Download ANGLOPHONE STUDIES I: A Reader – part X The American West

ANGLOPHONE STUDIES I: A Reader – part X
The American West 1865-1900
The completion of the railroads to the West following the Civil War opened up vast areas of
the region to settlement and economic development. White settlers from the East poured
across the Mississippi to mine, farm, and ranch. African-American settlers also came West
from the Deep South, convinced by promoters of all-black Western towns that prosperity
could be found there. Chinese railroad workers further added to the diversity of the
region's population.
Settlement from the East transformed the Great Plains. The huge herds of American bison
that roamed the plains were virtually wiped out, and farmers plowed the natural grasses to
plant wheat and other crops. The cattle industry rose in importance as the railroad
provided a practical means for getting the cattle to market.
The loss of the bison and growth of white settlement drastically affected the lives of the
Native Americans living in the West. In the conflicts that resulted, the American Indians,
despite occasional victories, seemed doomed to defeat by the greater numbers of settlers
and the military force of the U.S. government. By the 1880s, most American Indians had
been confined to reservations, often in areas of the West that appeared least desirable to
white settlers.
The cowboy became the symbol for the West of the late 19th century, often depicted in
popular culture as a glamorous or heroic figure. The stereotype of the heroic white cowboy
is far from true, however. The first cowboys were Spanish vaqueros, who had introduced
cattle to Mexico centuries earlier. Black cowboys also rode the range. Furthermore, the life
of the cowboy was far from glamorous, involving long, hard hours of labor, poor living
conditions, and economic hardship.
The myth of the cowboy is only one of many myths that have shaped our views of the West
in the late 19th century. Recently, some historians have turned away from the traditional
view of the West as a frontier, a "meeting point between civilization and savagery" in the
words of historian Frederick Jackson Turner. They have begun writing about the West as a
crossroads of cultures, where various groups struggled for property, profit, and cultural
dominance. *
20th century America in brief
Moving out of the days of the Wild West, the 20th century in United States history moved
beyond a gunfighter, mining, homesteading, and outlaw mentality to becoming an
industrialized nation and onwards to a world superpower. Though the rough and ready
days of the Old West were pretty much over, the nation was filled with a new generation of
pioneers who sought to industrialize and civilize the nation.
With these new ideals came child labor laws, environmental concerns, and Prohibition.
Known as the "Noble Experiment," Prohibition banned the sale, manufacture, and
transportation of alcohol for consumption from 1919 to 1933. This led to a different
"outlaw" mentality, spawning a new generation of desperados who thrived from the
lucrative business of bootlegging and liquor sales. The American public, not to be deprived
of their "rights," fought back, especially the many gangsters who greatly profited during
these times, with not only liquor sales, but also gambling, prostitution, drugs and more
decadent activities.
More trauma occurred with the expansion of monopolies and trusts and in 1914, World
War I began. A global military conflict that embroiled most of the world's great powers,
more than 70 million soldiers were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. In the
end, more than 15 million people were killed, making World War I one of the deadliest
conflicts in history. It finally ended four years later in 1918.
But, for America and the rest of the world, hard time were not finished. Soon, the Great
Depression settled upon the nation and the rest of the world. It was the largest and most
severe economic Depression in the 20th century. Originating in the United States, most
historians use a starting date of when the stock market crashed on October 29, 1929,
known as Black Tuesday.
The Depression had devastating effects on all walks of life. International trade plunged as
did personal income, tax revenue, prices and profits. Heavy industry suffered greatly,
farming and rural areas dramatically declined as crop prices fell by approximately 60
percent, and tens of thousands of jobs were lost. Devastated and starving, the Depression
created yet another era of outlaws that once again created violence in all areas of the
nation. The U.S. finally began to recover in the spring of 1933, encouraged by President
Roosevelt's Administration policies such as the National Industrial Recovery Act.
Later years in the 20th century continued to see trauma in World War II, which began in
1939 and ended in 1945, followed by the Cold War, a tense militaristic standoff between
the United States and the Soviet Union, the two remaining superpowers after World War II.
In 1950, the Korean War began and from 1959 the long drawn out Vietnam War that lasted
until April, 1975.
The 20th Century was also known for the Space Race, the Civil Rights Movement and the
beginning of the Gulf War.**
*Taken from
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/risein
d/west/
**Taken from http://www.legendsofamerica.com/20th-main.html