The Frontier in United States History

Anthony FitzpatrickVice-President for Professional Development Services

Important

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Timeline of the Frontier 1848-1849 - California Gold Rush

begins.

1861 - Kansas admitted to Union

1864 - Nevada admitted to Union

1865-1867 - Sioux Wars

1866 - “Long drives” launch western cattle bonanza

1867 - Nebraska admitted to Union

1869 - Union Pacific, first transcontinental railroad, completed

1876 - Battle of Little Bighorn

1876 - Colorado admitted to Union

1877 - Desert Land Act passes

1878 - California Workingmen’s Party founded and attacks Chinese Immigration

1882 - Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act

1885 - Mark Twain writes Huckleberry Finn

1887 - Dawes Act passed

1889 - Oklahoma opened to white settlement

1890 - Battle of Wounded Knee

1893 - Frederick Jackson Turner proposes the “frontier thesis”

1902 – Congress makes the Chinese Exclusion Act permanent

1906 – Congress passes the Burke Act to speed the assimilation of tribes

Expansion of the West

The Transcontinental Railroad

The Transcontinental Railroad was a major catalyst in transforming and developing the

Frontier.

Transcontinental Railroad:Make a . . .

•White Settler and Native American Interaction•White Settler and Chinese Immigrant Int.S•New States were admitted to the Union•Local political structures needed to be establishedP•Agrarian economy took a different path that that on the East•Immigrant labor became a chief economic issueE•The environment proved harsh on settlers•The lawless nature of the west allowed for little environmental stewardshipE•Mark Twain became an iconic writer of the era•The Buffalo Bill Wild West Show solidified the West in American Myth and memory.C•The West remains a cornerstone to the American identity•New study highlights the contributions of others to the development of the West.H

Social: Interaction of Many Peoples.

Fort Laramie Treaty Gold Rush Miners

Political: New States Join the UnionKansas, Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado, North

Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, and Utah are admitted to the Union.

Economic:Chinese Immigration

After the California Gold Rush began, Chinese immigration increased dramatically.

Large numbers worked in the gold mines, but those opportunities were disappearing due, in part, to legislative measures such as a foreign miners tax.

The Chinese then found work completing the transcontinental railroad. Upon its completion, the population began to urbanize.

In the cities, the Chinese found occupations in jobs on the lower economic levels. By the 1890s, the Chinese constituted 2/3 of all laundry workers.

It required very little startup capital and very little knowledge of English.

Restrictions on Chinese Immigration

The Democratic Party and the Workingman’s Party of California began to engage in acts against the Chinese:Chinese workers were first barred from employment

opportunities. Justification for this opinion was made on cultural and racial grounds:Some thought the Chinese barbaric and products of a

civilization that had failed to progress. It was also said that they were unable to assimilate

with traditional American values and practice.

Congress would pass the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882

White Out! Immigration"Unless the

stream of these people can be turned away from their country to other countries, they will soon outnumber us so that we will not be able to save our language or our government."

Henry Bowers, founder of the Protective Association (1894)

Henry Wilson, Member of the Know-Nothing Party and former Vice President. (1854)

Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father (1751)

Denis Kearney, Founder of the Workingman’s Party of California (1878)

REVEALED

The ENVIRONMENT of the Frontier

Frontier life was harsh and challengingFarmers had to clear the land and deal with Native

American tribes.Squatters often occupied land without legal claimThe environment contributed to the reputation of

lawlessness and a need to hold true to American values and the notion of the Protestant work ethic to be successful under such harsh conditions.

Cultural Hallmarks of the Frontier

Mark Twain

Buffalo Bill

Annie Oakley

Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn

Few authors depicted the vision and spirit of the frontier West as Mark Twain.His novels The Adventures

of Tom Sawyer, and Huckleberry Finn are classics and part of the American canon of literature.“History doesn’t repeat itself; but it does rhyme.”

Mark Twain

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West

Romanticizing the WestThe Wild West show and its imitators featured

dramatic reenactments of battles on the frontier, martial arts, and sharp shooting. All of these elements confirmed Americans’ love affair with the West.

This show kept the American myth and memory of the romantic and glamorous West alive for generations to come.The show featured iconic cultural elements and

figures such as Custer’s Last Stand, the Pony Express and Annie Oakley.

What do we see here?

