·
·
· / List 2 places where this picture might be.
·
· / What kind of people would like to live here?
·
·
·
If you lived here, what would you do for fun?
·
·
· / What type of people would not like to live here?
·
·
· / To survive here, what would you have to be able to do?
·
·
·
·
What problems/dangers would you face here?
·
·
·
· / Why would some people rather live here than New York City?
·
·
·
·
·
Record 10 Facts from Charlie Brown onto the Train
WHO WILL GO WEST?
Time Period: Late 1800’s
Read the descriptions of the following people. Which of them do you think would have been most likely to move West? Which would have probably stayed in the east? Which are most difficult to predict? List 1 reason why each person (or pair) might want to become a pioneer or why they would rather stay in the East.
Nathan Hammond, age 21 He is the second oldest son of James and Virginia Hammond of Hillsboro, North Carolina. His parents have a fairly small farm and two former slaves who help his two brothers and two sisters. Hammond is unmarried, but has a steady girlfriend from a nearby farm. He went to school, and wants to farm.
John and Martha Lytle, ages 42 and 33 They have three teen-age children and one married daughter. Like the Hammonds, the Lytles live in Hillsboro, North Carolina where they run a small general store. They sell cloth, food and tools for farmers. Business is pretty good.
Matthew and Patience Reynolds, both age 28 They migrated from Ireland to Boston, where they both worked as indentured servants for the past 7 years. Their contracts recently ended and they have just started up a housekeeping business on their own.
John and Sarah Barfield, ages 23 and 19 Recently married, they have no children and live with her parents in Augusta, Georgia. His parents own a small farm and his father works as a bricklayer. John helps his father-in-law and his wife’s two brothers run a grain mill at the falls of the Savannah River.
Benjamin and Selinda Prim, both age 33 They were former slaves and have been free for several years. Their five sons are all under 12 years old. Benjamin works as a carpenter in New York and Selinda takes in laundry to make ends meet.
Otto and Anna Schippen, ages 31 and 30 They have two daughters, ages 9 and 11 and recently arrived in New York from Russia where they were persecuted for their religious beliefs. Otto is a skilled toolmaker who can repair muskets and rifles. There are several jobs in New York for a man with his training.
Azariah and Faith Davis, both age 30 The Davis’ live on a small farm near Northfield, Massachusetts. They have 6 children at home, ranging from 10 to 18 years old. They also have a married son who owns a separate house on their farm. Land is too expensive for either Azariah or his son to buy more.
Richard and Jean St. Clair, ages 50 and 43 They live on a large estate near Charleston, South Carolina. They use to own 180 black slaves who worked the cotton, indigo and tobacco fields. He is a lawyer and serves in the South Carolina state legislature. Richard and Jean have not been able to rebuild the plantation without any help.
Jonas Dahl, age 24 He is unmarried and has been trained as a printer. He used a small inheritance to buy a printing shop in Philadelphia and is looking for new business.
NAME / WILL GOü / WILL STAY
ü / REASON WHY/WHY NOT
Nathan Hammond
John and Martha Lytle
Matthew and Patience Reynolds
John and Sarah Barfield
Benjamin and Selinda Prim
Otto and Anna Shippen
Azariah and Faith Davis
Richard and Jeanne St. Clair
Jonas Dahl
Push and Pull Cards
Directions: Decide if the statements below are a push or a pull.
Push factors include events or situations that might convince a person to leave their home and go West, such as lack of opportunity to own land, drought, or unemployment. (negative)
Pull factors include the characteristics that would attract new settlers to an area such as economic opportunity (land or jobs), political freedom, and favorable climate. (positive)
There’s gold out there and I’m going to find it. / I cannot live where there are new laws that replaced the Black Codes called the Jim Crow Laws. They make segregation legal.I am an immigrant and I experience discrimination where I live. / It will be less crowded so there will be less illness.
Ever since my business failed, I have been unemployed. / There are so many job opportunities in the West. I could be a miner, farmer or even a rancher.
There is no way for me to own land in the East. It is very expensive. / I can travel to the West faster because of the railroads.
These cities are too crowded. More immigrants are coming all the time. / I can be independent in the West and start a new life filled with excitement and adventure.
Push/Pull Chart Sheet
Economic Opportunity / Health / Freedom / AdventurePULL CARDS
PUSH CARDS
What was the Homestead Act?
The Homestead Act of 1862 has been called one of the most important pieces of Legislation in the history of the United States. Signed into law in 1862 by Abraham Lincoln after the secession of southern states, This Act turned over vast amounts of the public domain to private citizens. 270 million acres or 10% of the area of the United States was claimed and settled under this act.
A homesteader had only to be the head of a household and at least 21 years of age to claim a 160 acre parcel of land. Settlers from all walks of life including newly arrived immigrants, farmers without land of their own from the East, single women and former slaves came to meet the challenge of "proving up" and keeping this "free land". Each homesteader had to live on the land, build a home, make improvements and farm for 5 years before they were eligible to "prove up". A total filing fee of $18 was the only money required, but sacrifice and hard work exacted a different price from the hopeful settlers.
