Expansion Homestead Act:
Gave 160 acres of free land to settlers who promised to work the land for 5 years
Opened up a massive expansion of settlers to the Great Plains and West

11. Causes of Westward Expansion
Homestead Act of 1862
The U.S. Government encouraged the settlement of the West
1862 Homestead Act – Millions of acres were given away free in the West to anyone that would claim land and live on it for 5 years
First come first serve basis
Other Public land was sold for $2.50 an acre

12. Westward Expansion Transcontinental Railroad:
Massive railroad to connect the entire country (Atlantic to Pacific) finished in 1869
Now settlers could go from NYC to California is as little as 6 days using the railroad

13. Causes of Westward Expansion
End of the Civil War
The end of the Civil War left the South without much of its resources
The South relied on the West to provide much of its food supply after the war
Many freed slaves moved out west in hope of a new life
Farmed the land
Worked as cowboys
Civil War veterans went to work on railroads or hunt buffalo

14. Transcontinental Railroad
Causes of Westward Expansion
Transcontinental Railroad
On May 10th, 1869, at Promontory Point, Utah, the “Golden Spike’ was driven into the ground uniting both the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads
1st railroad line connecting the East to the West
Travel time about 4-5 days from NY to California
Considered one of the greatest architectural achievements in American History
Nothing could stop Manifest Destiny

15. Effects of Westward Expansion
The Railroad’s Impact
Transportation of people and goods was quicker and cheaper
New era of interstate trade and commerce
1865 – it cost $3.45 to ship a barrel of flour from NY to Chicago
1890 it costs .68 cents
New jobs – Irish/Chinese
Westward Expansion – Safer/Quicker/Cheaper

16. Westward Expansion
During Westward Expansion, many battles were fought and Indian Territories were taken over by the United States

17. Tragic Indian/US issues and events
Massacre at Sand Creek
700 members of a Colorado Militia group attacked Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian villages
About 150 Indians were killed in the reservation

18. Effects of Westward Expansion
Native Americans
Westward expansion resulted in Native Americans:
losing their native homelands
changing their culture to accommodate teachings from white settlers
breaking up tribal communities
losing large numbers of their population

19. Tragic Indian Events Battle of Little Big Horn
Indians trapped US army Calvary and soldiers and slaughtered about 90 soldiers
Custer’s Last Stand

20. Tragic Indian Events Wounded Knee
US army slaughtered about 300 mostly unarmed Native Americans.

21. Destruction of the Buffalo
To make room for the railroads and settlements, massive amounts of Buffalo were slaughtered (90-95%)
This led to the end of the Indian culture of the Great Plains

22. Dawes Act of 1887
Congress passed this act as a way to get Indians to "Americanize" by breaking up reservations
Gave the land to individual Native Americans- breaking up their culture (family clans/tribes)
Land that did not go to Indians was sold to bring “Americans” into the area

23. Effects of Westward Expansion
American Farmers
Westward expansion resulted in Farmers:
Expanding their markets
Forming Alliances in order to address Railroad corruption and price-fixing
Becoming political and forming the People’s Party

24. Cattle Become Big Business
The Open Range
Cattle ranches dominated the Great Plains economy (cowboys, longhorns, and a growing demand for beef)
Cattle drives to railroad become important
End of the Open Range
Causes:
Overgrazing the land, many years of bad weather, and the invention of barbed wire.
Effects:
Ranchers turned to using smaller herds and better stock of cattle- more meat per animal
Barbed wire was used because it was cheap and protected their cattle

25. Effects of Westward Expansion
Social-Economic Impacts
Standardized Time:
Scheduling times for railroad stops was impossible as train strains all had different time based on the sun.
Standardized time was critical for the smoot operation of the railroads, so time zones were created.
Eminent Domain – 5th Amendment
Gov. can take any land as long as it is for the public good
Indian territory decimated
New buildings and structures create increased tax revenue
Blighted areas become economic goldmines

26. Settlers Meet the Challenges of the Plains
By 1890, there were more than 900 manufacturers of farm equipment.
Inventions led to a shift from hand labor to machine farming
Inventions include barbed wire, reaper, steel plow, steel windmill

27. Morrill Act of 1862 Gave land to help create agriculture colleges
Agricultural researchers led to the plains becoming the "breadbasket of the nation."

28. Additional Resources
Who is responsible for the Battle of Little Big Horn—gives primary source material
Crash Course on Westward Expansion, video about 13 minutes
The Real West, 4 videos about 9 minutes each
Manifest Destiny, 3 minute video
Building the Transcontinental Railroad 3 minute video
videos and articles on key figures
Trails of Tears, 26 minute video related to the removal of Indians
Indian Reservations 5 minute video
The American West video 5 minutes