Heimler’s History: Westward Migration after the Civil War

Overview

• Focus on Unit 6 of AP U.S. History
• Emphasis on the society and culture of settlers in the American West
• Exploring the causes and effects of settlement from 1877 to 1898

Causes of Westward Migration

• Homestead Act: Provided land to encourage settlement
• Transcontinental Railroads: Facilitated movement and trade

Life in the American West

• Arrival of settlers with cattle to the Great Plains
• Development of the cattle trade through railroads in Kansas
• Romanticized image of the cowboy, but reality included challenges like barbed wire fencing which ended open cattle drives
• Sodbusters: Homesteaders who farmed the plains
  • Only about a fifth received free land
  • Many purchased land from railroad companies
  • Agricultural mechanization led to farm consolidation

Closing of the Frontier

• Declared by the U.S. Census Bureau in 1890 after Oklahoma territory opened
• Frederick Jackson Turner’s Thesis:
  • Closing of frontier seen as troubling
  • Frontier viewed as a relief valve for discontent
  • Promoted democracy and social leveling
  • Fear of American society devolving into class conflicts like in Europe

Impact on Indigenous Peoples

• Migration affected pre-existing Indian populations
• Reservation System: Established to control Indian populations
• Drastic reduction of buffalo herds by American settlers
• Sioux Wars and other conflicts arose from resistance
  • Indian Appropriation Act of 1871: Ended recognition of Indian sovereignty
  • Led to further wars and resistance

Legislative Responses

• Dawes Act of 1887:
  • Abandoned reservation system
  • Divided lands into 160-acre plots
  • Offered American citizenship for assimilation
  • Aimed to eliminate distinct Indian cultures through education and Christianization

The Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee

• Ghost Dance Movement led by prophet Wavoka
• Aimed to restore ancestral lands to Indians
• Wounded Knee Massacre (1890):
  • U.S. Army killed over 200 Lakota Indians
  • Marked the end of major Indian resistance

Conclusion

• Encouragement to explore more resources for Unit 5
• Call to action for subscribing and supporting Heimler’s History