Chapter 13-14 Review
U.S. History 11
• Define: quartz and placer mining. (pg 415)
• Shallow deposits- Placer Mining – simplest approach to mining using pans,
and other simple devices. This is all the new miner could afford in their
search for quick wealth.
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• To move deeper into the earth Quartz Mining would dig deep using
drilling devices and other more expensive equipment that the single miner
could not afford. So corporations would be formed to compete for the
lead, gold, silver, copper or other valuable mineral in commercial mining
ventures that continue to this day in the Western States.
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• When word reached miners that a Big Strike had occurred anywhere in the
World then miners would come in droves—example Northern California
1849, Nevada 1859, Alaska –late 1800’s, Dakota Territory, Colorado, and
Montana.
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• The new mining towns were often lawless and self-appointed volunteers
would form vigilance committees to track down wrongdoers. Men would
come first to the towns and women would follow often working as cooks
or in laundries.
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New towns and development of the west spurred on the building of the Railroad
to the region. The mines needed supplies from the east and has more minerals
were found this encourage additional development t of railroad lines (see page
417 map). As the railroads were built this would bring on more miners and
farmers to the area. New states were admitted as the population grew in the
area—North and South Dakota, and Montana.
Farmers came as well as cattlemen. The western states required a hardier breed
of cattle to survive off the prairie grass on the Plains. They found the tough lean
rangy Texas longhorns that wandered the open range throughout the Plains. Long
cattle drives would bring the cattle out of Texas to the railroads in Kansas and
Missouri (see pg 417). Cattle were needed after the Civil War to feed the
Northeast and the railroad workers building the new transcontinental railroad.
Lots of money to be made off of cattle between 1867-1871. Cowboys and the
dime-novel would forever make the settlement of the West an exciting time in
American History—the movies and stories of the west continue to this day.
Barbed wire would end the long drives and begin the process of fencing the West
into cattle ranches. Cattle industry did not always have good times- the price of
cattle went down and ranches with a new breed of cattle from Europe would take
over the industry and the cowboy now became a ranch hand.
Pg 419 #5What two developments in the late 1800’s led to the decline of the cattle
business?
Answer: An oversupply of cattle drove prices down, and the winter of 1886 to
1887 killed large number of cattle
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Farming the Plains:
Government Assistance in Settling Great Plains
-Homestead Act
-Morrill Act
-Promoting Railroad Construction
-Sent soldiers to protect new settlers
Homestead Act- 1862 – for a $10 registration fee a homesteader could file for a
tract of land of 160 acres and receive title to the land after living on the land for
five years.
Life on the Plains were tough and trees and water were scarce.
Morrill Act- 1862- Encouraged the promotion of agriculture and manufacturing by
creating colleges to teach the skills necessary to be successful. The sale of western
land allowed States to develop these new colleges (including Auburn).
Railroad companies were given vast tracts of land in the West by the government
to encourage the building of railroads. The railroad companies would sale off the
land to make money and encourage settlement of the West. They advertised in
Europe to encourage settlement of prospective settlers and the benefits to
booking passage to the Plains. They provided credit to those who could not avoid
the price of the land.
• Farmers had a tough time in growing food in the tough prairie sod. They
used the technique of “dry farming” in which they planted the seeds deep
to get enough moisture. Wheat was often planted first because it could
withstand the tough weather and soil in the Midwest. New technology
contributed to the success of the farmers with the creation of new steel
plows, seed drills, reapers, and threshing machines.
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• Large commercial farms could withstand the ups and downs of the life of a
farmer but the small farmer often struggled and went bankrupt. The new
mechanical reaper and binders made it possible to farm large areas and
make money.
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• Wheat farmers came on hard time in the late 1800’s when too much
wheat was on the market bringing prices down and a drought that caused
many small farmer to lose their land. They would often mortgage their
land to make it through another season.
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Pg 423 #5What factors contributed to the making of the Wheat Belt in the
Great Plains and then to troubled times for wheat farmers in the 1890’s? The
Homestead Act, new farming techniques and equipment; good harvests,
world competition caused a glut that caused prices to drop.
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Annuities were government issued payments for Native American land that were
supposed to allow them to buy their own food rather than go off the reservation
to hunt buffalo and interfere with western settlement. The annuities were often
small amounts that did not allow the Native Americans to survive and the
payments would end up in the hand of traders who cheated the N.A. The Dakota
Tribe rose up and kill traders and settlers alike to show their disproval of American
settlement of their land.
