CHAPTER 5 AND 6
Changes on the Western Frontier
A New Industrial Age
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1.Native Americans lived on the, the grasslands in the west-central portion of the United States. They followed a way of life that centered on the horse and buffalo. The horse allowed them to hunt more easily and to travel farther. The provided food, clothing, shelter, and other important items.
2.Along the Great Plains, Native Americans andwhite settlers often clashed—mainly over land and resources. To deal with the Native American problem, the U.S. government adopted a plan of . In this plan, Native Americans would give up their beliefs and culture and become part of white culture ( ). Congress passed the
in 1887. The act broke up reservations and gave some of the land to each Native American family for farming. The plan, however, failed. Native Americans were cheated out of the best land. As a result, they had little success . Worse yet, by 1900, whites had killed nearly all the buffalo. Native Americans depended on the for their food, clothing, and shelter.
3.Sitting, an important Sioux leader, defeated army troops led by George A. , at the Little River. The Sioux won decisively, killing Custer and all his soldiers.
4.The Sioux adopted a ritual called the Ghost which they hoped would bring the back. This made the Army nervous. In 1890 they rounded up a group of Sioux including Sitting Bull. When they tried to take the Sioux’s weapons a fight broke out. Army troops killed 300
Sioux in the Battle of Wounded.
5.Cattle ranching became a big business after the Civil War. Ranchers raised , a sturdy breed first brought to the Americas by the . American cowboys learned from , the first cowboys who worked on Spanish ranches in . Growing cities spurred the demand for beef. Cattle ranchers drove their cattle over the Trail from San Antonio, Texas, to where they were shipped by to Chicago. Between 1866 and 1885, about 55,000 cowboys worked the . About 12 percent of these cowboys were Mexican. About 25 percent were African American.
6.More and more people migrated to the Great with the building of the railroads. In 1867, the
Pacific company began laying tracks east from Sacramento, . Another railroad company, the
Pacific, began laying tracks west from Omaha,
. Much of the work was done by Irish and Chinese
. In 1869, the two routes met at Promontory, Utah. America’s first transcontinental was finished. The railroad companies sold some of their land at low prices to settlers willing to farm it. Some companies even recruited people from Europe to settle on the land. In addition, a growing number of people were responding to the
Act of 1862. Under this law, the government offered 160 acres of to anyone who would farm it for years. By 1900, the Great Plains was filled with more than 400,000 , or settlers on this free land.
7.Farmers faced serious problems after the Civil War. The prices they could sell their crops for kept going down. Many farmers joined together to push for reform. In 1867, a farmer named Oliver Hudson Kelley started an organization that became known as the . Its original purpose was to providea place for farm families to discuss social and educational issues. By the 1870s, however, Grange members spent most of their time and energy fighting the .
8.From 1850 to 1900, the number of people living west of the Mississippi River grew from 1 percent of the nation’s population to almost 30 percent. These new settlers had to endure many hardships. The Great
did not have many. As a result, people built what became known as . These homes were dug into the side of hills or made from sod. A soddy was warm in winter and cool in summer.
9.In 1892, the Party, or People’s Party was created This party was the beginning of Populism. This was a movement to gain more political and economic power for people. The Populist Party pushed for reforms to help . It also called for reforms to make government more democratic. These reforms included direct election of and a secret ballot to stop in voting.
10.Political parties began to choose candidates for the 1896presidential election. One important issue was whether the country’s paper money should be backed with both gold and silver. The central issue of the campaign was which metal would be the basis of the nation’s monetary system. On one side were the “ ” who favored
, a monetary system in which the government would give people eithergold or silver in exchange for paper currency or checks. On the other side were the “ ” who favored the
, backing dollars solely with gold. “Gold bugs” favored gold because using the gold standard would keep prices from rising. Silverites favored bimetallism because it would make more dollars available and therefore prices and wages would rise. were “gold bugs.” They elected William for president. The and the Populists both favored bimetallism. Both parties nominated William Jennings . At the Democratic convention, Bryan delivered an emotional speech, known as the “ ” speech, in support of bimetallism. McKinley’s election brought an end to Populism.
