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U.S 4a ; 2a

|Describe the picture using adjectives |List 2 places this might be a picture of. |What kind of people would like to live here? |

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|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? |

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|What problems/dangers would you face here? |Why would some people rather live here than New York City? | |

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Record Facts from Charlie Brown onto the Train

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WHO WILL GO WEST? U.S 4a; 2a

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 3 reasons 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 GO |WILL STAY |REASON WHY/WHY NOT? |

| |( |( | |

|Nathan Hammond | | | |

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|John and Martha Lytle | | | |

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|Matthew and Patience Reynolds | | | |

|John and Sarah Barfield | | | |

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|Benjamin and Selinda Prim | | | |

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|Otto and Anna Shippen | | | |

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|Azariah and Faith Davis | | | |

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|Richard and Jeanne St. Clair | | | |

|Jonas Dahl | | | |

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Push and Pull Card Sheet U.S 4a,d; 2a Complete After Role Play Activity Groups 1-4

Directions:

Decide if the statements below are Push or 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 can not live where there are Black Codes that restrict former |

| |slaves. |

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|I am an immigrant and I experience discrimination where I live. |It will be less crowded so there will be less illness. |

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|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. |

| |I can travel to the West faster because of the railroads. |

|There is no way for me to own land in the East. It is very | |

|expensive. | |

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|These cities are too crowded. More immigrants are coming all the|I can be independent in the West and start a new life filled with|

|time. |excitement and adventure. |

Push/Pull Chart Sheet

Teacher Copy U.S 4a; 2a

| |Economic Opportunity |Health |Freedom |Adventure |

|“PULL” CARDS | | | | |

| |X | | |X |

|There’s gold out there and I’m going to find it. | | | | |

|It will be less crowded so there will be less illness. | |X | | |

|There are so many job opportunities in the West. I could be a miner, farmer or even a rancher.| | | | |

| |X | | | |

|I can travel to the West faster because of the railroads | | |X | |

|I can be independent in the west and start a new life filled with excitement and adventure. | | |X |X |

|“PUSH” CARDS | | | | |

|I can not live where there are Black Codes that restrict former slaves. | | |X | |

|I am an immigrant and I experience discrimination where I live. | | | |X |

|Ever since my business failed, I have been unemployed. |X | | | |

|There is no way for me to own land in the East. It is very expensive. |X | | | |

|These cities are too crowded. More immigrants are coming all the time. |X |X | | |

[pic] U.S 4a; 2a

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 4a; 2a

What was the purpose of the Homestead Act?

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What conditions and requirements did someone need to meet to obtain land?

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Questions I still have about the Homestead Act:

Boomers and Sooners: Translate words into pictures

The Great Land Rush U.S 4a,d; 2a

By William W. Howard

Taken from: Wide Open Spaces (Perfection Learning Series) Boomers and Sooners p. 94-99

SHORT VERSION: Show Far and Away Clip

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.

-Indian Wars increasing demand from eastern cities

- wild steers herded to market

- loaded onto the railroad

Tri-bond-The West U.S 4a; 2a; 1i

Directions:

Look at the three pictures and/or words at a time. Figure out what the pictures/words have in common. Write a statement about the common theme.

1.

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Many groups moved to the West for various reasons such as adventure, economic opportunities, and freedom. Some groups were miners in the search of gold and other natural resources. Cowboys moved west for adventure and job opportunities. Farmers moved West because of the opportunity for land, and jobs.

2.

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The Homestead Act allowed many settlers the opportunity to start a new life in the west. The Homestead Act required settlers to pay a filing fee, and live and farm their land for 5 years.

3.



The Dawes Act in 1887 encouraged Native Americans to become farmers. It provided for some Native American lands to be divided up and given to individual families.

4.

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Statement about the common theme:

The Battle of Little Bighorn was a victory for the Native Americans. General George Custer and his men were trapped by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse’s tribes. One by one General Custer’s men were killed.

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Wounded Knee marked the end of the Indian wars with the American troops.

6.



Statement about the common theme:

Settlers had to conquer the challenging environment of the Great Plains with new tools. Farmers protected their homesteads with barb wire. The steel plow made it possible to prepare uncultivated land for planting. And to pump water for farmer’s crops, the windmill was used.

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changing views of

Student’s Copy

U.S 4a,d; 2a; 1i

overwhelming

seeking

using

IV. American Indians

(USII.3a)

• United States’ policies and their results

• Battle of Little Bighorn

• Chief Joseph

III. New Opportunities

• Land

• Mining

• Jobs with the trans-continental railroad

• Cattle industry

• Adventure

• New beginning for former slaves

II. Technology

• Inventions that tamed the West

• Adaptations

• Transcontinental Railroad

I. The Great Plains

(USII.2a)

• Vast treeless wasteland?

• Promised land?

how the United States expanded as pioneers settled the land west of the Mississippi River

is about

TERMS, PEOPLE AND PLACES

|Chief Joseph |dry farming |migration |sodbuster |

|Gen. G. Custer |exoduster |pioneer |steel plow |

|Sitting Bull |expansion |policy |Transcontinental |

|adaptation |Great Plains |railroad | Railroad |

|barbed wire |Homestead Act |rancher |treaties |

|cattle |invention |reservation |wheat |

|Chisholm Trail |Little Bighorn |sod house |windmill |

Westward Expansion

1849-1890

SELF-TEST QUESTIONS:

1. How did people’s perception and use of the Great Plains change after the Civil War?

2. Why did people move to the West?

3. How did pioneers adapt to life in the challenging West?

4. What happened as settlers interacted with the native population?

Next Unit

Rise of Big Business

Previous Unit

Constraints Faced by African Americans

Life After the Civil War

On the back of this paper, please answer the following question in a 7-10 sentence paragraph: How did the government influence the closing of the western frontier in the late 1800s?

