THE CONQUEST OF THE WEST 2
American West has undergone a massive social and economic transformation. American West has had vast resources that the Americans utilize to get wealthy. Gold in the West attracted many miners who had a burning desire to amerce wealth within a short period as gold was the most valuable mineral. Cattle ranchers saw an opportunity to get rich by selling cattle in the East despite its value inferiority as compared to gold. Federal land policies governing body formulated guidelines to own the western territories. United States set up policies aimed at assimilating the Indian people in the U.S.
People living in the Western part U.S. saw a faster route to getting rich in gold mining. Initially, the people valued farming from homes, and they made it their primary target. Gold was finally located in the Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California, by miners. (Fisher et al., 1968). People hurried to secure a place in the gold region in a disorderly manner, and the process took place for a long time. Many people saw an opportunity to establish several saloon shops, big stores, and prostitute’s numbers rose significantly to get a fortune from the miners in the newly discovered gold mine.
Miners were able to get the gold out of dirt and gravel. The gold mining took place for over two decades in Colorado and Nevada. However, the miners in 1860 and beyond found it challenging to extract gold from the mines since the mine shafts were getting deep, and they could not dig without the use of machines. The miners lacked enough capital to get the mining machinery, and they opted for business activities to replace the mining as a source of income. The business activities brought about the development of urban centers. Denver, Colorado, was born out of the well-developed infrastructure from the business activities that replaced mining.
The less fortunate miners from the previous mining activities continued mining in unfavorable conditions, including poor ventilation and high temperatures, which could bring about lung diseases. The miners were paid low wages either daily or weekly. Many miners died during the mining process, and others were left crippled, which led the remaining miners to form unions and campaign for the working situation to be upgraded. The state militias dealt with the disturbing miners appropriately. The wealthy miners abolished gold mining as it was no longer profitable, which led to the massive closure of businesses established in the towns as business people sought other mining places (Limerick, 1998). The U.S. government aimed to control the mining for the miners to maximize possible returns from mining activities and bring law and order among the Westerners.
The cattle industry brought fewer returns as compared to gold. The railway construction connected continents, and it prompted settlers to take the chance to own the long-horned steers that had inhabited the Texas frontier. Eastern business people and the cattle ranchers had ignored the possibility of trading the cattle due to the Eastern markets’ absence of transport facilities. The railway gave the Eastern businessmen and the cattle ranchers a chance to transport the cattle to the Eastern markets. Joseph G. McCoy spearheaded the cattle trade by setting up several activities (Cox, 1895). He designated Abilene to be the point where cowboys would drive the cattle. McCoy would pay cowboys for cattle and transport them to the East
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Many cowboys saw a chance to work in cattle ranches, and they always sought jobs on the farms. The challenges of working as a cowboy were numerous. Insecurity was on the rise in the grazing fields as cowboys and the Native Americans rivaled. The cowboys hoped for a better salary, and they kept pushing on with the job despite the dirty nature. Cowboys herded long-horned cattle close to the rails. In 1873, the ranchers came up with a new grazing system that restricted the cattle from roaming the free lands (Woodward et al., 1966). The ranchers fenced their lands and kept their cattle closely. Business people originating from the East constructed more railways lines and put a lot of concentration on ranching, which led to the abolition of cattle drives.
Ranching caused several problems in Texas. Wealthy ranchers took for themselves expansive grazing grounds leaving the small herders no place for herding their cattle, and this prompted the herders to force their way into the fenced grazing fields by cutting the barbed wires (Mont et al., 2014). Cattle rustling came to be as the cowboys took with them part of the cattle belonging to the wealthy ranchers, which led to constant violence between the cowboys and the ranchers.
