The Great West & the Agricultural Revolution

The Great West & the Agricultural Revolution

"Up to our own day American history has been in a large degree the history of the colonization of the Great West. The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward, explain American development." Frederick Jackson Turner 1893

Expansion West How did the federal government encourage westward expansion? 1) Transcontinental RR (underlying fed. subsidies) - Built by the Irish and Chinese; finished in 1869 2) Homestead Act (1862) - 160a/5yrs/$30 500k ppl Many problems w/ land ⅔ abandon As a result: Larger numbers of migrants moved to the West in search of land and economic opportunity, frequently provoking competition and violent conflict

Expansion West Why did migrants move to rural and boom town areas of the West? 1. To gain independence + self-sufficiency - Safety-Valve Theory 2. For economic opportunities - Railroad construction, farming, mining, ranching As a result: Larger numbers of migrants moved to the West in search of land and economic opportunity, frequently provoking competition and violent conflict

Land Grants to Railroads, 1850-1890

Gold + Silver!!!! Forty-niners head out to California Pike s Peak, Colorado Comstock Lode (1859): $340m in gold (Nevada) Mining evolves into a corporate enterprise

Farming out West Starting in the 1880 s, farmers took advantage of nutrient rich soil despite lack of rain by rerouting irrigation for 45m acres of land Mechanization innovations: - The Combine - Bonanza Farms Challenges: 1. One-crop economy 2. 80 s = fall in grain prices 3. Owning land renting land - Grasshoppers/Locusts

1870s-1890s Cattle march from Texas to Omaha/Chicago

Farmers Organize The Grange (1867): - First major social organization of farmers that provided an advocacy outlet and union-type of political power - As financial problems grew, set up cooperatives + became a political organization that challenged the RRs - 1875: 800,000 members Prelude to Populist Party Got Congress to pass Granger Laws to regulate the RR (rates + fees charged by RRs and operators of warehouses and grain elevators)

When the banker says he s broke And the merchant s up in smoke, They forget that it s the farmer Who feeds them all. It would put them to the test If the farmer took a rest; Then they d know that it s the farmer Who feed them all.

Farmers Alliance, (1878) South + Midwest + Colored Alliances Wanted to end the crop lien system - Re: basis of commercialization of southern agriculture - LOC to struggling farmer impossible to get out of that debt = landless tenant farmers + sharecropping Moved into the political realm in the 1890s under the Populist Party - Controlled 8 state legislatures + had 47 representatives in Congress in 1890s

It makes little difference where one opens the record of the history of the Indians; every page and every year has its dark stain. The story of one tribe is the story of all and the United States government breaks promises now as deftly as then, and with added ingenuity from long practice. Helen Hunt Jackson 1881

Native Life in Danger: Context What were the impacts of the aforementioned expansion on Natives? Relocation of Natives Bureau of Indian Affairs (est. 1824) - Temporary to civilize/christianize Indian Removal Act (1830) Natives pushed further and further West - Plains Indians, predominantly hunting buffalo in wide open land Native American Territory, 1890

Origins of the Reservation System Ft. Atkinson Treaty (1853) - Promise to Natives of food, freedom, and clothing on reservation land - Poor provisions + corrupt fed. agents ***Misunderstandings in these treaties*** - National ties extended only to family - Americans don t understand the nomadic lifestyle of a nation

Origins of the Reservation System Treaty of Medicine Lodge (1867) Set boundaries for southern plains tribes, but government failed to supply them as promised, so Indians resumed hunting war broke out General Sheridan destroyed villages 72 leaders imprisoned and subjected to experimental civilization by immersion program Ghost Dance movement crushed at Wounded Knee

Origins of the Reservation System Ft. Laramie Treaty (1868) Set aside distinct land for each of the major northern tribes: Sioux, Arapaho, Comanche, and others) 1) Tribes will not attack settlers moving West 2) Railroads/roads may be built in/through 3) Military forts may be built in 4) Each tribe $50,000 for next 50yrs

Dawes Act (1887) Purpose: to assimilate Native Americans into American society ( make them American ; eliminate their culture) --- citizenship after 25yrs Provisions: - Native tribes were dissolved as legal entities Wiped out tribal ownership of land Heads of families would receive 160a of land IMPACT: Native way of life is completed changed 1) Many children are sent to boarding schools 2) Hunting Farming 3) Most land = lost

Battle of Little Bighorn Montana (1876): Custer s Last Stand - Lt. Col. George Custer mistakenly led men into attack against larger Native force - Investigating the presence of gold...