Main Idea

Attachment E

Caption:

Caption:

Caption:

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Caption:

Caption:

Caption:

DIRECTIONS: As you read the selection, sketch a drawing that depicts the main idea of each of the following topics. Write a caption for each picture.

U.S 4a,d; 2a Boomers and Sooners:

The Great Land Rush

5.

III. U.S 4a; 2a

Attachment A

Main Idea

PLACE

Where is it?

(Can you name all these states?)

What did people think before the Civil War?

• The Plains were called the “Great American Desert.”

• Rainfall was scarce and unpredictable.

• There were frequent damaging storms and swarms of hungry insects.

• The land was hard to farm, since it had never been plowed.

• Herds of wild bison roamed the land.

• It was a long way from civilization.

• The wind blew long and hard; there were few trees.

What did people think after the Civil War?

• Irrigation and a decade of unusually wet weather in the 1870s made the Plains habitable.

• Crops flourished, and farmers grew food for themselves and cash crops like wheat.

• Railroads brought fresh settlers and supplies.

• Pioneers enjoyed being independent and self-sufficient.

• Many people found life too lonely and difficult in the prairie.

after the Civil War, people changed the way they viewed the vast interior of the continent

dry, windy, lonely, inhospitable, empty, vast, treeless, grassy, stormy, in the middle, arable, fertile, accessible, plentiful, inexpensive

Ways to describe this place

I. The Great Plains U.S 4a; 2a

Is important because…

Knowledge Connections

This place makes me think of …

Because …

Who q

Who was right? Why?

Before

After

Teacher’s Copy

Template © 2003 Edwin Ellis,

Little Bighorn, Montana

Site of the last Indian victory against the United States

Wounded Knee,

South Dakota

Massacre of Sioux that ended armed conflict between Indians and U.S..

Places

Chief Joseph

Nez Perce

leader who stated while surrendering, “I will fight no more forever.”

Sitting Bull

Sioux chief who joined forces with Crazy Horse to defeat U.S. Army at Little Bighorn

Add one of your own!

Gen. George A. Custer

Defeated at the Battle of Little Bighorn

People

IV. American Indians U.S 4a; 2a; 1i

U.S. government policies, people, and events that culminated in the near extinction of American Indians as a people

Add one of your own!

Template © 2003 Edwin Ellis,

Student’s Copy

Dawes Act

Tried to remake American Indians as

“white men” with small private farms

The U.S. Army built forts to protect settlers and enforce government treaties. Treaties were broken often.

Buffalo hunters Followed railroads west;

almost wiped out the Plains Indians’ greatest natural resource

Indians were relocated from ancestral lands to government reservations as pioneers moved in.

Policies

Fort Laramie,

Wyoming

One of many broken treaties that promised Indians could keep their land

Essential Details

Beef cattle

increasing demand from eastern cities

- wild steers herded to market

- loaded onto the railroad

Cowboys

influenced by Mexican vaqueros

- dangerous, lonely job

-life on the open range

Trails to market

Chisholm

- Goodnight-Loving

- conflict with farmers over rights of passage

Cattle Driving

Frontier closes

“Boomers” and “Sooners” settle Oklahoma (Indian Territory)

- Census of 1890 closes frontier

Sodbusters

sod houses

- working families

- hard work and little profit

Homestead Act

1862

- 160 acres

- $18

- build a house and stay 5 years

Farming

Soldiers

- demobilized after the Civil War

- Indian Wars

Former slaves

- “Exodusters”

- new beginning

- chance to win land

Immigrants

Irish and Chinese railroad workers

European farmers

Freedom and Adventure

Problems

dangerous, dirty work

-harmful to environment (pollution, deforestation)

Boom towns

towns spring up to serve miners

- opportunities for immigrants

Gold Rush

California 1849

- Comstock Lode (Nevada silver)

-Black Hills

(South Dakota gold)

Mining

conflict over land

Railroad engineers crossed the Rocky Mountains and the High Sierra.

The TCRR stretched 1,700 miles from Nebraska to California.

Because they received a large government subsidy, rail-roads sold land for low prices.

Railroads transported people out West and western goods “back East” for sale.

Transcontinental

Railroad

To pump water for their crops, farmers put the wind to work with windmills.

Dry farming made it possible to grow crops with little rain.

Entrepreneurs herded wild cattle to market.

Immigrants brought hearty strains of wheat suited to the climate of the Plains.

Adaptation of Existing Technology

Steel plows made it possible to prepare uncultivated land for planting.

Mechanized farming helped farmers produce more crops with less work.

Settlers on the treeless Great Plains lived in sod houses made of earth and grass.

Pioneers protected their homesteads with fences made of barbed wire.

New Tools and Techniques

how settlers conquered the challenging environments of the Great American West by using new tools and putting old ideas to new uses. U.S 4a,d

Template © 2003 Edwin Ellis,

Essential Details

Main Idea

Essential Details

II. Invention and Adaptation in the Wild West U.S 4a,d; 2a

Put these essential details in the right place.

barbed wire, California, cattle, Dry farming, goods, Mechanized farming, Nebraska,

sod houses, Rocky Mountains, High Sierra, Steel plows, subsidy, wheat, windmills

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