8th Grade Westward Expansion Notes PDF

Module 3 - Westward Expansion Essential Question - Was the United States truly destined to expand west in the 1800s? Lesson 1 - A Growing Nation The Big Idea - As Americans explored and settled in the West, the nation expanded. Key Terms and People Louisiana Purchase Lewis and Clark expedit...

Module 3 - Westward Expansion Essential Question - Was the United States truly destined to expand west in the 1800s? Lesson 1 - A Growing Nation The Big Idea - As Americans explored and settled in the West, the nation expanded. Key Terms and People Louisiana Purchase Lewis and Clark expedition Sacagawea manifest destiny Oregon Trail Santa Fe Trail Mormons Brigham Young Notes American Settlers Move West Thousands of Americans had settled between the Appalachians and the Mississippi River by the 1800s. Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio were admitted as states. Settlers depended on the Mississippi and Ohio river to move products east. Americans depended on the river, which could be disrupted if a foreign power shut down access to New Orleans. Louisiana and Western Explorers French leader Napoléon wanted to rebuild France’s empire in North America, and he needed money to finance his war with England. Jefferson sent an ambassador to France to try to buy New Orleans. The French offered to sell all of Louisiana for $15 million. The U.S. agreed. It nearly doubled the size of the United States. Jefferson wanted the Louisiana Purchase explored. He asked Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to lead the expedition.  The Lewis and Clark expedition began near St. Louis, Missouri in May, 1804. They and their 50 frontiersmen reached the Pacific Ocean in November, 1805. Lewis and Clark used interpreters to talk to leaders of each of the Native peoples they met.They told the Native Americans that the United States now owned land on which they lived. Sacagawea, a Shoshone woman, served as a guide and interpreter. Mountain Men Go West Manifest destiny, the idea that the United States could stretch from coast to coast, was becoming real. Daniel Boone was a frontier guide who helped create the Wilderness Road, which cut through the Appalachian Mountains. Fur traders and trappers were some of the first Americans to explore the West. Settling the West Many settlers traveled west over the Oregon Trail. They were lured by rich resources and the mild climate. The trail was 2,000 miles, beginning in Independence, Missouri and ending in Oregon. It was a hard journey because of food shortages, bad weather, and mountains and rivers that were difficult to cross. The Santa Fe Trail was another important path west. The route led from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was originally a Native American trading route. Traders used the route to trade American goods for Mexican goods; traders made high profits. It was a difficult journey due to the hot desert and rough mountains. The Mormons, a religious group, established their own westward trail. Brigham Young became the head of the church and moved the group to Utah.Thousands of Mormons took the Mormon Trail to Utah, and by 1860, there were about 40,000 Mormons in Utah. Lesson 2 - Boom Times in the West The Big Idea - American settlers dramatically changed the western frontier as they began to tame the land. Key Terms and People boomtowns cattle drive transcontinental railroad Comstock Lode standard time Cattle Kingdom Pony Express frontier Notes Mining Boom Brings Growth The American frontier reached the Pacific Ocean when California was added to the Union in 1850. Settlers built homes, ranches, and farms. Railroads expanded west to bring western goods to eastern markets. Mining companies shipped gold and silver east from western mines. Mining became big business with discoveries of large deposits of precious metals, such as the Comstock Lode in Nevada. Miners from all over the world came to work in the western mines. Boomtowns grew quickly when a mine opened and often disappeared quickly when the mine closed. Mining was dangerous. The equipment was unsafe and miners had to breathe hot, stuffy air that causes lung disease. Poorly planned explosions and cave-ins killed and injured miners. Fires were also a threat. The Cattle Kingdom The increasing demand for beef helped the cattle industry grow. Cattle ranchers in Texas drove herds to Abilene, Kansas, to be shipped east. Cattle ranching spread across the Great Plains, creating the Cattle Kingdom that stretched from Texas to Canada. Ranchers grazed huge herds on public land called the open range. Competition, the invention of barbed wire, and the loss of prairie grass brought an end to the Cattle Kingdom. The Transcontinental Railroad The growth of the West created a need for communication across the country. The Pony Express carried messages on a route 2,000 miles long. Telegraph lines put the Pony Express out of business. Demand for a transcontinental railroad grew. Congress passed the Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864, giving railroad companies loans and land grants. The railroads agreed to carry mail and troops at a lower cost. In the race to complete a transcontinental railroad, the Central Pacific started in Sacramento, California, and worked east, and the Union Pacific started in Omaha, Nebraska, and worked west. Large numbers of Irish and Chinese immigrants worked on the railroads. Geography and weather posed many challenges to building the railroads. On May 10, 1869, the railroad lines met and joined the two tracks with a golden spike at Promontory, Utah. Companies continued building railroads throughout the West. Economic growth and population in the West increased. Railroads provided better transportation for people and goods. They also encouraged people to move west. The standard time