Changing Landscape in America
As we study an often over-looked period of US history, you will learn that the 35 years between the end of the Civil War and the dawn of the twentieth century were an important era that changed America from an unimportant "new world" country to a major player on the international scene. Our economy transformed from a simple agrarian society to a complex industrial powerhouse, and politically the US went from Washington's isolationism to the US Age of Empire. Literally millions of immigrants poured into the country, changing the way that Americans lived, worked, looked and sounded. As we've noted in lecture, it was also a time to readjust race relations in America post-slavery, especially in the South.
All of these things and more make this period an important one for understanding the true identity of America. Follow the link http://www.hippocampus.org/US%20History%20II and choose any three of the titles under "Changing Landscape" to read and review as your homework assignment. Do the reading and watch the videos then report back what you find. The requirements for this assignment are exactly the same as all of those before. Do your best!
Confrontations with Native Americans:
ReplyDeleteNative Americans lived in America long before Europeans ever came to this land. The Native Americans lived in tribes and rarely associated themselves with other tribes. As more Europeans came to settle America, the Native Americans were pushed further west. Eventually, the US government forced them to leave their homeland to be relocated to reservations in the west.
Indian Resistance:
The Native Americans were tired of being moved around and forced into smaller, more desolate areas, so they rebelled. This rebellion was known as the Indian Wars. Many famous Indian chiefs were involved in this war including Chief Sitting Bull and Chief Crazy Horse.
Effects of the Indian Wars:
Helen Hunt Jackson wrote a book called A Century of Dishonor which depicted the cruelty toward the Indians during the war. The Indians were treated very cruelly by being sent to reservations and receiving little support from the government to help them recover from the losses of the Indian Wars. Many Native Americans had been killed during the Indian Wars, and many of the buffalo on the western plains had been hunted to decrease the food supply for the Indians during the war. Some Indians were integrated into society, but many more were left on reservations. The Native American population has greatly increased since the Indian Wars, and over two million Native Americans live within United States borders today.
As first topic I decided to talk about the Far West. The Far west was in the Southwestern part of the North America. Spain conquered that territory. When Spanish arrived they imposed the Chatolicism and even if at fist there were trouble, at the end the Indian became pacified. They stay in New Mexico and they made a new state of governament in Santa Fe.
ReplyDeleteThe second topic is about the economic diversification. Economics in the United Stated wasn't so important since the beginnig of the Civil Wor. The slaves that work in the cotton farm support their economy; so not a lot of industries didn't take place in the South.But one day they called "New South" the part with industrialization. After the discovery of the railroads, the industries were more popular. They made a lot of money with tobacco.
The third topic is about building and influence of the railroads. I already spoke about how the railroad change the economy so let's talk about why they decide to build it They decide to build it for different reason and some of that are transportation of people (from East to West coast) with a railway across the American Desert but also for trasportation of productes to sell.
Mining
ReplyDeleteI chose to do my first assignment this week about mining. In our state we think of coal mining, but in the 1800s there was a lot of mining for gold, copper, lead, tin, zinc, silver, and quartz. This was a huge deal because, like we’ve studied, you needed specie( metal money) to back up your money or it was worthless. Also, the newly invented telephone and telegraph required copper to relay the messages. The most interesting thing about mining in the 1800s was that everybody did it, whether you were a farmer, rancher, businessman, or freedman you worked side by side in hopes of becoming wealthy. This also affected the entire nation. It helped fund the Union during the Civil War, brought great literature from greats like Mark Twain, and even helped bring forth a stronger railroad system.
Political Changes in the South
I chose to do my second assignment this week on political changes in the south. After the defeat, the southern people had to find someone to help; they chose their local leaders or the “redeemers”. They were called redeemers because they wanted to redeem the south from the “Yankees” as well as redeem their great agrarian culture. Everyone but the Democrats called the Bourbons because they thought that they were reactive as opposed to pro active. The bourbons were strong advocates of business and industry in the time of reconstruction, and wanted education to be funded privately as opposed to government.
Indian Resistance
I chose to do the final part of this assignment about the Indian resistance. Let’s face it the Indians were constantly being pushed and prodded out of their own land, so naturally they did something about it. They fought in wars called the Indian Wars. Throughout the wars many were killed and in the end result a lot of the Indians (though not all) became an integrated part of America.
