Download DOCUMENT #1 Native Americans After the Civil War, many

DOCUMENT #1 Native Americans
After the Civil War, many Americans turned their energies to the daunting task of settling the final Western Frontier. This
enormous, dry land included the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the Western Plateau. Before 1860 these lands
between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Coast were known as the “Great American Desert” by pioneers passing
through on the way to the green valleys of Oregon and the goldfields of California. The plains had few trees and usually
less than 15 inches of rainfall a year, which was not considered enough moisture to support farming. While the winter
blizzards and hot, dry summers discouraged settlement, the open grasslands of the plains supported an estimated 15
million bison or buffalo. The buffalo in turn provided food, shelter and even tools for many of the 250,000 Native
Americans living in the West. Many settlers were attracted by the promise of free and cheap land.
“I am very convinced that a keeping up a system of large Indian reservations must eventually result in the destruction of
the red man…It is only a question of time…What can and should we do to make the Indians follow the traditions and habits
of civilized life, by work and education; to get them to appreciate property…Can Indians be civilized? We are often told that
Indians will not work. True, it is difficult to make them work as long as they live on hunting. But they will work when their
living depends on it…When the Indians are individual owners of property, and as individuals they get the protection of the
laws; their tribe structure will disappear. They will have taken steps in the direction of the ‘white man’s way’…” Sec. of
Interior Carl Schurz, 1881
“Unless the Indians are removed some distance from their village, their tribunal organization broken up, and they are kept
from being able to do dances and ceremonies by scattering them out on farms – it will be, in my judgment, impossible to
civilize and make them self supporting.” –An agent in the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Migration, conflict, and cultural shifts were common to arid Western Native American tribes. Nomadic culture of the Plains
Indians was utterly alien to the concept of living out one’s life in the confinement of a defined territory.
U.S. Treatment of Native Americans
(1) Native Americans were forced off land and moved West in the early 19th century.
(2) Indian Removal Acts of the 1830’s (President Jackson) forced Native Americans off of their land and
thousands died…this became known as the Trail of Tears.
(3) 1850-1890: Several Indian Wars – thousands of Native Americans killed.
(4) The buffalo, which Native Americans depended on for food, clothing and shelter, were slaughtered by whites
that wanted to build railroads.
(6) Native Americans were forced on reservations (small areas of land).
(7) Thousands of Native Americans were killed by the weapon technology of the whites.
Dawes Act (1887)
(a) The head of each Indian family can have 160 acres of reservation land to own.
(b) Indians can become U.S. citizens if they farm the land for 25 years and take up white settlers’ ways.
(c) Native Americans had some problems with this:
 Native Americans believed a group should own land, not one person.
 Reservation land was not fertile and could not be used for farming.
 Native Americans did no have tools to farm with.
 Many Native Americans did not know how to farm, they were mostly hunters.
Assimilating Native Americans (Americanization of Native Americans)
Many government officials and most reformers viewed assimilation, or the cultural absorption –
becoming alike, of Native Americans into “white America” as the only long-term way of ensuring that
Native Americans would survive. The federal government urged Native Americans to become
farmers and to move out of their dwellings and live in wooden houses. The government passed
laws to force Native Americans to abandon their traditional appearance and to dress like
“Americans.” One law even ordered Indian men to cut off their long hair. Another law made Native
American religious practices illegal. To speed up assimilation, the government also set up a system
of Native American schools, to teach them the “American way.” Reformers persuaded Congress to
abandon the practice of dealing with Native American tribes as separate nations. The Dawes Act was designed to break
up the tribal organizations, which many felt had kept Native Americans from becoming “civilized” and law abiding citizens.
In 1887, Native Americans had 139 million acres of land in the West, fifty years later the number of acres dropped to 47
million. Most of the land previously owned by the Native American tribes had been sold to white settlers, farmers and
businessmen.
DOCUMENT #3 Chinese Exclusion Act
Chinese immigrants helped build the west when they came to the West coast during the Gold Rush. Most of them
built small cities in tightly knit communities called “China towns.” Here they opened Chinese restaurants,
laundromats, and other businesses. They also helped build the transcontinental railroad from California to New York.