The Filing Process
People interested in Homesteading first had to file their intentions at the nearest Land Office. A brief check for previous ownership claims was made for the plot of land in question, usually described by its survey coordinates. The prospective homesteader paid a filing fee of $10 to claim the land temporarily, as well as a $2 commission to the land agent.
With application and receipt in hand, the homesteader then returned to the land to begin the process of building a home and farming the land, both requirements for "proving" up at the end of five years. When all requirements had been completed and the homesteader was ready the take legal possession, the homesteader found two neighbors or friends willing to vouch for the truth of his or her statements about the land's improvements and sign the "proof" document.
After successful completion of this final form and payment of a $6 fee, the homesteader received the patent for the land, signed with the name of the current President of the United States. This paper was often proudly displayed on a cabin wall and represented the culmination of hard work and determination.
The Homestead Act remained in effect until it was repealed in 1976, with provisions for homesteading in Alaska until 1986. Alaska was one of the last places in the country where homesteading remained a viable option into the latter part of the 1900s. The Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 substantially decreased the amount of land available to homesteaders in the West. Because much of the prime land had been homesteaded decades earlier, successful Homestead claims dropped sharply after this time.
The Homestead Act of 1862 is recognized as one of the most revolutionary concepts for distributing public land in American history. Repercussions of this monumental piece of legislation can be detected throughout America today, decades after the cry of "Free Land!" has faded away.
Summary of the Homestead Act U.S.
What was the purpose of the Homestead Act?
·
What conditions and requirements did someone need to meet to obtain land?
·
·
·
·
·
Questions I still have about the Homestead Act:
·
Boomers and Sooners
The Great Land Rush
By William W. Howard
Taken from: Wide Open Spaces (Perfection Learning Series) Boomers and Sooners p. 94-99
The land of Oklahoma was promised to the Native American Indians. Several tribes settled there as well as thousands of freed slaves. White homesteaders came in to take the land from the Indians. The government opened the territory to the white homesteaders in 1889. Free land was given away to Boomers. “Sooners” were people who snuck in and staked their claim on the land. The following is reported by William W. Howard who saw what happened that day.
Guthrie, Oklahoma, April 22, 1889
The city of Guthrie was built in one day; to be more accurate, you can say it was built in one afternoon. At noon on Monday, April 22, Guthrie had no one living there, but before sundown there were at least ten thousand people. That afternoon, streets, town lots, and the government were formed. Something like this had never happened before in the history of the West. It was unbelievable and spectacular to see this happen.
A lot of preparations had been made for this day. Finally, the scheduled time arrived and thousands of eager homesteaders were arranged in line along the border. These home-seekers were from all parts of the country. Most of them were from Kansas and Missouri. The home-seekers got on their horses to race toward the beautiful land in front of them. It was noon and the bugle sounded to signal the start of the race.
The riders lashed their horses furiously and dug their spurs into them. Those on foot took deep breaths and darted forward. There was a cloud of dust where the homesteaders had once stood in line. Soon the riders began to spread out like a fan until they were scattered as far as eye could see. Surprisingly, even the fastest horsemen found some people on foot who were there already. Since a man on foot could not outrun a horseman, it was clear that these “Sooners” had snuck in earlier. By Sunday night the land of Oklahoma was full of people.
The first train to arrive with people was just as interesting as the rush of men on horses. The train consisted of eight passenger cars and an empty baggage car. The passenger cars were so packed with men that not another human being could get on board. The younger boomers climbed on to the roofs of the cars and clung on to the ventilators. An adventurous person secured at great risk a seat on the forward truck of the baggage car.
Before, the train slowed down the boomers began to leap from the cars and run up the slope. Men jumped from the roofs of the moving cars at the risk of their lives. Some where stunned by the fall; it took them a couple of minutes to get up. The train cars were so crowded that many men were trying to squeeze through the windows to get out of the train. Almost before the train had come to a full stop the cars were empty of people.
It has been estimated that between six and seven thousand people reached Guthrie by train and that three thousand came by wagon, making a total population on the first day of about ten thousand. About three-fourths of these people had brought tents and blankets, so that on the first night they had shelter from the weather. The rest of them slept the first night as best they could with only the earth for a pillow and the stars for a blanket. The tents had multiplied like mushrooms in a rain that day, and by night the building of frame houses had begun in the new streets. The buildings were by no means elaborate, yet they were as good as the average frontier structure, and they served their purpose.
On that day the trains going north were filled with returning boomers, disgusted about the outlook of the new country. Their places were taken by others who came in to see the fun and perhaps to pick up a bargain in the way of town lots.
During the first three days food was nearly as hard to get as water. Dusty ham sandwiches were sold on the streets as high as twenty-five cents each, while in the restaurants a plate of pork with beans was valued at seventy-five cents. Few men had enough money to buy themselves a hearty meal. One disgusted home-seeker estimated that if he ate as much as he was used to eating back in Missouri his board would cost him $7.75 dollars a day. Not being able to spend that amount of money every day, he began to be happy with the sandwiches that he could afford. This man had to return to civilization in southern Kansas in order to keep from starving to death.