Thank You,
Rebecca
Regional economics in the South:
ReplyDeleteAfter the terrible economical failure of the civil war the south realized, that their life and economy depended to strong on the cotton industry. Some great man began to think about the new economical future of the south. On of them was Henry Grady. He wanted an industrialized south to be competitive, but still wanted enough crops to feed the people and provide raw materials. The key element for the economical growth of the south were railroads. These fast and cheap transportation method made it possible to transport the current resources faster and also opened the way for new products like tobacco, rice and sugar. After some time went on, there were new inventions which helped the south to sell it’s products with more profit and higher numbers, these were refrigerated railcars and the invention of caned food. Another thing which helped the economy was the discovery of the excellent quality of the southern pine trees, they were use full to produce paper and furniture. The last cornerstone of the southern economy were the coal and steel industry in the Birmingham/Alabama area. It created a whole new industry in the south to depend on. After all these changes were made, the south was really good industrialized and could compete with the developed North and other European industries.
The far west:
ReplyDeleteThe Spanish moved in to the West early on in American history. These Spanish settlers enforced Catholicism on the Native Americans. After the Mexican War for Independence the culture of Mexico still remained fairly Spanish, especially in language, religion, and architecture. After the U.S acquired part of the land it was hard to keep the settlers out, even more so after gold was discovered in California. In the late 1800s the U.S. Census Bureau said that there was no more frontier iin America.
Race Relations in the New South:
After the civil War, states passed segregation laws known as Jim Crowe Laws. These laws provided Black people with the same provisions as whites (School, transpiration, public restrooms, ect.) but what was offered to blacks was not nearly as good of quality and what was offered to whites. Also, even though Black people had the right to vote, states would pass laws like making people take a literacy test or pay a voter tax before they could vote, both of which most blacks at the time couldn’t do.
Building and Influence of railroads:
In the early 1800s the U.S. government saw the need for a transcontinental railroad. Two railway companies where contracted to do the job; The Central Pacific, And the Union Pacific. They met in raul Utah and drove a golden spike into the ground.
For my first topic I chose economic diversification. And I think that the different changes between the south and the north are a lot different but then again not too far apart. The South was very different because of the cotton industry, since it was all dependent upon cotton the other industries basically failed. Henry W. Grady, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution, promoted the vision for the New South at a meeting of the New England Society of New York. Grady shared a good view of the New South’s potential a strong core, economic diversity, and healthy growth over time.
ReplyDeleteMy second topic was on the migration westward. Before the Civil War, most English settlers and their children chose to live along the Atlantic Coast. The Pacific Coast was also being settled, which would lead to the development of the Great Plains as the two coasts spread toward the middle of America.
And my last topic was on the mining industry facilitated expansion of the railroad industry by creating a need for quick and easy transport between mining and production sites. Entrepreneurs came with the first transcontinental railroad. A little before the Civil War, railroads had been used east of the Missouri River. The country’s leaders hoped to span the void of the Great American Desert with a railway that would connect the populous areas and truly unite the states.
The first topic I chose is Cattle, cowboys, and beef baroons.
ReplyDeleteEverything started when spanish people brought cattle to north Mexico (now Texas and south USA). they found out that they can eat it and it's very cheap to maintain cattle all they needed was large fields of grass and alot of water. The people in the south started doing bussiness by sending it to the west by railroad. And is how the term cowboy started, it was a mix of european inmigrants, ex slaves, mexicans, and civil war people.
Farming on the plains:
It talks about how the weather and the land was difficult to grow and to farm for the new settlers after the civil war was finish. It also says that the land was cheap because it was pretty bad and rough but the items that they needed to farm were expensive for them.
Farming becomes a bussines:
After the state labor and the advance of technology, farming became a bussines for farmers. They did not just grow for their benefeat so they would not die, now they grow to sell and make their own bussines.
Daniel González =D
Farming on the Plain:
ReplyDeleteFarming on the plain was far more difficult than I thought it would be. Farming had some advantages but a lot more disadvantages. Everything they would do might be destroyed by the weather and or animals. People from Russia helped and knew how to raise families on the farms because they were experienced. Also, the farmers were grateful for bringing some wheat from Russia. The women had to be pretty tough to be able to live and survive on the farm the video said that at one point the ration men to women was 100 to 1!
Farming becomes a business:
Farming was and maybe still a big deal to the farmers. The farmers grow their crops and soon realized they were going and could be a sharecropper which we learned about it in History class. The people were just trying to survive with their crops and gardens but they were defeated by natural weathering or even the biggest problem fires. Someone might have accidentally started a fire and the wind take it and it burn everything that the farmers had.
