Western Farmers Classwork:
Learning Objective: You will be able to compare and contrast the reasons Americans decided to move westward?
Do Now- Circle any People, Underline any Dates, Box the words “Law,” “Act,” “West,” or “Land.”
Attracted by the promise of free or cheap land, thousands of farmers,
both African American and white, moved to the west after the Civil War.
There were over 30 million acres (a measure of land) settled between the
time period of 1860 to 1900. This was aided by the government with the
passage of three Land Acts. With these acts there was an increase of
land that was allowed to be settled for of non-Indian settlers. This
allowed for many unemployed African American and white Americans to
seize opportunities elsewhere. The three acts that were passed were the
Homestead Act, the Pacific Railway Act, and the Morrill Act. These acts
operated as a means for Americans to have the initiative (idea) to move
out west.
With the passage of the Homestead Act (1862) the government granted a
160-acer homestead (farm) to any individual willing to cultivate (grow
crops) on it. The American willing to do these things would have to
commit to five years of living on the Great Plains, farming on their
land. Around 400,000 families took the government up on this offer.
Between the years of 1862 and 1866 there were a number of Pacific
Railways Acts which provided the railroad companies which resided
(lived) in the United States to develop (build) railroads in the
expanding (growing) west. The American Government believed that this was
vital (important) to the future development of the country. With an
increase in the amount railroads across the country, the more likely the
country would be to expand. The belief that the United States was
destined to stretch from shore to shore (ocean to ocean) was called
Manifest Destiny. With the production of more railroads this could be
more likely to happen.
With these acts being passed there was a large distribution of land
to the American people, but there were also a large number of
individuals that had not had the skills to tend to their land. Due to
this the United States government put in place the Morrill Act (1890),
which gave land grant (funding) to any state that would train less
experienced Americans so they could develop their skills.
Due to the many opportunities thousands of Americans began to race
toward land ownership in the west. This established (set up) a
competition between Americans to obtain (get) the most fertile (good
soil) land. The first of these races or runs began in 1889 in Oklahoma.
That first day around 50,000 possible settlers showed up to get hold of
some land.
