Reshaping the Nation and the Emergence of Modern America: 1877 to the Early 1900s

Physical features and climate of the Great Plains

· Flatlands that rise gradually from east to west

· Land eroded by wind and water

· Low rainfall

· Frequent dust storms

Because of new technologies, people saw the Great Plains not as a “treeless wasteland” but as a vast area to be settled.

Inventions and adaptations

· Barbed wire

· Steel plows

· Dry farming

· Sod houses

· Beef cattle raising

· Wheat farming

· Windmills

Railroad

Reasons for increase westward expansion

· Opportunities for land ownership

· Technological advances, including the Transcontinental Railroad

· Possibility of obtaining wealth, created by the discovery of gold and

silver

· Desire for adventure

· Desire for a new beginning for former enslaved African Americans

Impact on American Indians

· Opposition by American Indians to westward expansion (Battle of

Little Bighorn, Sitting Bull, Geronimo)

· Forced relocation from traditional lands to reservations (Chief

Joseph, Nez Percé)

· Reduced population through warfare and disease (Battle of

Wounded Knee)

· Assimilation attempts and lifestyle changes (e.g., reduction of

buffalo population)

· Reduced their homelands through treaties that were broken

Transportation resources

· Moving natural resources (e.g., copper, lead) to eastern factories

· Moving iron ore deposits to sites of steel mills (e.g., Pittsburgh)

· Transporting finished products to national markets

Examples of manufacturing areas

· Textile industry: New England

· Automobile industry: Detroit

Steel industry: Pittsburgh