Mining:
In those days mining was a big deal in the western parts of the country because they didn’t have ground like back in the east so they used coal. Once the discovered coal and technology progressed they figured out that the coal was very useful for lead, gold, graphite, etc.
Effect of the Indian Wars:
ReplyDeleteThe Indian wars came as a result of the Indians getting fed up with being disrespected. Because of these wars a huge dent was created in the population of buffalo and therefore partially harming the Indians more than helping them. As a way to appease the situation the whites decided to invest in reservations to put the Indians on... in their opinion it was cheaper to provide for them than it was to fight for them. They were placed on these reservations "for there own good" but that matter is still up for debate.
Mining:
Mining began in 1848 and was a big hit right off there was no doubt about it. Through this process low class, middle class, and high class societies worked together to ultimately get rich or in some cases richer fast. As a smart way of self help the richer developers in the mining business decided to start providing for the lower class miners and their families in hopes of being able to share in profits... making it pretty much a win win for all.
Influence of the Railroads:
The railroads were a wonderful tool but soon became a huge necessity to the mining industry because of need for transportation... the demand became so high the first transcontinental railroad was created. Because the cost of the railroad was so great it was to much a financial burden for one company to undertake so eventually the government stepped up and granted charters to two companies giving much aid to the process. Not only were the railroads helpful to the mining industry but they also helped transport livestock and health aid to the military.
works cited:
http://www.hippocampus.org/US%20History%20II
Marta:
ReplyDeleteGreat job your essay was very good and very informative. You layed all of your information out very nicely and it was quite easy to understand. Great job!
Bethany:
Again your essay was great! And as always it's pretty obvious that you put a lot into your work and it very informative. The topics you chose were very good and important to talk about :)
Catelyn:
The topics you chose were very interesting ones and you typed it all out quite well. It was all pretty entertaining and easy reading. You kept my attention and I feel like I learned a lot. Amazing job on your essay!
Christian:
Great job on your essay you did wonderful at explaining everything that you learned about. It definitely made me aware of a lot that I wasn't before. You're topics were very prominent and stood out for sure... They were easy to make since of and I understood it all. Great job!
The first topic I chose was Native Americans. The Native Americans are known to have lived here since the fifteenth century (1400s). The numerous tribes were spread from the east to the west coast with about five hundred people per band (bands were groups within the tribes). The tribes warred with each other continually; which made them weak when the Europeans came over. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Spanish introduced horses to the Native Americans which allowed them to be nomadic and follow the buffalo. When the white Europeans began to settle the “Indians” were forced to move westward. Their lands were taken from them many times and were relocated to reservations when Americans became interested with the western lands. The BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) was formed to “protect” the Native Americans lands.
ReplyDeleteThe next topic I chose was mining. Mining got its big start in America by the California Gold Rush, 1849. The total of just immigrants was 100,000! Mining affected the whole country and again aroused bad feelings between the Native Americans and whites. This tremendous surge caused one of the reasons for the transcontinental railroad.
The next topic I chose was political changes. The South was in bad shape and hated being dominated by the Yankees after the Civil War. So, the southerners went to their local leaders called the Redeemers. The Redeemers were Democrats and their platform was agricultural and public health boards. The change of the South’s mindset made way for black southern diplomats. Even though the Redeemers supported the belief of white superiority they coexisted with the freed blacks peacefully from the 1880s through the 1890s.
Daniel: You did really good job on your essay! It good that you can see Mexican history too. It's good know some about your country.
ReplyDeleteAgain, good job!
Christian: Really good job on your essay! I really like it! It's really well written and there are a lot of information about your topics. Your essay are always good so, again, good job!
Lydia: Great job!!! You essay is so good! I really like it! As usual you write really well and you put a lot of information in your essay. Your topic were very interesting! :) Again good job!
Daniel,
ReplyDeleteI liked you essay and the topics you wrote about. Good job.
Jessi,
You about chose to write about interesting topics. I liked how you talked about railwood
Jessi:
ReplyDeleteAs usually you did an excellent job! Your essay was full of information and written accurately. Great job :)
Amanda:
You did an awesome job writing your essay! You did precisely what the instructions called for, as usual. Great job :)
Rebecca:
Your essay was great! As usual, your essay was full of accurate and well researched facts. Great job :)
Bethany:
Awesome job! Like everyone else, you put a lot of thought and effort into your essay and it paid off. Great job :)
Marta:
Well done! Your essay was great.
