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Homestead Act Passed
The Homestead Act encouraged settlers to move to tribal areas by offering 160 acres of land to any head of the household over 21 years old. The condition was that they had to pay a small fee for occupying of the land for five years. After six months of occupation, the settlers had the option to buy each acre of land for $1.25. While it moved many settlers to the West, the further relocation of Native Americans was necessary every time they needed more land -
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American Westward Expansion
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Morrill Land Grant Act
Under the act, states were given grants of land to establish agricultural colleges. The states could decided to either build the college on the land or sell the land in order to build the college. Afterward, the Second Morrill Land Grant Act made it so that African Americans were allowed to enter the colleges. -
The Sand Creek Massacre
After disputes between the Cheyenne Indians over moving them onto reservation, treaties were finally signed to move them onto a small reservation near Ft. Lyon called Sand Creek to be closer to U.S. soldiers. Through miscomunication at the fort, however, the soldiers became angry and attacked the Cheyenne at Sand Creek, which ended in a massacre killing 150 Cheyenne Indians, including women and children -
Invention of Barbed Wire
Invented by Lucien B. Smith from Kenton, Ohio, barbed wire was meant to keep cattle in their place. In the days of cowboys and cattle-herding, farmers faced the hardship of cattle roaming onto their land and destroying their crops, which is how Smith got the idea for barbed wire. He invented the twisted metal to keep the cattle out of his farmland, and it quickly became very popular. -
National Grange Established
Officially called the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, it was established by Oliver Hudson Kelley in order to educate farmers in the managemnet if trading their goods and help them regain their farmland. It was established after Kelley witnessed many farmers facing poverty and foreclosure brought from their lack of knowledge in trading. -
Battle of Little Bighorn
Colonel George A. Custer was assigned the task of clearing out all remaining Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho from the Black Hills. The reason for the order was that the American Indians were becoming aggressive due to the influx of settlers coming for newly found gold. Custer went in with the 7th Cavalry, and the battle ended with the death of Custer and most of his men, the event becoming know as Custer's Last Stand. -
American Indian Boarding Schools
These boarding schools were another attempt to assimilate American Indians into American culture. Federal policies forced some Native American children to be taken from their homes and put into these special schools, in which the children were immersed in the ways of the dominant culture and were kept from any aspects of their original culture, even by having their names changed -
Interstate Commerce Act Passed
The purpose of the interstate commerce act was to regulate trade, specifically involving interstate railroads. After the persistance of the National Grange in regulating prices and the Munn v. Illinois and Wabash v. Illions cases, the regulation of interstate railroad trade fell under the control of the national government. It also created the Interstate Commerce Commision in order to regulate prices charged by railroad companies. -
The Dawes Act
The act was meant to help in the assimilation of the Native Americans into "American" culture. The act was meant to make Native Americans independent farmers by giving them their own land that was part of the reservation. Each head of household received 160 acres of land and each unmarried man got 80 acres. The remaining land would be sold off by the federal government. However, the Native Americans recieved very little for the excess land sold and their land soon came under control of others. -
Battle of Wounded Knee
After the attempted capture and death of Sitting Bull, in an attempt to halt the Ghost Dance Movement, the resulting battle later that month at Wounded Knee ended as a massacre. When the Sioux took up camp there, the military ordered them to give up their weapons. In the midst, a shot was fired (it is unknown from who), causing an intense battle ending in the death of over 300 Native Americans and the end of Native American resistance. -
Formation of the Populist Party
The Populist Party was formed by members of the Farmers' Alliance when they were able to get several canditates elected to Congress that supported their values. Also known as the People's Party, it was comprised mostly of farmers and many laborers. The party supported the unlimited coinage of silver, the establishment of a federal income tax, and the government ownership of railroads. -
Panic of 1893
The panic occured after a major drop in U.S. gold reserves. As a result of the drop, investors cashed out most of their investments in gold, causing a major economic depression from the fall in the stock market that lasted for over three years.
