1. Settling the Great Plains
Westward Movement

2. Settlers Move West to Farm
Western settlement made possible by two factors:
Transcontinental Railroad
Federal Land Policy

3. The Homestead Act
Homestead Act – Key piece of legislation in Western settlement. Offered settlers 160 Acres of land for a small fee:
Provide opportunity for Americans to farm their own land
Open new markets in the West
Had to improve land
Had to stay for 5 years
“Settle” the country
Many formers slaves take advantage of opportunity – “Exodusters”
Purpose:

5. Challenges for Homesteaders
Life West of the 98th Parallel is difficult
Droughts and storms are prevalent
Little material to build with
Sod Houses are the norm
Extreme isolation and loneliness 1

6. Challenges for Homesteaders
This stinks!
Despite new technologies such as:
Deeper wells
Deere’s steel plow
Barbed wire
Mechanical reapers
Homesteaders struggle.
Best lands are often grabbed by speculators or railroads
Women homesteaders faced incredible challenges and hard work as they attempted to carve out a life on the Plains.

7. Government Support
Government attempts to aid Homesteaders:
Increase size of plot from 160 to 640 acres in drier places
MORRILL LAND GRANT ACT – 1862, 1890 – Provides government land to establish agricultural colleges in US. Idea is to improve agricultural techniques. (NC State, NC A&T are examples)
Western population grows

8. The End of the Frontier
Frontier: Hard to define, but many see it as the “line” of American settlement across the continent.
1893, Historian Frederick Jackson Turner, presents “Frontier Thesis” – says that frontier is closed and the West settled, but the challenges of settling the country is what made Americans exceptional.

9. Farmers Struggle
Industry and urbanization grow continually in the East, by 1890’s, US industry is largest in the world
Agricultural innovation leads to overproduction and falling prices
Bonanza farms begin – farmers try to grow more and more of a crop to increase profits
Struggles between farmers and railroads increase, as farmers attempt to get products east

10. Click on the “Exodusters” image for National Park Service Lesson Plans on the Homestead Act3