Even though the Chinese contributed to the U.S., European miners were angered that the Chinese were getting
mining permits and finding gold that, in their minds, was rightfully theirs. The California government passed a law that
required all miners who were not U.S. citizens to pay three dollars per month in taxes. Because Chinese workers
were not qualified for U.S. citizenship, more of them had to pay this tax than members of any other immigrant group.
Chinese people spoke a different language and had a different religion (Buddhism). Many of the men who came had
long hair and ponytails, and most people judged them for their language, their religion, and the kind of food they ate.
As the economy suffered during the 1870’s, labor union leaders and gangs attacked Chinese immigrants, for working
for lower pay and taking away jobs from white Americans. Some would kill Chinese people accusing them of taking
their jobs. Labor leaders and politicians also claimed that Chinese would work for lower wages as a way to win votes
Unemployment was high on the west coast of America. Many Americans felt that Chinese immigrants were taking
away their jobs. In 1882, President Chester A. Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which stopped Chinese
immigration for 10 years and did not allow Chinese to become U.S. citizens. The act was renewed in 1892 for
another ten years, and in 1902, Chinese immigration was made permanently illegal. It was not until 1943 that the law
was repealed (gotten rid of). Despite all of these issues, Chinese immigrants continue to come to this country and
make many valuable contributions as American citizens: “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the expiration of ninety days next after
the passage of this act, and until the expiration of ten years next after the passage of this act, the coming of Chinese
laborers to the United States be, and the same is hereby, suspended; and during such suspension it shall not be
lawful for any Chinese laborer to come, or, having so come after the expiration of said ninety days, to remain within
the United States.” Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882
Nearly 200,000 Chinese were legally contracted to cultivate
California fields, until the Chinese Exclusion Act. Then it was
the Japanese who replaced the Chinese as field hands. After
the Gold Rush of 1849, the Chinese were drawn to the West
Coast as a center of economic opportunity where, for example,
they helped build the first transcontinental railroad by working
on the Central Pacific from 1864 to 1869. The Chinese
Exclusion Act foreshadowed the immigration-restriction acts of
the 1920s, culminating in the National Origins Act of 1929,
which capped overall immigration to the United States at 150,000 per year and barred Asian immigration. The law
was repealed by the Magnuson Act in 1943 during World War II, when China was an ally in the war against imperial
Japan. Nevertheless, the 1943 act still allowed only 105 Chinese immigrants per year, reflecting persisting prejudice
against the Chinese in American immigration policy. It was not until the Immigration Act of 1965, which eliminated
previous national-origins policy, that large-scale Chinese immigration to the United States was allowed to begin again
after a hiatus of over 80 years.
A new political party called the Working Man Party was created to promote anti-immigrant nativism. The
"Workingmen's Address," published in 1878, Dennis Kearney of the Workingman's Party of California appeals to
racist arguments against Chinese immigrants. After excoriating the fraud, corruption, and monopolization of land by
the "moneyed men" of the Gilded Age, Kearney claims that the Chinese are being "imported" as a source cheap
labor, thus depriving native-born workers of jobs. He refers to the unfamiliar dress, eating habits, and living
arrangements of the Chinese as evidence that they are little more than "cheap working slaves" whose effect is to
"further widen the breach between rich and poor, and still further degrade white labor." "California must be all
American or all Chinese," Kearney asserts in conclusion. Such sentiments would lead to the Chinese Exclusion Act,
passed by Congress in 1882, which effectively ended emigration from China until well into the twentieth century.
“Do not believe those who call us savages, rioters, incendiaries, and outlaws. We seek our ends calmly, rationally, at the ballot box. So
far good order has marked all our proceedings. But, we know how false, how inhuman, our adversaries are. We know that if gold, if
fraud, if force can defeat us, they will all be used. And we have resolved that they shall not defeat us. We shall arm. We shall meet
fraud and falsehood with defiance, and force with force, if need be.”
