Westward Expansion: Crash Course US History #24

Summary

In this episode of Crash Course U.S. History, John Green explores the myth and reality of the American West. Debunking the notion of the 'Wild West' as purely a land of individualistic cowboys and settlers, Green discusses the significant role of the federal government in facilitating westward expansion through railroads, homesteading laws, and military actions against Native Americans. He also touches on the economic motivations behind the westward movement, the impact on indigenous populations, and the transformation of the West into a region driven by agrobusiness and industrial capitalism.

Takeaways

• 🌏 The Wild West was not as 'wild' or individualistic as often depicted in American mythology, with many settlers arriving as families or part of immigrant groups.
• 🚂 Railroads were crucial for the settlement and development of the West, enabling the transportation of goods to market and the delivery of necessary supplies to settlers.
• 🏞️ The federal government played a significant role in the West's development, including passing laws to encourage homesteading, displacing Native Americans, and supporting railroad expansion.
• 🔥 The U.S. military conducted campaigns against Native Americans, leading to their forced relocation to reservations and the destruction of their way of life, such as the buffalo hunting that devastated the Plains tribes.
• 📉 The Ghost Dance movement was a spiritual response by some Native Americans to the cultural and physical threats they faced, seeking to preserve their traditions and way of life.
• 🏫 The Dawes Act of 1887 aimed to assimilate Native Americans by allotting tribal lands to individual families and encouraging farming, but it resulted in significant land loss for Native Americans.
• 🤠 The image of the cowboy as a symbol of rugged individualism is largely a myth; the cowboy's work was often tied to the railroads and industrial meat processing.
• 🌾 Western farming was not the idyllic family farm as often imagined but involved large-scale production for national and international markets, and required significant irrigation projects.
• 🌊 The Oglala Aquifer, a massive underground water source, was essential for irrigation in the Great Plains, but its sustainability is now in question as it depletes.
• 🏭 The West's agricultural sector became increasingly industrialized, with large corporations owning and operating farms, and relying on migrant labor, diverging from the Jeffersonian ideal of family farms.

Q & A

What does the term 'Wild West' commonly evoke in American mythology?

The term 'Wild West' commonly evokes images of cowboys, gunslingers, houses of ill repute, and a sense of freedom from government interference.

According to Frederick Jackson Turner's 1893 lecture, what were some key characteristics of American culture influenced by the West?

Turner argued that the West influenced American culture by promoting beliefs in individualism, political democracy, and economic mobility.

How does the reality of western settlement differ from the myth of the Frontier?

In reality, most western settlers went not as individuals but as members of a family or as part of an immigrant group, and the territory was not unoccupied as it was home to American Indians, Chinese, Mexican migrant laborers, and former slaves.

What role did railroads play in the settlement and development of the West?

Railroads made it possible for people to settle in the West by providing a means to transport crops and goods to market and by bringing necessary goods to the settlers, thus making life in the West profitable and livable.

How did the U.S. government support the expansion of railroads and western settlement?

The U.S. government supported the expansion by financing the transcontinental railroad, passing laws that spurred homesteading, clearing out American Indians, and leading military expeditions against them.

What was the economic and racial imperative behind moving Native Americans off their land?

The economic imperative was to use the land for railroad tracks and farming, and later for extracting minerals. The racial imperative was the desire of white settlers to take over the land.

What was the impact of General Philip H. Sheridan's tactics on the Native American way of life?

General Sheridan aimed to destroy the Native American way of life by burning villages, killing horses, and especially buffalo, which was the basis of the plains tribes' existence.

What was the Ghost Dance movement, and what did its followers believe?

The Ghost Dance movement was a spiritual movement that arose around 1890. Followers believed that by gathering for dances and religious rituals, the white man would disappear, the buffalo would return, and with them, the Indians' traditional customs.

How did the Dawes Act of 1887 change the way Native American land was managed and what was the outcome?

The Dawes Act ended the treaty system and allotted lands to individual families rather than tribes. It aimed to assimilate Native Americans into white society by encouraging farming, but resulted in Native Americans losing 86 million acres of their land.

What was the policy of the Bureau of Indian Affairs towards Native American children, and what was the impact?

The Bureau of Indian Affairs instituted a policy that involved setting up boarding schools where Indian children were removed from their families to be 'civilized'. This policy aimed to assimilate them into white society but amounted to cultural genocide, stripping them of their language, clothing, and family connections.

How does the image of cowboys in the Wild West differ from the reality of the cattle industry at the time?

The image of cowboys as solitary individuals herding cattle across open ranges is a myth. In reality, the cattle drives ended at railheads, and the industry relied on railroads and industrial meat processing to function. The open range ranching era ended as ranchers began to enclose land and move closer to railroad stations.