Motivations for American Expansion at the turn of the Century

  1. Free Land Offers
  2. Gold Rush
  3. Labor for Railroad Construction
  4. Cattle Ranching

Today’s Focus…. Free Land Offers

  1. Homesteading
  2. Settlers from the Eastern U.S. and new immigrants to the United States could claim Public Lands
  3. By law they would own the land if they successfully farmed it for five consecutive years.
  4. Became a very popular attraction to new immigrants and increased food production.
  1. Where did the land come from?
  2. Lands that had been claimed by the Federal government, conquered through Indian removal, or purchased by a foreign country.
  3. Louisiana Purchase, 1802

a. The United States gained modern Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois

  1. Mexican American War, 1846-1848
  2. The United States Gained modern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada and parts of Colorado
  1. Between 1870-1900 more acres were settled and cultivated than in the previous 250 years.
  2. Between 1860-1910 the # of farms tripled (2 million to 6 million)
  3. Between 1870-1910 the nation’s population rose 40 million-92 m & urban population swelled by over 400%
  1. What were the main acts that encouraged expansion?
  1. Homestead Act of 1862
  2. Awarded 160 Acres (64.8 Hectares) for anyone who could farm it for 5 years.
  3. Applied to many land west of the Mississippi
  4. Thousands of Immigrants came to claim the land.
  5. Oklahoma Land Rush

1. The Great Race to claim the land

  1. April 22, 1889
  2. Federal Government gave away nearly 2 million acres
  3. 50,000 people participated in the Land Rush
  1. Morill Land Grant Act, 1862
  2. Gave states federal land to finance ag. and special colleges.
  3. Hatch Act, 1887

1. Provided Agricultural experiment stations in every state.

  1. What was life like on the plains?
  1. Very difficult farming conditions
  2. Dry farming and varied climate conditions
  3. Many insects and pests (grasshopper plagues 1870s and 1880s)
  4. Little lumber for fuel or building
  5. Difficult living conditions
  6. Seclusion & Social Isolation
  7. Little access to the outside world.
  8. Difficult traveling conditions and little money
  9. Life for women was monotonous. Labor intensive.
  10. Sod Homes & manure was burned for heat.

  1. How did technology make life easier?
  1. Inventions
  2. Reaper, 1831
  3. Seeders and Bundlers
  4. Horse drawn threshers, cultivators & cutters.
  5. Late 1800s steam power was introduced.
  6. Before Mechanization 1 farmer could harvest 7.5 acres

After Mechanization 1 farmer could harvest 135 acres.

  1. Plant resistant varieties were introduced & Pesticides.
  2. Sprays and biological control
  3. European grapevine stems were grafted onto American rootstocks to resist the aphids.
  1. Mail order Companies and Rural Delivery Systems
  2. Montgomery and Ward, Sears Roebuck, 1870s
  3. Rural Free Delivery, Postal, 1896

  1. How did the advancements in Agriculture and farming help the economic expansion of the United States?
  1. A country must be able to feed its population first.

The area became known as “The World’s Breadbasket”

  1. All industrialized nations started with an agricultural base
  1. 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.)
  1. The country fed the city and the city fueled the country.