DOCUMENT #2 Homestead Act of 1862
This act granted 160-acre farm to any American citizen or prospective citizen willing to live in the Great Plains and work on
the land for five years. With the Homestead Act of 1862, a settler could claim as much as 160 acres (a quarter section) on
the condition that he (occasionally she) lived on the land for five years, improved it, and paid a fee of $30. Some 40,000
families took advantage of this offer. In fact, pioneers developed some 430 million acres between 1870 and 1900. Before
this act public land was sold primarily for revenue; now it was to be given away to encourage a rapid filling of empty
spaces and to provide a stimulus to the family farm – “the backbone of democracy.” No less difficult, though less colorful
and poetic, were the lives of the settlers. Alternatively, land could be bought after only six months’ residence at $1.25 per
acre. Before the Homestead Act, government land was sold for revenue. After the Homestead Act, public land was literally
given away to encourage settlement of the frontier with family farms, considered the mainstay of democracy. Western
settlement would also create new markets for eastern manufactured goods. By 1865, 20,000 pioneers had migrated west
to stake a claim and carve a life from the wilderness. In the next 40 years, half a million more families became
homesteaders. During that same time, however, over two million families purchased land from the railroads, land
companies, or state governments. Homesteading was difficult since 160 acres on the dry plains were often not enough to
support a family. The land was cheap, but livestock, equipment, and seed were expensive. It took a minimum of $1,000 to
get started homesteading, which was a lot of money at the time.
Promised Land?
The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed a settler to acquire as much as 160 acres of land by living on it for 5 years, improving
it, and paying a nominal fee of about $30. Instead of public land being sold primarily for revenue, it was now being given
away to encourage a rapid filling of empty spaces and to provide a stimulus to the family farm. The Homestead Act turned
out to be a cruel hoax because the land given to the settlers usually had terrible soil and the weather included no
precipitation. Many homesteaders were forced to give their homesteads back to the government. There were many
unsuccessful gambles like the one s that inspired this folk song in Oklahoma:
Hurrah for Greer County! The land of the free,
The land of the bedbug, grasshopper, and flea;
I’ll sing of its praises, I’ll tell of its fame,
While starving to death on my government claim.
After the devastating 6-year drought in the West in the 1880s had destroyed farmers' crops, "dry farming" took root on the
plains. Its methods of frequent shallow cultivation were adapted to the dry western environment, but over time it depleted
and dried the soil. As farmers became more knowledgeable about raising crops in the severe conditions of the plains, they
abandoned water-hungry crops such as corn and beans in favor of drought-resistant grains such as sorghum and wheat.
Once wheat was introduced to the West, it flourished. Transportation to haul produce to market was expensive, and
interest rates on loans and mortgages were high. Special plows and new machinery such as threshers and hay mowers all
allowed a farmer to produce more, but the expense of the devices often put him into debt. As more grain was produced,
prices fell, adding to the woes of the farmer. Eventually federally-financed irrigation projects caused the Great
American Desert to bloom. More than half the homesteaders who had headed west with such high hopes were forced to
give up.
The distribution of Government lands had been an issue since the Revolutionary War. At the time of the Articles of
Confederation, the major controversy related to land measurement and pricing. Early methods for allocating unsettled land
outside the original 13 colonies were arbitrary and chaotic. Boundaries were established by stepping off plots from
geographical landmarks. As a result, overlapping claims and border disputes were common. The Land Ordinance of
1785 finally implemented a standardized system of Federal land surveys that eased boundary conflicts. Some land
speculators took advantage of a legislative loophole caused when those drafting the law's language failed to specify
whether the 12-by-14 dwelling was to be built in feet or inches! Ten times more of the public domain wound up in the
clutches of land-grabbing promoters than in the hands of true farmers. Corporations would use “dummy” homesteaders –
often employees or aliens bribed with case or beer (!) to grab the best properties containing timber, minerals, and oil.
The Ladies: Because there were fewer women than men on the frontier, women were treated more equitably than in other
areas of the country. In many places, the ratio of men to women was more than 100 to 1. The scarcity of women accorded
them privileges of owning property and conducting their own businesses, which women in the East could not do. With the
wave of homesteaders, women worked side-by-side with men on the family farm. On the frontier, the harsh demands of
wresting a living from the land forced men to accept women as equal partners in the pioneer endeavor. Women settlers
became more independent and found confidence in themselves and their ability to survive in difficult situations. For these
reasons, the women’s rights movement was especially strong in the West. Women still faced prejudice and legal barriers,
however, and everywhere women were subject to varying restrictions in owning and selling property and in bringing suit
against people or companies who wronged them. Even in the West, it was not until the twentieth century that women could
serve on juries, vote, or hold public office.
