Unit 7 Gilded Age

What is an exoduster?

An African-American who moved from the Jim Crow South into the West, usually through the Homestead Act

Western farmers faced serious problems during the Gilded Age, which led to the Populist movement. Name two problems faced by western farmers after the Civil War

. Crop prices were falling, farmers were overproducing (by farming too much, their crops were losing value), banks charged high interest rates (sometimes as high as 40%), railroads charged high fees, the government deflated currency by destroying "greenbacks" (paper money), and politicians ignored them

. Name two ways railroads changed from the era before the Civil War to the Gilded Age

More transportation of products; production increase

Who were the Grangers?

An early attempt by farmers to organize; Grangers demanded bank and railroad regulation and tried to set up co-op stores and silos; they were unsuccessful but helped lead to the formation of the Populists

. After the Civil War, three groups of Americans settled in the West (between the Mississippi River & Pacific coast). Name two of these three groups

Miners, ranchers (cowboys), farmers (homesteaders)

How did mining in the West after the Civil War differ from mining before the Civil War?

Mining moved beyond California into Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, the Dakotas; Mining emphasized gold, silver, copper, tin rather than just gold, corporate miners using hydraulic mining techniques were more successful than individual "placer" miners

Which group of Western Americans most used the "open range" and was hurt by the introduction of barbed wire?

Ranchers (cowboys)

What was the final Indian battle in American history? (Hint: in 1890, the U.S. military slaughtered over 200 Sioux after the Indians' refusal to end their "ghost dance" rituals)

The Battle of Wounded Knee

The expansion of railroads after the Civil War was helped by two groups: the national government and immigrants. Explain how both groups helped expand railroads

The national government gave millions of acres of land grants to complete the transcontinental railroad in order to connect the East with the West; Chinese and Irish immigrants built the western and eastern legs of the transcontinental railroad

What was the Homestead Act of 1862?

This law gave 160 acres of western land to farmers who promised to live on the land for at least 5 years

Name three ways western expansion during the Gilded Age impacted Native Americans (Plains Indians)

U.S. Indian policy changed from a huge "Indian Country" to small reservations as Americans took more lands, Indians were asked to assimilate (convert) to white culture; Indians and Americans clashed in a series of wars (Little Big Horn and Wounded Knee); Americans destroyed the supply of buffalo

One of the reforms proposed by the Populist Party was bi-metalism. What is bi-metalism and what it the advantage for Populists?

Using both gold and silver as money (rather than just the gold standard). Bi-,metalism would lead to inflation of the money supply which would help western farmers (the majority of the Populists were western farmers) pay off their debts easier.