Lesson 1: Developing the West
How did farmers respond to the issues created by new systems of production and transportation?
New Farm Technology
Steam Plow in America.pdf
Click or tap the icon for the reading.
"The West"
Class Discussion Questinons
How would you describe the changes in the American West after Reconstruction?
What obstacles confronted independent Native Americans after Reconstruction?
What caused the so-called “Indian Wars?”
How did technology shape the West?
What can the Turner thesis teach us about the late nineteenth century United States?
Turner's Thesis
Frederick Jackson Turner wrote "The Significance of the Frontier in American History." His thesis has become a point of debate over the role of the West in the development of the United States.
Read it below and answer the questions on the PDF to the right in a google doc.
Turner's Thesis.pdfWhat were the effects of migrants moving to the West in search of land and economic opportunity?
American Indian Problems
The Indian Wars were a protracted series of conflicts between Native American Indians and white settlers over land and natural resources in the West.
Many of these battles resulted from Indian resistance to the imposition of the reservation system and the repeated attempts of the US Army and white settlers to forcibly remove Native Americans from their tribal lands.
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer’s Last Stand, marked the beginning of the end of the Indian Wars.
What factors contributed to the increased violent conflicts over land?
How did the U.S. government deal with American Indians? (treaties, military force, reservations, denial of tribal sovereignty)
Chief Joseph surrenders.pdfDawes Act
The Dawes Act of 1887 authorized the federal government to break up tribal lands by partitioning them into individual plots. Only those Native American Indians who accepted the individual allotments were allowed to become US citizens.
The objective of the Dawes Act was to assimilate Native American Indians into mainstream US society by annihilating their cultural and social traditions.
Over ninety million acres of tribal land were stripped from Native American Indians and sold to non-natives.
What happened to the American Indians?
Who was able to preserve their culture?
How did government policies promoting assimilation impact people?
Were any of the American Indians able to develop self-sustaining economic practices?
Skills Packet
"Argumentation: 'The development of the West ... '"