DOCUMENT #4 Mexican Immigrant Labor History
The Mexican migratory worker in southwest America is regarded as a necessary part of the bustling harvest season. The
need of U.S. employers to import foreign manual labor was heightened first by the expansion of cattle ranches in the
Southwest, and by the increase of fruit production in California in 1850 and 1880. (Before Mexican workers supported
American agriculture, it was the Chinese who filled the labor hole.)
Between 1850 and 1880, 55,000 Mexican workers immigrated to the United States to become field hands in regions that
had, until very recently, belonged to Mexico. The institution of Mexican workers in the United States was well established
at this time in commercial agriculture, the mining industry, light industry, and the railroads. The working conditions and
salaries of the Mexicans were poor. The presence of Mexican workers in the American labor scene started with the
construction of the railroad between Mexico and the U.S. That presence grew between 1880 and 1890. As much as 60
percent of the railway working crews were Mexican.
The “fifty-niners” or “Pikes Peakers” rushed west to get minerals, gold, and whatever they could from the Rockies.
There were some successes like the Comstock Lode from 1860-1890 but would not successfully sustain mining, or
mining towns for lengthy periods of economic windfalls. Many of these towns became “ghost towns.”
Mexican Immigration and Labor after the Frontier is Closed:
In the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, the Mexican government was unable to improve the lives of its
citizens. By the late 1930s, the crop fields in Mexico were harvesting smaller and smaller bounties, and employment
became scarce. The Mexican peasant needed to look elsewhere for survival. World War I also stoked the fire of Mexican
immigration, since Mexican workers performed well in the industry and service fields, working in trades such as
machinists, mechanics, painters and plumbers. These years were ripe with employment opportunities for Mexicans
because much of the U.S. labor force was overseas fighting the war. Agencies in Mexico recruited for the railway and
agriculture industries in the United States. Mexican workers’ complaints about the abuse of their labor rights eventually led
the Mexican government to action. Led by Venustiano Carranza in 1920, the Mexican government composed a model
contract that guaranteed Mexican workers certain rights named in the Mexican Political Constitution. The contract
demanded that U.S. ranchers allow workers to bring their families along during the period of the contract. No worker was
allowed to leave for the United States without a contract, signed by an immigration official, which stated the rate of pay,
work schedule, place of employment and other similar conditions. Thus, this became the first de facto Bracero Program
between the two countries.
In 1924, the U.S. Border Patrol was created, an event that would have a significant impact on the lives of Mexican
workers. Though the public did not immediately view Mexicans as "illegal aliens," the law now stated that undocumented
workers were fugitives. With the advent of the Border Patrol, the definition "illegal alien" is born, and many Mexican
citizens north of the border are subject to much suspicion. The Mexican work force was critical in developing the economy
and prosperity of the United States. The Mexican workers in numerous accounts were regarded as strong and efficient. As
well, they were willing to work for low wages, in working conditions that were questionably humane. Another measure of
control was imposed on the Mexican immigrant workers during the depression: visas were denied to all Mexicans who
failed to prove they had secure employment in the United States. The Mexicans who were deported under this act were
warned that if they came back to the United States, they would be considered outlaws.
It seemed whenever the United States found a reason to close the door on Mexican immigration, a historic event would
force them to reopen that door. Such was the case when the United States entered World War II. In 1942, the United
States was heading to war with the fascist powers of Europe. Labor was siphoned from all areas of United States industry
and poured into those which supported the war efforts. Also in that year, the United States signed the Bracero Treaty
which reopened the floodgates for legal immigration of Mexican laborers. Between the period of 1942 and 1964, millions of
Mexicans were imported into the U.S. as "braceros" under the Bracero Program to work temporarily on contract to United
States growers and ranchers. Under the Bracero Program, more than 4 million Mexican farm workers came to work the
fields of the United States. Impoverished Mexicans fled their rural communities and traveled north to work as braceros. It
was mainly by the Mexican hand that America became the most lush agricultural center in the world.