Great American desert
Vast arid area in the west that included the great plains, the rocky mountains, and the western plateau. Soon it was overtaken by settlers
100th meridian
The great plains were west of this vertical line
Buffalo herds
Lived and fed on the Great Plains and were hunted by the natives for food, clothing, shelter, and tools.
Great Plains
West of the 100th meridian line and had few trees and received less than 15 inches of rain a year and had blizzards and hot dry summers and had bison
Mineral resources
The rushes for these gave many territories that ability to become states because of the sheer amount of people to head for the western riches
Mining frontier; boomtowns
Gold and silver rushes were the cause of these springing up, many became ghost towns after the gold or silver sources was exhausted and those that lasted were often run more like industrial cities than frontier towns. Often half the population were foreign
Chinese exclusion act of 1882
This was passed in congress because native born americans resented the competition. First act of congress to restrict immigration to the US Based on race. Prohibited further immigration to the states by Chinese laborers
Longhorns, vaqueros
A type of cattle that roamed the Great Plains.
Cattle drives
Since the construction of the railroad, this was easier to do. Many towns sprung up along the railroad to handle the millions of cattle brought by this
Barbed wire
Homesteaders used this to fence off their land which aided in the end of long cattle drives
Joseph Glidden
Inventor of barbed wire
Homestead Act
Offered 160 acres of land to any family that settled on it for 5 years
Dry farming
Deep plowing techniques to keep the moisture available and reliance on natural rainfall
Great Plains tribes
These nomadic tribes of natives including the Sioux, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, crow, and Comanche. Used horses to hunt the buffalo
Southwest tribes
Nomadic hunter-gatherers that farmed and produced art, included the Navajo and Apache
Federal treaty policies
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Causes of "Indian wars"
Over settlement of white settlers on Native American inhabited land caused tension and attempts to restrict the natives to plots of land and reserves failed as the natives refused to stay in and miners refused to stay out if there was gold
Little Big Horn
Natives led by sitting bull and crazy horse defeated custer's troops utterly here
Assimilationists
Reformers that advocated education, job training, and conversion to Christianity for the natives
Helen Hunt Jackson
Wrote the book "a Century of Dishonor" which created sympathizers but also assimilationist
Dawes Act of 1887
An act designed to break up tribal organization so that natives could become civilized. Families were distributed into 160 acre land plots
Ghost Dance Movement
Believed to bring prosperity bring back to the natives-a last ditch effort. The government tried to suppress the movement and killed more than 200 men women and children in the massacre of wounded knee
Indian Reorganization Act of 1934
Adopted by Franklin Roosevelt which promoted the re-establishment of tribes and cultures
Mexican War Aftermath
Spanish granted citizenship and granted property rights and Spanish culture was preserved. Often legal difficulties regarding land. Mexicans moved to work on the railroad or farms
Spanish-speaking areas
This is where Hispanic culture was preserved, in the New Mexico territories, the border towns, and the barrios of Cali
Migration for jobs
Many Mexicans did this so they could work in sugar beet fields, in Colorado mines, or on the western railroad construction
Deforestation
Excessive logging and cutting down trees in the west which many were made aware of and sparked conservationist movements
Yellowstone, Yosemite
Two national parks, or forest reserves
Department of Interior
Advocated creation of forest reserves and federal forest service to protect Federal lands from exploitation
Conservationists and preservationists
These believed in the scientific management and regulated use of natural resources. These tried to preserve natural areas from human interference
Forest Reserve Act of 1891
Withdrew federal timberlands from development and regulated use.
Forest Management Act of 1897
Also withdrew federal timberlands from development and regulated use of natural resources
"New South"
Efforts to rebuild the south were expressed in the textual industry, growth of cities, and improved railroads. The cities adapted to newer industries such as steel or lumber
John Muir, Sierra Club
A preservationist who was the leading found of this and aimed to preserve natural areas from human interference
Henry Grady
The editor of the Atlanta constitution. Spread the idea of the new south with newspapers. A visionary for a self sufficient southern economy built on modern capitalist values, industrial growth, and improved transportation.
Birmingham (steel)
An example of the south industrializing and becoming the "new south" in the cities and becoming self sufficient. Steel industry.
Memphis (lumber)
An example of the south industrializing and becoming the "new south" in the cities and becoming self sufficient. Lumber industry.
Richmond (tobacco)
An example of the south industrializing and becoming the "new south" in the cities and becoming self sufficient. Tobacco.
Integrated rail network
The south was added to the national rail network wishing promoted business. New south ideas
Agriculture's dominance
Sharecropping and farming remained the central point of southern culture which arguably kept many in poverty
Sharecropping; tenant farmers
Since few poor people had the education to learn a trade many were stuck farming land they didn't even own which kept them in a circulation of debt
George Washington Carver
An African American scientist at Tuskegee institute in Alabama promoted the growing of peanuts sweet potatoes and soybeans which helped to diversify agriculture
Tuskegee Institute
The scientific institute that african American George Washington carver came from who suggested diversifying crops
White supremacists
Advocates for policies segregating public facilities to treat african Americans as social inferiors
Civil Rights cases of 1883
Ruled that congress couldn't legislate against racial discrimination practiced by private citizens
Plessy v Ferguson
Established separate but equal as legal if it didn't violate equal protection under the laws
Jim Crow laws
A wave of segregation lass that required all public facilities to have separate washrooms, fountains, benches, and other facilities for blacks
Literacy tests; poll taxes; grandfather Clauses
Series of legal and political devices designed to prevent blacks from voting
White primaries; white juries
African Americans were not permitted on juries in some places
Lynch mobs
Mobs of white supremacists that killed more than 1400 men during the 1890s alone. "Mob justice"
Economic discrimination
Kept most African Americans out of skilled trades and even factory jobs and therefore couldn't learn skills to get them to the middle class and remained in farm work
African American migration
Bishop Henry Turner formed the International Migration Society to help blacks emigrate back to Africa if they so pleased
Ida B. Wells
Editor of Memphis free speech, an African American newspaper, this woman campaigned against lynching and the Jim Crow laws. Death threats and the destruction of her printing press forced her to continue working in the north
Booker T Washington
A former slave that graduated from Hampton institute in Virginia and established an industrial and agricultural school for African Americans. He said earning money and economically helping themselves would empower their Race and that advocate for rights were pointless. He also organized the national negro business league. Emphasized racial harmony
Economic cooperation
An emphasis of Booker t Washington that won praise from many whites but was too passive for many blacks and advocates for rights for all citizens
Crop price deflation
Occurred because of over production
Railroads and middlemen
These businesses that were serial to the marketing of produce for the farmers often charged what they wished because there was hardly any competition
National Grange movement
Organized by Oliver H Kelly as a social and educational organization for farmers and families. Within 5 years existed in almost every state to defend against middlemen
Cooperatives
Businesses owned and run by farmers to save the costs charged by the middlemen.
Granger laws
Got laws passed to regulate railroad and elevator rates. Made it illegal to fix rates in pools
Munn v Illinois
Upheld the right of a state to regulate business of a public nature, such as railroads
Wabash v Illinois
Said that individual state couldn't regular interstate commerce (nullified progress made by grangers)
Interstate Commerce Commission
The interstate commerce act created this which had the power to investigate and prosecute pools rebates and other discriminatory practices
Ocala Platform of 1890
A national alliance of farmers met to unite against bankers and big businesses
Role of cities, "natures metropolis"
Historian William Cronon argued that the frontier and cites grew together and supported each other in the beginning.
Frederick Jackson Turner, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History"
This mans view on the frontier as that it was an evolutionary process essential to Americas development and that it had all but dissapeared