Download United States History Topic 2: Challenges in the Late 1800s (1865

United States History
Topic 2: Challenges in the Late 1800s (1865-1900)
2-2 – The West is Transformed
Key Terms
Mining and the Growth of Railroads
mining towns – there was a pattern to the development of mining
regions; first came the discovery of gold; then, people began to pour into
areas such as Pikes Peak in Colorado and the Yukon river in Alaska; they
were followed by more substantial communities
vigilantes – the rough-and-tumble environment of mining towns
demanded order; in extreme situations, self-appointed law enforcers known
as vigilantes punished lawbreakers; e.g. Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson
transcontinental railroad – rail link between the eastern and the
western United States; started in 1863 and completed in 1869; it was
thought of much earlier, but debates over what route the railroad should
take delayed implementation
land grants – land designated by the federal government for building
schools, roads, or railroads; gave railroad builders wide stretches of land
railroad workers – the Central Pacific Railroad (building from
Sacramento, California) brought recruits to work from China and set them to
work under harsh contracts with little regard for their safety; the Union
Pacific Railroad (building from Omaha, Nebraska) used many Irish
immigrants.
Promontory Point, Utah – the two railroads met here in 1869, the
same year that the Suez Canal was completed in Egypt
The Cattle Industry Boom
open-range system – method of ranching in which the rancher
allowed his or her livestock to roam and graze over a vast area of grassland;
the invention of barbed wire and the oversupply of beef, which caused the
price to drop, led to the end of the open-range system
Mexican vaqueros – were experts in training horses and working
with cattle, the American cowboy adopted many of their techniques;
developed the roping skills, saddle, lariat, and chaps needed to do the job; a
band of cowboys often included a mix of white, Mexican, and African
American men
Cow Towns – cattle drives concluded in such railroad towns as Dodge
City, Kansas, where cattle were sold and the cowboys were paid; cow towns
gave rise to stories about colorful characters like Wild Bill Hickok, Doc
Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and Jesse James; the site of rodeos
Farmers Settle the Plains
Great Plains – last part of the country to be heavily settled by white
people; the region was originally set aside for Indians because it was viewed
as too dry for agriculture
Homestead Act – 1862 law that gave 160 acres to anyone willing to
live on the land for five years, dig a well, and build a road; encouraged
further settlement and farming in the West, eventually leading to the close
of the frontier
Exodusters – former slaves who fled the South after the end of
Reconstruction; they took their name from the biblical story of Moses leading
the exodus of the Jews out of bondage into a new life in the “Promised
Land”; the Exodusters’ “promised land” was in Kansas and Oklahoma
Morrill Act – 1862 law that made land grants to states for the
purpose of establishing agricultural colleges; these colleges were created to
encourage the development of better farming methods
Minorities Encounter Difficulties
diversity in the West – from the 1850s onward, the West had the
widest diversity of people in the nation; had fewer than 20% of the nation’s
total population, but it was home to more than 80% of the nation’s Asian,
Mexican and Mexican American, and Native American residents
Land Ownership for Mexican-Americans – the treaty that ended
the Mexican-American War (Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo 1848) guaranteed
that any Mexican landowner could keep their land, however, the courts put
the burden of proof on the Mexican-Americans to prove they owned the land
– many of them could not prove it
Las Gorras Blancas – (the White Caps) group of Mexican Americans
living in New Mexico who attempted to protect their land and way of life
from encroachment by white landowners; they targeted the property of large
ranch owners by cutting holes in barbed-wire fences and burning houses
Struggles and Change Across the West
conflict in the West – conflicts between miners, ranchers,
sheepherders, and farmers led to violence and acts of sabotage; the most
important resource was the limited supply of water; runoff from mining
polluted the water that farmers, ranchers, and sheepherders needed
the closing of the West – in the 1890 national census concluded that
there was no longer a square mile in the US that did not have at least a few
white residents; the US no longer had a “frontier”