Federal land policy in charge of land claim to the West broadened the territories following no rules and guidelines to the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the early nineteenth century. Ordinance set up a plan to partition the Western territories and fit the partitions into a township (Vandenbroucke, 2008). Every township received 640 acres. Farmers from the same place joined hands to purchase the 640 acres, and in the process, they would form Western Township. In 1790, wealthy persons purchased vast pieces of land from the federalists, and they would later sell minimal portions to the farmers. Federalists restricted farmers to 640 acres per farmer, which gradually was lowered in 1800 by the Republicans to 320 acres. By the year 1832, individual farmers could purchase a minimum of 40 acres at a dollar per acre.
Squatters established settlements on the western land, having not bought them. Speculators were interested in hosting the settlers, which prompted the homesteaders to create an association to protect the lands from being auctioned by the speculators. The squatters requested the CongressCongress to allow them to pay small amounts to rightfully own the lands they had already settled in (Billington et al., 1949). The Congress heard the squatters’ cry in 1841 and granted them their wish by implementing general preemption law.
Federal Indian policy selected Federal Indian agents placed in specific areas to oversee implementation of Trade and Intercourse Acts and were set which entailed carrying out licensed trade. In 1830, the CongressCongress came up with Removal Act with allowed the president to move the Indians to the West (Fixico, 1986). By 1840, over 100 000 Indians had relocated to the West. The Indian’s move to the West left U.S. policymakers dissatisfied as the west move could not solve the Indian problem. However, the Indians got assimilated into the American mainstream when they pledged to offer their support during civil wars. The Dawes Act of 1887 aimed at spearheading the well-being of Indians by doing away with their tribal land base resulted in adverse effects, which were drafted in a Merian report of 1928. Commissioner of Indian Affairs formulated The Indian New Deal to eliminate adverse effects brought about by Dawe Act. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 aimed at giving extra power to the tribal basis of Indians, but by 1950, Federal legislation wiped away the tribes and offered financial assistance for tribal members to shift to the American urban (Trennert, 1975). Indians were trained to do manual arts and were provided work opportunities in the American cities. The tribes still came up in the Indian Urban ghettos later on, and American Indian Policy encouraged them to define their future.
Mining in Western America led to the rise of urban areas such as Nevada and Colorado. The mining exercise created a division as those who got rich subjected those unfortunate to mining in harmful conditions. The construction of railway lines facilitated the cattle industry as it connected Texas to the Eastern. The wealthy individual claimed large pieces of land and practiced ranching with the invention of barbed wires. Cowboys could not find grazing fields and opted to sneak their herds into the ranches, and in the process, they repeatedly stole cattle from the farm. Federal land policy expanded lands to the West. A group of farmers sold 640 acres formed Western Township. By 1840 Federal sold a minimum of 40 acres to individuals. Settlers were allowed to pay little for the lands. Federal Indian policy saw Indians moved to the West. Indians were assimilated into Americans and saw several acts to destroy their tribes were legislated, but the Indian tribes stood out in the end.
References
Billington, R. A., & Hedges, J. B. (1949). Westward expansion: a history of the American frontier (Vol. 10). New York: Macmillan.
Cox, J. (1895). Historical and Biographical Record of the Cattle Industry and the Cattlemen of Texas and Adjacent Territory.
Fisher, V., Holmes, O. L., & Fisher, O. L. (1968). Gold rushes and mining camps of the early American West. Caxton Press.References
Fixico, D. L. (1986). Termination and Relocation. Federal Indian Policy, 1945-1960. University of New Mexico Press, Journalism Building, Suite 220, Albuquerque, NM 87131.
Limerick, P. N. (1998). The Gold Rush and the Shaping of the American West. California History, 77(1), 30-41.
Mont. L. Rev., 28, 155. Liles, D. (2014). Slavery and cattle in East and West Texas. East Texas Historical Journal, 52(2), 7.
Trennert, R. A. (1975). Alternative to Extinction: Federal Indian Policy and the Beginnings of the Reservation System. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Vandenbroucke, G. (2008). The US westward expansion. International Economic Review, 49(1), 81-110.
Woodward & Tiernan Printing ComScott, V. W. (1966). The Range Cattle Industry: Its effect on western land law.