1.2 Westward Expansion, Native Americans, and Farmers

What does this image tell you was the role of farmers in American society?

• Farmers were criticized by all, including religious and military leaders

• Farmers have to use lawyers to argue their cases

• Everyone depends on farmers

• Railroad prices lead to farmers using horses for transportation again

Answer explanation

The image is titled "I Feed You All", implying that all the people pictured rely on the farmer for survival. Who would feed them all while they are off doing the "important" work, if it wasn't for farmers? Farmers are asking for more recognition and respect for allowing society to survive and thrive by raising the crops and animals used to feed non-farming Americans.

Many major cities in the United States saw their populations double, triple, and, sometimes, even quadruple from 1860 to 1900. What does this information tell you about population trends in the late 1800s?

• The Homestead Act led to many people moving to the cities

• The Dawes Act helped make many Native Americans decide they no longer wanted to live on reservations

• The shift from a farm-based society to an industrial society led to many Americans moving to the cities

• Farmers had trouble growing enough food to feed the people in the cities

Answer explanation

The Second Industrial Revolution, as well as the "New South" plan following the Civil War, saw a shift in American society from an agrarian or agricultural based society to one focused on industry. Industrial centers were focused on major cities, forcing any American who wanted to take part in industrialization and the high-paying jobs that came with it to move to the cities.

How did the monopolies in the railroad industry affect farmers in the late 1800s?

• The monopolies charged such high shipping costs that farmers' profits were severely decreased

• The monopolies on railroads cut farmers off from the lucrative markets out West

• The monopolies took arable (farmable) land to build the railroads, leaving less usable land for struggling farmers

• The railroads separated the industrial cities in the East from farmers in the South and West

Answer explanation

If only a few (or one) companies own an entire industry, then they can charge whatever they want because people have no (or few) options. Railroad monopolies made shipping prices as high as possible in order to increase their profits, severely decreasing the profit margin for farmers (think of shipping costs going from $1 per pound to $10, that is a HUGE shift!).

What did the Homestead Act do to Native Americans?

• By changing how the land out West was used, the buffalo/bison population increased

• Through an extension of the Morrill Land Grant Act, Native Americans were not allowed to go to college

• Expanding industrialization led to factories needing to expand beyond the cities and onto reservation land

• By offering cheap/free land out West to white Americans, the United States had to force Native Americans off of their native lands and onto the reservations

Answer explanation

The United States passed the Homestead Act, offering up to 160 acres of cheap, and sometimes free, land to any American, 21 and over, who wanted to claim it and could "improve the land" within 3 years. In total, the Homestead Act would give this cheap land to over 1.6 million Americans. The problem: Where do we get this land? The United States government did not own or have access to that much land, much of which had been given to the Native American tribes we forced out of the Eastern US. To fix this problem, we forced Native Americans off of their lands and onto reservations, causing decades of strife between Natives and the American government.

What was a big problem for American farmers in the late 1800s?

• The Interstate Commerce Act was passed, forcing railroads to lower their prices

• Railroad companies charge very shipping rates

• Banks lowered interest rates to help farmers pay off debts quicker

• The Supreme Court ruled that state governments could regulate banks

Answer explanation

This is HUGE problem for farmers, and is a big reason for the rise of the Populist party and Granger Movement pushing for regulations to help farmers. Farmers cannot pay bills or continue to operate if all of their profit goes paying the shipping costs. The only other option would be to raise prices on their goods to offset the shipping costs, but then they may not sell as much and still lose money.

What was the Dawes Act (1887) trying to do?

• Give Native Americans their land back

• Give Native Americans citizenship

• Move Native Americans into the cities to work as cheap industrial labor

• Force Native Americans to become more like "everyday" Americans of the time

Answer explanation

ASSIMILATION! ASSIMILATION! ASSIMILATION! When you see the Dawes Act, the whole goal is always to assimilate Native Americans, force them to adopt the culture of mainstream America (i.e. Christian, English-speaking/writing, European-style clothing, American/Christian names, short hair for boys, etc.)

Why did William Jennings Bryan and his supporters push for bimetallism?

• The railroads would ask for gold coins

• It would make exporting crops easier

• The banks could eliminate the gold market

• It would make it easier for farmers to pay off debts due to the inflation of crop prices

Answer explanation

At the time, the United States dollar was backed by the Gold Standard, meaning we could only print as much money as the value of gold that the US had in their reserves. By introducing a second way to back up our dollar, we could print more money, driving prices up, and allowing farmers to pay back debts more quickly.

The buffalo/bison population went from 40 million in 1800 to less than a thousand by 1900. What can we conclude from this information?

• The Indian reservations were put along buffalo migration routes

• Trading out West became more profitable

• Homesteaders were eating a lot of buffalo

• Plains Native Americans no longer had their main source of food, shelter, and clothing

Answer explanation

Remember, the passing of the Homestead Act in the late 1800s led to a major issue: Where do we get all of this land promised to the settlers? The answers lied in taking land away from Native American tribes. The easiest way to get people to give up their land is to make it difficult to live on. The US government hunted and killed millions of buffalo to force Native Americans onto the reservations or starve.

What is this cartoon trying to say?

• Farmers tried to tell people how dangerous industrialists were

• The Populist Party was scared that the making the railroads would get rid of the Gold Standard

• Farmers chose to ignore the difficulties of switching from a farming to an industrial society

• Farmers were given guidance on how to best navigate Westward Expansion

Answer explanation

In the cartoon, we can see a farmer (carrying a pitchfork, modestly dressed, straw hat) warning the people that there is a train coming (representing industry through negative phrases like bribery, extortion, and consolidation) and they are being used and will be killed. This shows that farmers tried to warn the everyday people of the dangers and corruption of industry, but the people ignored them (they are reading newspapers, just laying under the track, smoking, etc.)

How was what happened at Little Bighorn different from what happened at Sand Creek?

• More Native Americans were killed at Little Bighorn

• The Native Americans were victorious at Little Bighorn, but massacred at Sand Creek

• After losing at Sand Creek, the white settlers won at Little Bighorn, a victory for Westward Expansion

• The Native Americans were victorious at Sand Creek, but were massacred by General Custer at Little Bighorn

Answer explanation

The Sand Creek Massacre (where dozens, if not hundreds, of mostly women, children, and the elderly were killed by a volunteer arm of the US Army) was a huge wake up call for many Native Americans. They were ready for the US troops, led by General Custer, and Little Bighorn was a big win (the last one) for Native Americans. The Battle of Little Bighorn was originally, and still sometimes, called "Custer's Last Stand" because Custer's men were surrounded by the Native Americans and fought til the very end.