Motivations for American Expansion at the turn of the Century
- Free Land Offers
- Gold Rush
- Labor for Railroad Construction
- Cattle Ranching
Today’s Focus…. Free Land Offers
- Homesteading
- Settlers from the Eastern U.S. and new immigrants to the United States could claim Public Lands
- By law they would own the land if they successfully farmed it for five consecutive years.
- Became a very popular attraction to new immigrants and increased food production.
- Where did the land come from?
- Lands that had been claimed by the Federal government, conquered through Indian removal, or purchased by a foreign country.
- Louisiana Purchase, 1802
a. The United States gained modern Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois
- Mexican American War, 1846-1848
- The United States Gained modern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada and parts of Colorado
- Between 1870-1900 more acres were settled and cultivated than in the previous 250 years.
- Between 1860-1910 the # of farms tripled (2 million to 6 million)
- Between 1870-1910 the nation’s population rose 40 million-92 m & urban population swelled by over 400%
- What were the main acts that encouraged expansion?
- Homestead Act of 1862
- Awarded 160 Acres (64.8 Hectares) for anyone who could farm it for 5 years.
- Applied to many land west of the Mississippi
- Thousands of Immigrants came to claim the land.
- Oklahoma Land Rush
1. The Great Race to claim the land
- April 22, 1889
- Federal Government gave away nearly 2 million acres
- 50,000 people participated in the Land Rush
- Morill Land Grant Act, 1862
- Gave states federal land to finance ag. and special colleges.
- Hatch Act, 1887
1. Provided Agricultural experiment stations in every state.
- What was life like on the plains?
- Very difficult farming conditions
- Dry farming and varied climate conditions
- Many insects and pests (grasshopper plagues 1870s and 1880s)
- Little lumber for fuel or building
- Difficult living conditions
- Seclusion & Social Isolation
- Little access to the outside world.
- Difficult traveling conditions and little money
- Life for women was monotonous. Labor intensive.
- Sod Homes & manure was burned for heat.
- How did technology make life easier?
- Inventions
- Reaper, 1831
- Seeders and Bundlers
- Horse drawn threshers, cultivators & cutters.
- Late 1800s steam power was introduced.
- Before Mechanization 1 farmer could harvest 7.5 acres
After Mechanization 1 farmer could harvest 135 acres.
- Plant resistant varieties were introduced & Pesticides.
- Sprays and biological control
- European grapevine stems were grafted onto American rootstocks to resist the aphids.
- Mail order Companies and Rural Delivery Systems
- Montgomery and Ward, Sears Roebuck, 1870s
- Rural Free Delivery, Postal, 1896
- How did the advancements in Agriculture and farming help the economic expansion of the United States?
- A country must be able to feed its population first.
The area became known as “The World’s Breadbasket”
- All industrialized nations started with an agricultural base
- The foundations established in the agricultural expansion allowed for successful industrialization. (In many Communist Nations and in many dictatorships, people were forced to farm the land in collectives.)
- The country fed the city and the city fueled the country.