The Ghost Dance & Wounded Knee Ghost Dance: A religious movement by Native Americans - hoped to see the return of the buffalo and the elimination of whites Settlers became afraid of the movement; US gov t orders end Wounded Knee, South Dakota (1890) - One of the last violent conflicts between Natives-US - ~300 Lakota killed, many women + children :(

Re: Politics in the Gilded Age

Panic of 1873 Financial crisis that triggered a depression, resulting in deflation under Pres. Grant Farmers + miners: wanted inflation introduce silver to achieve that - Conservatives, afraid of inflation, instituted deflationary policies (Bland-Allison Act of 1873) actually making the situation worse Money Issue Biggest Political Issue Moving Forward - Greenback Labor Party + Populist Party = to increase money supply - Election of 1896 would prove boiling point

Panic of 1873 One of the longest protracted economic downturns in US history; will affect laborers and their unionization moving forward Causes: - Overproduction of RR s, mines, factories, etc. - Bankers made too many risky loans Effects: Debate over hard currency vs. greenbacks - Debtors wanted greenbacks. Why? Paper $, inflation decreased value - Lenders wanted hard currency. Why? Hard $, not affected by inflation, increased value VS

Politics of the Gilded Age Parties Party differences blur and loyalties are determined by region, religion, and ethnicity; voter turnout high. Pro-business Opposed to economic reform/radicalism Sound currency for status quo of financial system Government Tended to do very little while the House was dominated by the Democrats and the Senate dominated by the Republicans. Republican Splinters Stalwarts: believed in patronage Halfbreeds: wanted civil service reform Mugwumps: voted Democrat in 1884...

Populist Party Omaha Platform (1892) written by Ignatius Donnelly (Congress 3x) - Free and unlimited coinage of silver (at ratio of 16/1 - to stimulate inflation) Context: Gold Standard (1873): amount of money in circulation is limited by the amount of gold held in the treasury deflation crop $ decrease - Graduated income tax (to redistribute wealth) Nationalize (of the telephone/telegraph, RR) Initiative, referendum, recall Postal savings banks (safe repository run by gov t) Direct election of senators Subtreasury plan not included; had been defeated Kansas should raise less corn, more hell Legacy = Failure Populism failed as a 3rd party cause but had a political influence for 25 years beyond the 1896 election.

Populist Party Omaha Platform (1892) written by Ignatius Donnelly (Congress 3x) - Free and unlimited coinage of silver (at ratio of 16/1 - to stimulate inflation) Context: Gold Standard (1873): amount of money in circulation is limited by the amount of gold held in the treasury deflation crop $ decrease - Graduated income tax (to redistribute wealth) Nationalize (of the telephone/telegraph, RR) Initiative, referendum, recall Postal savings banks (safe repository run by gov t) Direct election of senators Subtreasury plan not included; had been defeated Kansas should raise less corn, more hell Legacy = Failure Populism failed as a 3rd party cause but had a political influence for 25 years beyond the 1896 election.

Populist Ideas A memory aid Fried Free unlimited coinage of silver Green Graduated income tax Gummy Government ownership of RRs bears Invade Initiative Really Really Dorky Silly People Referendum Recall Direct election of Senators Subtreasury plan Postal savings banks

Panic of 1893 An economic depression (worst in century) under President Cleveland Causes: - Stock-market crash + over-speculation + overproduction + no money supply - Free Silver agitation damaged US credit abroad called in loans, withdrew their capital Results: - 20% unemployment in 93-94 winter; 8,000 businesses collapsed Federal budget deficit Gold reserves fell below $100m, regarded as safe minimum of $350 in curr. Pres. Cleveland repeals the Sherman Silver Act (1890) - Increase tariffs (what East wanted) + doubled silver (what West wanted)

Election of 1896 Battle over gold and silver Republican - William McKinley (Gold) - Ohio Civil War vet; Longtime member of Congress McKinley gains votes from industrial workers Democrat - William Jennings Bryan (Silver) - Boy orator of the Platte ; Nominated 3x for Pres. Populists split over support for Bryan You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!

Populism s Legacy If the populists lost, was it still considered a success? Failure: Gold Standard Act (1900): Confirmed the nation s commitment to the gold standard Success: 16th Amendment (1913): graduated income tax 17th Amendment (1913): direct election of senators Initiative & Referendum (Progressive Era, state by state) Australian Ballot (1892, state by state)

In Review!!...