system, set up by railroad companies, organized the country into four separate time zones. Railroads became one of the country’s biggest industries. Lesson 3 - Wars for the West The Big Idea - Native Americans and the U.S. government came into conflict over land in the West. Key Terms and People Treaty of Fort Laramie Crazy Horse Treaty of Medicine Lodge buffalo soldiers George Armstrong Custer Sitting Bull Battle of Little BigHorn Massacre at Wounded Knee Long Walk Chief Joseph Geronimo Ghost Dance Sarah Winnemucca Dawes General Allotment Act Notes Settlers Encounter the Plains Native Americans As settlers began crossing the Great Plains in the mid-1800s, they pressured the federal government for more access to western lands. Conflict grew with the Plains Indians as miners and settlers increased in number. Struggle to Keep the Land The Treaty of Fort Laramie recognized Native American claims to the Great Plains. It allowed the United States to build forts and travel across Native American lands. The U.S. government negotiated new treaties after gold was discovered in Colorado, sending Native Americans to live on reservations, areas of federal land set aside for them.  The movement of pioneers and miners across the Great Plains and through Native American hunting grounds led to conflict with the Sioux, led by Crazy Horse. Most southern Plains Indians agreed to go to reservations under the 1867 Treaty of Medicine Lodge, but the Comanche continued to fight until 1875. When Native Americans resisted confinement on reservations U.S. troops forced them to go. These included African American cavalry called buffalo soldiers. Most Native Americans had stopped fighting by the 1880s, except the Apache, led by Geronimo, who fought until 1886. Northern Plains ○ Battles with the Sioux throughout the 1800s. ○ In 1876 George Armstrong Custer’s troops were defeated by Sioux forces led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull at the Battle of Little BigHorn, the Sioux’s last major victory. ○ U.S. troops killed about 150 Sioux in the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. Southwest ○ Navajo refused to settle on reservations. ○ U.S. troops raided Navajo fields, homes, and livestock. ○ Out of food and shelter, the Navajo surrendered. ○ Navajo were forced on a 300-mile march, known as the Long Walk, to a reservation and countless died. Far West ○ Initially, the United States promised to let the Nez Percé keep their Oregon land. ○ Later, the government demanded land. ○ A group of Nez Percé led by Chief Joseph resisted. ○ U.S. troops forced the Nez Percé to a reservation in what is now Oklahoma. A Way of Life Ends Ghost Dance movement ○ Predicted the arrival of paradise for Native Americans ○ Gradually died out after the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 Sarah Winnemucca, a Paiute, lectured on problems of the reservation system and called for reform in the 1870s. Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887 based on the belief that Native Americans should assimilate into American society; made land ownership among Native Americans private. Ended up taking about two-thirds of Native American land. Lesson 4 - Farming and Populism The Big Idea - Settlers on the Great Plains created new communities and a unique political movement. Key Terms and People Homestead Act Morrill Act Exodusters sodbusters dry farming Annie Bidwell National Grange deflation William Jennings Bryan Populist Party Notes New Lives on the Plains Two important land-grant acts helped open the West to settlers in 1862. ○ The Homestead Act gave government land to farmers. ○ The Morrill Act gave federal land to states to sell in order to fund college to teach agriculture and engineering. People who made new lives in the West included women, immigrants, and African Americans. Thousands of southern African Americans, known as Exodusters, moved to Kansas and other areas in the West. Farming ○ Breaking up tough turf on the Plains earned farmers the nickname sodbusters. ○ New inventions helped Plains farmers meet some of the challenges of frontier life. ○ Farmers began dry farming, growing hardy crops such as red wheat. ○ Crops were shipped east by train and then overseas; the Great Plains became known as the breadbasket of the world.  Building Communities ○ Women were an important force in settling the frontier. ○ Annie Bidwell, a founder of Chico, California, supported many social causes. ○ Harsh life on remote farms led farmers to form communities, creating churches and schools. ○ Children helped with many chores on the farm. Farmers’ Political Groups More farms and greater productivity led to overproduction and lower prices. Many farmers lost their farms and homes and became tenant farmers. By 1880, one-fourth of all farms were rented by tenants. Farmers formed associations to protect their interests. The National Grange was a social and educational organization for farmers. The Grange called for laws to regulate railroad rates. Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887 to provide national regulations for trade, but could not enforce them. The Farmers’ Alliances formed the Populist Party to have power and a candidate that would represent them. It supported government ownership of railroads and communication systems, free silver, and labor regulation. The Populist Party supported William Jennings Bryan in the election of 1896, but his defeat marked the end of the Farmers’ Alliances and the Populist Party. End of the Frontier Only small portions of the Great Plains remained unsettled by 1870. U.S. officials allowed homesteaders to settle the Indian territory in what is now Oklahoma in 1889. Settlers claimed more than 11 million acres of former Indian land in the Oklahoma land rush. The frontier had ceased to exist in the United States by the early 1890s.