6.2 westward expansion: economic development

Question 1

biggest change during this time

Answer 1

building of the transcontinental railroads

Question 2

what did railroads promote

Answer 2

communication, settlement of the western plains, connected markets

Question 3

which RR company built from Ohama, Nebraska -> west?

Answer 3

Union Pacific - employed many war veterans and Irish immigrants

Question 4

which RR company built from Sacramento, California -> east?

Answer 4

Central Pacific - employed 20k Chinese immigrants who did dangerous job of laying track and blasting tunnels through mountains.

Question 5

meeting point and date of railroads

Answer 5

May 16th, 1869 @ Promontory Point, Utah

Question 6

Southern Pacific RR

Answer 6

New Orleans -> LA

Question 7

Atchinson, Topeka, + Santa Fe

Answer 7

Kansas City -> LA

Question 8

Northern Pacific

Answer 8

Duluth -> Seattle

Question 9

Great Northern

Answer 9

St. Paul -> Seattle

Question 10

negative effects of railroads

Answer 10

• RR transformed west but failed as business: can’t expect short term profit return because they built in areas w/ few customers
• settlement of west damaged land/environment and almost exterminated buffalo
• Native Americans lost culture and soverignty

Question 11

what was land between pacific and mississippi called?

Answer 11

great american desert - few trees, little rain, hot/dry, not suitable for farming w/ current tech

Question 12

great american desert transformed with

Answer 12

ranches, homesteads

Question 13

major mining event during this period

Answer 13

california gold rush of 1848

Question 14

what was the comstock lode and what was it’s significance?

Answer 14

it was a discovery of gold and silver ($340 mil by 1890) in nevada. led to nevada entering the union as a state in 1864.

Question 15

what were boomtowns?

Answer 15

instant towns created near mineral strikes, many became ghostowns soon after. few towns (ex. virginia city, nevada from comstock lode) endured.

Question 16

what was the significance of mining booms?

Answer 16

hopeful prospectors moving west, creation of boomtowns, immigration and employment of non-Anglo-Saxons, new industry

Question 17

why was cattle ranching an attractive occupation?

Answer 17

cattle and grass were free and plentiful in the early days. there was also a big eastern market for cattle ($30-50/head in some areas). facilitated by railroad connection.

Question 18

why did the long drive end in 1880s?

Answer 18

overgrazing destroyed the grass and extreme climates of 1885-1886 killed 90% of cattle. arrival of homesteaders who used barbed wire and cut off open range. turned to scientific ranching tech to produce best quality meat.

Question 19

what was the homestead act of 1862?

Answer 19

160 acres of land in great plains at no cost for 5 years of development (farming). encouraged settlement and farming of the great plains/great american desert. however, best land usually given to railroads or speculators.

Question 20

problems of homestead act of 1862

Answer 20

• severe weather, grasshopper plagues, lonely
• water + wood for fence scarce
• bad weather, falling prices of crops, high cost of new machinery

Question 21

solutions for problems

Answer 21

• barbed wire invention by Joseph Glidden in 1874 for fencing
• mail order windmills: drill deep wells for water
• drive farming: deep plowing methods to make most of moisture
• hardy russian wheat
• gov programs to build dams + irrigation: humans changing natural west

Question 22

fraction of failed homesteads by 1900

Answer 22

2/3

Question 23

rising costs for farmers

Answer 23

• monopolistic trusts
• wholesale and retailers took cut
• railroads charged high for storage and shipment of grain
• taxes on property and land, but none on income from stocks and bonds
• tariffs good for industry but bad for agriculture

Question 24

farming became…

Answer 24

more commercialized and specialized

Question 25

changes in agriculture

Answer 25

• bought groceries at local stores and manufactured goods from mail order stores like montgomery ward and sears roebuck
• more dependent on expensive machines -> driven out of business if couldn’t afford

Question 26

falling prices

Answer 26

• increased production of wheat and corn in areas around the world
• each dollar became worth more as gold backs not growing fast enough with population - prices not adjusted
• farmers in debt -> need to grow more to pay off debt -> more debt for farmers

Question 27

grange movement

Answer 27

national grange of patrons of husbandry organized in 1868 by Oliver H. Kelly. national grange movement expanded, more active in econ and politics. grangers est. cooperatives owned by farmers to eliminate middlemen costs.

granger laws: IL, Iowa, MN, WI - state legislatures regulate RR and elevator rates. other granger laws made it illegal for RR to fix prices by pools and give rebates to privileged customers.

Question 28

Munn v. Illinois

Answer 28

SCOTUS upheld right of state legislature to regulate businesses of public nature, like RR

Question 29

the farmers’ alliance

Answer 29

like grange, alliances had goal of economic and political action, had potential. in south, both poor white and black farmers joined.

Question 30

the ocala platform

Answer 30

farmers’ national alliance met in Ocala, FL to address problems of rural America. attacked major parties as subservient to wall street. created platform of significant reforms:

• direct election of US senators (previously elected by state legislatures)
• lower tariff rates
• graduated income tax
• new banking system regulated by federal government

Question 31

demands and shortcomings of farmers’ alliance

Answer 31

• demanded treasury notes and silver be used to increase money in circulation (create inflation)
• federal storage of crops
• didn’t form a political party but did influence election (state reps with platform supporting farmers got their votes)