11.In the years after the Civil War, advances in technology began to change the nation. There were three causes of these advances: a large supply of , an explosion of
, and a growing population that wanted the new products. One of the more important natural resources was . In 1840 a Canadian geologist discovered that kerosene could be used to light lamps. was produced from oil. This increased Americans’ demand for oil. In 1859, Edwin L. used a steam engine to drill for oil. Oil produced yet another product— . At first, gasoline was thrown away. However, when the automobile became popular, gasoline was in great demand.
12.In addition to oil, Americans discovered that their nation was rich in
and iron. Iron is a strong metal. However, it is heavy and tends to break and rust. Researchers eventually removed the element carbon from iron. This produced a lighter, more flexible metal that does not rust. It became known as . The , named after British manufacturer Henry Bessemer, provided a useful way to turn iron into steel. Americans quickly found many uses for steel. The
, with their thousands of miles of track, bought large amounts of the new metal. Steel was also used to improve farm tools such as the and reaper. Engineers used steel to build . Steel also was used to build , such as the HomeInsuranceBuilding in Chicago.
13.Beginning in the late 1800s, inventors produced items that changed the way people lived andworked. In 1876, Thomas Alva
established the world’s first research laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. He used the lab to develop new inventions. Edison perfected an early there. He then worked to establish power plants to generate .
14.The use of changed America. By1890, electricity ran machines such as fans and printing presses. Electricity soon became available in homes. This led to the invention of many . Cities built electric streetcars. They made travel cheaper and easier. Alexander Graham and Thomas Watson invented the
. Inventions had several positive effects. Machinesallowed employees to work . This led to a shorter work week. As a result, people had more time. In addition, citizens enjoyed new products such as phonographs, bicycles, and cameras.
15.Railroads made it easier for people to travel long distances. They also helped many grow. The iron, steel, coal, lumber, and glass industries all grew partly because the needed their products. Railroads also increased trade among cities, towns, and settlements. This allowed many communities to grow and prosper. George M. built a factory on the prairie outside Chicago. There, workers made the cars he invented for trains. The railroad industry offered people the chance to become . The industry attracted many individuals. One of the most well-known cases of corruption was the Crédit Mobilier scandal. In 1868, some officers of the Union Pacific railroad formed a company called Crédit Mobilier. They gave their company contracts to lay railroad track at two to three times the actual cost. They kept all profits. To prevent the government from interfering, they off members of
. Eventually, authorities uncovered the scheme.
16.One group angered by in the railroad industry were . Farmers (also called ) were upset for a number of reasons. First, they claimed that railroadssold government land grants to businesses rather than to families. They also accused the railroad industry of setting high shipping to keep farmers in . In response to these abuses, the Grangers took political action. They convinced some states to pass laws regulating railroad activity. Members of the railroad companies challenged the states’ rights to them. The battle reached the Supreme Court in 1877. In the case of Munn v. Illinois, the Court declared that government could regulate private industries in order to protect the public . The railroads had lost their fight. A decade later, Congress passed the
Act. The act gave the federal government even more power over the railroads. The railroad companies, however, continued to resist all government intervention.
17.Andrew attempted to control the entire
industry. Through he bought that supplied his raw materials such as iron and coal, and railroads needed to transport the steel. He used
by buying out or with other companies. Carnegie’s success helped popularize the theory of Social . Based on the ideas of Charles Darwin, said that “natural selection” enabled the best-suited people to survive and succeed. Social Darwinism supported the ideas of
, hard work, and responsibility.
18.Most entrepreneurs tried to control competition. Their goal was to form a by buying out competitors or driving them out of business. John D. used the Standard trust to almost completely control the oil industry. Rockefeller’s
business practices earned him huge profits, but caused people to label him a .
19.In 1890, the ShermanAct made it to form a trust. The business boom in the United States avoided the South. Workers responded to business consolidation by forming labor
. Many workers worked long hours under dangerous conditions for low wages. Women, children, and workers in
worked under especially harsh conditions. Two major types of unions made great gains. One was unions. Samuel
formed the American of Labor (AFL) in 1886. Gompers used strikes and collective , negotiations between labor and management to win wages and
workweeks. Eugene V. believed in industrial unionism, a union of all workers in a single industry. He formed the American Railway Union (ARU). Debs and other workers turned to
. In 1905, a union of radicals and socialists was formed called the Industrial Workers of the (IWW).