Lakota wanted to protect their hunting ground in present day South Dakota and
attacked soldiers in what became known as Fetterman’s Massacre.
Sand Creek Massacre was an attack by soldiers on the Cheyenne who were
camped out to negotiate a peace.
Indian Peace Commission attempted to get Native Americans on two large
reservation but not all the NA wanted to go. Life on a reservation was wrought
with poverty and despair.
To encourage the Native Americans to stay on the reservation the American
government paid hunters to kill off large numbers of Buffalo (almost completely
wiped out).
• Battle of Little Bighorn- Col. George Custer and his troops were wiped out
by Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. This would eventually bring more
troops into the region and the downfall of the NA. Wounded Kneesoldiers wiped out men, women and children on a Lakota reservation.
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• - Explain why the government’s policy of assimilation of Native Americans
was a failure.
• Include information on the Dawes Act.
• -Dawes Act intended to assimilate N.A. by dissolving reservations and
giving each N.A. family 160 acres but never provided training or tools to
make them successful farmers.
• -The government offered low prices for N.A. Land and some N.A did not
want to break up their reservations and share the land with other settlers.
• -Most N.A. had no interest in farming but would rather keep their tribal
land and hunt buffalo.
• -Poverty and discontent was a result of the assimilation policy.
• -The government participated in eliminating the bison from the Plains to
force the N.A. onto reservations and destroy their way of life.
• -The assimilation policy was intended on creating farmers out of the N.A.
but did not consider what the desires were of the N.A.
• Why was petroleum in high demand in the late 19th
century? -kerosene
• What is Laissez-faire? What does Laissez-faire rely
on to regulate prices and wages? If you support
Laissez-faire, when do you believe it is okay for the
government to get involved? Other than to protect
private property rights and maintain peace.
• Why did members of Congress support tariffs? Felt
new American industries could not compete with
large established European factories.
• How does a corporation achieve Economies of
scale? What does Economies of scale result
in?
Build large manufacturing facilities with a large number of
machines that will increase efficiency and reduce cost and pass
this on to the consumer with reduced prices for goods.
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How did the government help railroad companies? Land
grants
• Who made up the workers of the Union Pacific and the
Central Pacific? In which direction did each build their
railroad? CP built East and hired Chinese workers, UP built
West and hired ex- slaves, civil war vets, Irishmen…
• Explain the difference between Vertical and Horizontal
Integration. Pg 449. Vertical purchase companies at all
levels of production: Horizontal purchase competing
companies in same industry.
• Horizontal could lead to monopoly and higher cost to
consumers and less choice for consumers.
• Why does it make sense that big corporations continue
operating during poor economic times? They have high
fixed costs and in comparison low operating cost so it
makes sense to keep operating during a recession.
• How did department stores change the idea of
shopping? Why did companies have mail order catalogs?
changed the shopping experience by bringing a huge array of different
products together in a large elegant building. To reach millions of people
in rural areas the mail-order catalog became popular and profitable for
companies like Montgomery War and Sears, Roebuck.
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Understand the results of the Great RR strike 1877,
Haymarket Riot, and Pullman Strike. See page 457-458- 1877
Great RR strike ended with the troops restoring order and ending the
strike, Haymarket Riot occurred when police were breaking up a strike and
shots were fired and a bomb went off. The Knights of Labor lost support
after this because one of its members was arrested for the violence.
• The Pullman Strike ended with a Federal Action when a court order
required the end of the strike because it was interfering with mail delivery.
• Explain why the early labor unions were
unsuccessful, with specific detail. Most workers were
unorganized and labor unions represented only 18% of the
non-farm workers. They feared losing their jobs, companies
were able to use the police and government to stop strikes.
The companies use lock-outs, blacklist, and strikebreakers to
ignore or hurt the Unions.
Be able to write on these questions
• Explain what horizontal integration is and the possible
drawback to the consumer.
-purchase companies in same industry and could drive up prices to the
consumer and give them less choice.
• What factors contributed to an eight-fold rise in GNP
between 1865 and 1914?
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Abundance of raw materials from the vast natural resources in the large labor force
from the 20 million who immigrated to the U.S. during this time period and the New
England, British, and European investors who were willing to put up Capital to start new
business for chance to make large profits in the opportunities in the West.
How did the government encourage railroad companies to build
railroads into the vast unsettled areas of the West and how did the
railroads encourage settlers to move west? The government gave out large
land grants to RR companies and the RR companies sent sales agents all around the U.S.
and Europe to encourage settlement in the West along with offering credit to purchase
land along side the tracks.