Goal 4 notes: The Great West and the Rise of the Debtor (1860-1896)
Why move West?
•land •possible wealth (gold) •new start
•religious freedom •less discrimination •work / jobs
Challenges / Problems
•Tribes •Deadly Travel •Wildlife •Starvation •Loneliness •Lawlessness •Limited Resources (supplies, doctors, trees, etc)
Homestead Act (1862) law to encourage small farmers to settle the West
-given 160 acres / farm for 5 years = free
Roles of Women—•worked side by side with the men •more equality •voted in Western states before back East
Roles of African Americans--•Exodusters—former slaves that moved to KS
•more opportunities (land ownership) •less discrimination
Roles of the Chinese •worked on the Transcontinental RR •many came with the Gold Rush •VERY discriminated against
Roles of the Irish •factory workers •railroad workers •discrimination & stereotypes
Comstock Lode •the first major U.S. deposit of silver ore, Virginia City, Nevada—1859
Morrill Land Grant Act—federal money was given to the states for agricultural colleges (states were given land for colleges or revenue)
Sod Houses— “Soddies” pioneers built homes on the prairie out of blocks of earth (sod) b/c there were no trees
Oklahoma Land Rush •previously-restricted land of the United States was opened for homesteading on a first arrival basis. Some newly opened lands were sold first-come, sold by bid, or won by lottery, or by means other than a run. (Usually Tribal land)
Gold Rush—1849—California
-Thousands of settlers rushed to CA w/”Gold Fever”
- came from all over the world not just the US
Promontory Point, UT •the point where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad companies met, to form the Trans-Continental Railroad – 1869
Transcontinental Railroad—railroad connecting the East to the West; across the continent
-Will make settlement of the west much easier
Assimilation •”Americanization” of Indians or a minority group’s adoption of the beliefs and way of life of the dominant culture (destroys cultural heritage)
Munn v. Illinois
· (U.S. Supreme Court 1876)
· Munn, a partner in a Chicago warehouse firm, had been found guilty by an Illinois court of violating the state laws providing for the fixing of maximum charges for storage of grain.
· He appealed, contending that the fixing of maximum rates constituted a taking of property without due process of law.
· The Supreme Court upheld the Granger laws, establishing as constitutional the principle of public regulation of private businesses involved in serving the public interest.
Wabash v. Illinois (Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad Company v. Illinois)
· U.S. Supreme Court in 1886
· The decision narrowed earlier ones (see Munn v. Illinois) favorable to state regulation of those phases of interstate commerce upon which Congress itself had not acted.
· The court declared invalid an Illinois law prohibiting long- and short-haul clauses in transportation contracts as an infringement on the exclusive powers of Congress granted by the commerce clause of the Constitution.
· The result = states can not regulate interstate rates for railroads, and the decision led to creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission.