AMH2020 B001 June 26th Chapter 26 The Western Saga Railroad Indians Miners Cattlemen and Farmers struggled to control the fate of the West Railroads The Transcontinental Railroad 1869 completed the link between the east and the west coast Railroads sought to populate the area surrounding the railroads and make it easier for settlers miners and cattlemen to move West Indians Miners Continuous clashes between settlers and Indians had moved the Indians to smaller areas further Wes The only significant victory was Custer s Last Stand at Little Big This motivated Americans to defeat them Dawes Severalty Act 1887 legislated the civilization of Horn in 1876 Indians Cleveland sold 90 million acres designated as reservation for Indians Battle of Wounded Knee o Dakota Sioux refused to stop sacred Sun Dance considered part of the Ghost Dance cult o 1890 battle killed 200 Indians and 29 U S soldiers Geronimo Apaches o Only surrendered following capture of his wives and fellow o Sent to Florida St Augustine Fort Pickens o People paid to see Geronimo at Fort Pickens o Artists would pay him to pose to paint him o Apache at Fort Marion 1886 Didn t want to sleep in bunks so they were allowed to set up forts around the water o Eventually place on Oklahoma reservations Rich discoveries lured miners and prospectors West o California 1849 o Pikes Peak Colorado 1859 Nevada s Comstock Lode o 1860 1890 o 340 million Mining industry developed Cattlemen Prospered 1866 1888 o A lot of grass out west o 4 million steers o Railroads could carry them west encouraged them to come west because it was easier to ship meat back and to bring the adventurers back Theodore Roosevelt was an adventurer Hardships o Freeze of 1886 1887 Killed cattlemen and cattle o Barbed wire o Price fluctuations Sold for less than bought cattle Cattle trails would mainly go north Farmers Enticed Westward by the Homestead Act of 1862 o 160 acres for live on it for 5 years and improve it Vulnerabilities o One crop farming Everyone producing same crop lessens price Production and demand the more of an item produced o Price fluctuations the less it is worth o Deflation People were spending more money to produce crops than getting back from selling crops o Droughts shallow farming o Mechanization debt Results of Debt and Deflation o Mortgaged farms repossessed by banks and auctioned for taxes farm workers o Former owners became tenant farmers sharecroppers or o By 1880 of all American farms were operated by tenants o Called industrial feudalism Farmers Reaction 1 Grange o 1867 o Cooperatively owned grain elevators and warehouses o Harvest machinery Manufacture Attempt o Political Sought railway rate regulations Joined Greenback party 2 Green backers 3 Farmers Alliance by 1890 workers 4 Populists o Founded in Texas in the 1870s o One million members throughout the South and Great Plains o Excluded landless tenant farmers sharecroppers farm o Excluded the Blacks o Eventually joined the People s Party also known as populists o Late 1880s o Attacked Wall Street and money trusts o Called for nationalizing railroads telephone and telegraph o Called for gradual income tax o Sought gov t sponsored crop storage and price regulation for crops o Sought free silver coinage Election of 1896 Main issue Monetary Policy o Keeping the Gold Standard or o Republics Inflating the currency by monetizing silver o William McKinley Garrett Hobart o Stay with the Gold Standard Democrats Populists o William Jennings Bryan Arthur Sewell o Coin silver at a 16 1 ratio to gold o William Jennings Bryan Thomas Watson o Coin silver at a 16 1 ratio to gold o You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold W J Bryan Results o McKinley Won Wizard of Oz Play o Dorothy people o Cyclone political upheaval o Witch of the East wall street o Witch of the West railroad o Yellow brick road gold o Wizard president o Tin man Indus workers o Scarecrow farmers o Cowardly lion William Jennings Bryan Aftermath of the Election Prosperity returned in 1897 Gold Standard Act of 1900 o Provided all paper money redeemable in gold New Gold Deposit discoveries and processing improvements led to moderate inflation
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