Apush Notes: Conquering a Continent 1861-1877 Essay

The American Civil War ended in 1865 which resulted in victory for the Union and the disbanding of the Confederacy. The aftermath of the war ushered in major political and social reforms in attempt to prevent the Civil War from happening ever again. The Reconstruction Era (1865-1877) began immediately after the war, then it was followed by the Gilded Age (1877 –1897), and at the turn of the century was the Progressive Era (1897–1920). These three significant time periods in American history introduced major changes to civil rights, industrialization, and foreign policy during the forty-five years following the Civil War. However, change was not always good. Some sought to take advantage of the shifting of tides and benefit from

Thus the census of 1890 shows, in the Northwest, many counties in which there is an absolute or a relative decrease of population. These States have been sending farmers to advance the frontier on the Plains, and have themselves begun to turn to intensive farming and to manufacture. A decade before this, Ohio had shown the same transition stage. Thus the demand for land and the love of wilderness freedom drew the frontier ever onward.

Ohioans that petitioned to Congress about the monopolizing of acreage by private companies on the frontier after the War of Independence, the farmers also asked for “vacant lands”

On May 20, 1862, the Homestead Act was passed (Homestead Act). This act stated that any adult citizen who had never borne arms against the United States government could claim 160 acres of surveyed government land (Homestead Act). The government

History is like a die. It can have a small or large number of sides, but it can never have just one. Regarding the United States Westward Expansion in the Post-Civil War era, there were many sides to be taken into account, including (but not limited to) the Apache Indians, the US Government workers and soldiers, the American Elite, journalists, and scholars. How historians and others perceive this era is dependent on the primary sources available. By looking at sources such as Apache Chief Geronimo’s Story of His Life, Harvard Educated Ranch Manager Richard Trimble’s Letters to his Mother, and Financial Editor H.D. Lloyd’s “Story of a Great Monopoly”, one can unearth little nuggets of information that help determine how the process of incorporation affected large and diverse groups of people.

Farmers came to the Great Plains is great abundance, as this was heavily encouraged by government land policies and cheap land that was readily available. One of these policies was The Homestead Act, which would provide free or inexpensive land to farmers. The ever-growing railroad industry also offered attractive deals to those wishing to move onto the plains. All of these incentives were very enticing at first for farmers, but when they arrived in their new land they were met with a few problems. This new environment was difficult and dry. The animal and plant life was strange to the farmers. Not only that, but the native inhabitants of this land were warlike. However, farmers soon adapted to their new environment by implementing a few solutions. Lack of wood was solved by sod houses and barbed wire. Windmills and dry farming techniques were used to overcome the lack of water, and new machinery was used for farming. But expensive machinery soon led to debt and this debt led to bankruptcy. Farmers were faced with the same issue as the cattleman and many had to sell out to corporate

Within the contents of the “republicanism: 1816-1850” (I chose to use the dates because students these days appreciate minimalism and direct terms more than titles), there should be a focus on Industrialization, Social Ramifications of Industrialization, Westward Expansion, and Politics. First though, an understanding of republicanism must be achieved. Please recall that republicanism became popular in the revolutionary period. Throughout the years of our textbook, a common phrase for businessman, politicians, and others was, “appealing to nations republican heritage.” The central tenants of republicanism are the protection of the common good, to the point of citizens being subordinated for the communal well-being, and the protection of the interests of the people, achieved by citizens participating in the political process. Rulers are to

In 1893, at the 400th anniversary of the appearance of Columbus in the Americas celebrated in Chicago , Frederick Jackson Turner presented an academic paper entitled, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” In this essay, Turner proposes that, “The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward explain American development.” The group dynamic that Turner champions is the farmer. More directly it is white, male farmers. While the expansion of the west by white male farmers was a factor in the development of America, it is not the only explanation for this progression. Turner fails to incorporate all of the demographics present during this expansion which were essential to the evolution of America.

In 1854, great achievement came. Commodore Perry and the Japanese Representatives of the Tokugawa Shogunate signed the Convention between the United States and America. These discussions lead to the opening of coal trade companies, American shipping ports and naval academy’s in Japan. These were Japan’s first reintroduction into Western influence.

Prompt: Although the development of the Trans-Mississippi West is popularly associated with hardy individualism, it was in fact largely dependent on the federal government. Assess the validity of this statement with specific reference to western economic activities in the 19th century.

The second effect of the North’s victory over the South is a new financial system. The American Civil War destroyed the

FINAL EXAM 2. Discuss the ways in which the North and South had become far different cultures in the areas of politics, economics, and social customs. Why were these important? Provide evidence to support your answers. The Civil War brought many changes to the North and South regions, otherwise known as the Union and the Confederacy.

Secondly, the South has strengthened democracy about economic. After the Civil War, the South economic was terrible. There were many cities are ruined, factories, railroads, farms and plantations were destroyed (lecture). Reconstruction changed the economy of the South. The federal government, and private northern owner invested a large amount of capital into the southern economy. White land-owners dissolved their plantations into smaller pieces of land. They engaged these to

Opportunity defined the Unassigned lands. Two attorneys, T.C. Sears and Elias C. Boudinot, found within the old treaties, land titles, and other various documents that 14 million acres of land were unclaimed, which would later be promoted Oklahoma district (Baird and Goble, p 141). The drive behind the Sears and Boudinot were primarily monetary reasons. Sears was an attorney for the Katy Railroad, which sought to settle the unassigned lands to increase the revenue from the empty region; Boudinot a Cherokee Attorney seeking fortunes (Baird and Goble, p 142). Yet, the Federal government protected the unassigned lands, which had been previously taken from the Creek and Seminole Nations (Baird and Goble, p 142). Although the opening of the Unassigned Lands in 1889 would require pressure from various sides on the Federal government, but to change Federal government’s stance of zero homesteading would require the pressure of the powerful railroads, the Boomer movement, and other major parties.

The Second Industrial Revolution, which reached its peak during 1870 to 1914, marked a significant turning point in American history. Before this era of progression and industrial excellence, America was on the verge of expansion like never before. From the vast amounts of land gained through the Annexation of Texas in 1845, the British retreating from Oregon in 1846, and the Mexican cession of Southwest territory guaranteed by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo of 1848, (Engelman) America was able to expand their territory and access new resources. Industrialization and factory growth in the North was just budding and beginning to create economic success, along with spurring a rise of urbanization and migration of foreign workers to America.