You can tell that you tried your best.
Great job :)
Daniel:
You did a good job on your easy! It was well researched and accurate.
Great job :)
Christian:
Your essay was really good. Your information was accurately executed. Great job :)
Bobby:
You did a really good job on your essay! It was written very well. Great job :)
Rebecca: Great job on your essay. I thought it was very informative and enlightening because I really hadn’t thought about the other kinds of mining in the country and didn’t realize that it was so popular back then.
ReplyDeleteLydia: Your essay was very good. It was well-put and easy to read, not to mention it was detailed and completely described your topics.
Jessi: I liked your essay because it gave necessary insight to the big issues of the day. It is well-written and understandable.
Marta: Your essay was good, and I really like how one topic related to another.
Christian: I like your essay because it outlined the progression of the South into a more industrialized and successful region. Everything was very easy to understand and very well-stated.
Daniel: I like how your essay is constructed and how each topic builds upon the previous one.
Bethany: I like how you mentioned the people from Russia. I never really thought of Russians as farmers, but now I completely understand.
Rebecca: Great Job on your essay!! You put it everything simply and well thought out things. I loved that you put everything in so well and in very good order. Good Job
ReplyDeleteAmanda: Great Job on your essay! I loved how you added that name to your essay it made it a much more informative. Good Job
Daniel: Very good job on your essay! I thought it was very informational and simply and well put. It seemed like it flowed with everything very well!! Good Job
Christian: Excellent Job on your essay!! It was very well and you typed it very nice and it had plenty of information in it!! Good Job
Marta: I loved your essay!! You always do a great job on these. You put in great information in it and everything is just so good!! So Good Job!!
Bobby: Very good job on your essay it was good!
Lydia Ramsey
ReplyDeleteI really think you did a good job with your essay. It is well written und you meet all the requirements, your essay also contains a lot of information.
Amanda Wiggington
I think, you did a very good job with your essay. I think your topics are really interesting and you did a nice job.
Daniel Gonzalez
I like your essay really Daniel and you did a good job with it. I like the topics you have chosen, because they concentrate on farming and that was a very big part of the south and is still very important.
Bobby Hekel
I like your essay, it is well written and meets the requirements, good job. Keep writing essays like this!
Marta Civettini
I like your essay and enjoyed reading it. I like the topic of your first essay, because it is very interesting for me to see how the Mexican-American war seems to continue. Good job, keep writing essays like this.
Bethany,
ReplyDeleteAs always your essay was extremely researched and informative as well as easy to read. I never realized how much went in to farming, especially since anything can destroy your life earnings in a short amount of time. Anyway, great job and I look forward to your next essay!
Lydia,
Your essay this week was spectacular! It was really full or information that was easy to understand. What most interested me was about the Indians and the struggles they faced through not only a few times but centuries. Anyway, I really enjoyed reading your essay and I can’t wait to read your next essay as well.
Catelyn,
Like I said to Lydia and Bethany, your essays are always so captivating and informative! It was very cool to learn about a new historical book by Helen Hunt Jackson. Overall, your essay was very easy to read and set up well. Good Job!
Mining:
ReplyDeleteI chose this because I find it cool that you had some people from every branch of social status working together to finish the same job. Mining started in 1848 and was an economic gain almost instantly mining would produce natural fuel that we could use to increase our standard of living, but little did we know that in our gain we were hurting the surrounding environments terribly.
Farming on the Plain:
I chose this because I found one of the facts to be so extreme. On the farm at one point there was only one woman for every man, I find that a ridiculous difference in male to female ratio. It would be like our school having only three to four girls in the entire school! I also didn’t ever think about the learning curve the farmers would have to overcome to become a prosperous farmer. Such as they would have to figure out how to protect their crops from being destroyed from the weather and also what crops would grow in the area.
Indian Resistance:
I chose this topic because ever when I was a kid I was very interested in the interactions between the Indians and the settlers (cowboys). After being moved westward multiple times and losing more and more land the Indians got fed up with the colonist and decided to revolt against them in the wars called the Indian Wars. At this time colonies were never safe from Indian tribes that would attack different colonies attacking men, women, and children, but unlike the whites believed at the time they were not just savages that loved killing white men and stealing their land. They were men and women trying to provide for their families by any means necessary.