The Peerless Lady Wing Shot

Importance of the West in United States History

Frederick Jackson Turner

Turner asserts that “the existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession and the advance of American settlement westward” – was the central story of American history.

He believed that our power to transform a desolate and uncivilized savage land had a Lazarus-type power over our ideas of democracy and individualism.

He believed that it shaped our entire nation and affirmed the notions of our potential and greatness.

His thesis influenced historians for generations and solidified the Frontier as a concept of wonderment in the American character.

Opposing Views

With the advent of social history as mainstream study, historians have revisited Turner’s thesis. History now emphasizes the

highly diverse nature of the west.

Some historians disagree with the notion of independence – but rather focus on the West’s dependence on the East and their conformity to strict values.

Others assert that the West wasn’t settled, but rather conquered.

Which One? You Decide.

Turner Opposition

Looking Forward and Back with the West:

The Pony ExpressMr. Anthony Fitzpatrick

Frontier Timeline # 1 1850 California admitted to the

Union. Territory of Utah established.

1860-1861 The Pony Express runs between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California.

1861 Telegraph connection from coast to coast makes Pony Express obsolete.

1862 Homestead Act and Transcontinental Railroad Act are passed by Congress.

1863 Construction begins on the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads.

1869 May 10 The Golden Spike joins the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads at Promontory Point, Utah.

Information Superhighway“Neither snow nor

rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

Look familiar . . . Maybe not what you think

California DreamingIn today’s world of cell

phones, faxes, and texting, it’s difficult to image how cut off the West, particularly California was from the rest of the nation. Spurred by the Gold Rush of 1848 and California’s subsequent admission to statehood, more than a half million people migrated there by 1860.

Reach out and Touch The population explosion

in the West coupled with growing political tensions in the East (that would eventually result in the Civil War) illustrated the need for rapid communication. At the time, the railroads and telegraph lines extended no further west than St. Joseph, Missouri and mail traveled west by stagecoach and wagons, a trip that could take weeks, if it arrived at all.

Capitalism to the Rescue In 1860 three enterprising

Missouri businessmen, William H. Russell, Alexander Majors and William B. Waddell operated a successful freight and passenger service company between Missouri and Salt Lake City, Utah. offered a solution. In the hopes of winning a lucrative government contract to provide mail service to the West, Russell proposed that the trio create the Pony Express, a rapid delivery service.

Old Fashion American Ingenuity

Starting at St. Joseph, which at the time was the western most point for rail and telegraph service, Russell devised a relay system in which a series of riders and horses would travel 1,900 miles to Sacramento. Pony Express stations were set up about every 10 miles, which was the distance a horse could cover at full gallop before reaching exhaustion. Riders were changed every 60 to 100 miles.

Relative Technology ©The Pony Express proved

successful at reducing mail delivery from 24 days to about 10 days. However, as a business it was a failure. The service had gross revenues of about $90,000. By the time the business ceased offering services however it was in the the red to the tune of $200,000.

The Conduct of a Gentleman

Riders were paid $100 to $125 per week. The prevailing wage for at the time for unskilled labor was about $1 per day. The work, as this flier suggests was very dangerous. However, before they would be hired, they were required to make this oath to owner and religious man, Alexander Majors: "While I am the employ of A. Majors, I agree not use profane language, not to get drunk, not to gamble, not to treat animals cruelly and not to do anything else that is incompatible with the conduct of a gentleman. And I agree, if I violate any of the above conditions, to accept my discharge without any pay for my services."

Decline and ultimate failure

The reasons for its failure were manifold. Let’s consider them using ESP. First and foremost, competition from other companies vying for government contracts hurt the business. Second safety concerns including conflicts between Native Americans and settlers cut into the company’s revenues. In addition, Russell, Majors & Waddell were near bankruptcy when they began the Pony Express. The completion of the Transcontinental Telegraph line on Oct. 24, 1861 proved to be its final undoing. Two days later the Pony Express closed.

Cultural Significance Despite being in operation for only 19

months, the Pony Express has become as much a part of the legend of the American West as Billy the Kid and the O.K Corral.

Things to consider . . .

The fastest Pony Express trip was 7 days and 17 hours. The trip delivered President Lincoln’s inaugural address from St. Joseph to Sacramento.

Early Western legends Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickok were Pony Express riders.

About 400 horses were used during for the Pony Express. Among the breeds were Morgans, pintos and mustangs.

Wait a minute

Fun Cultural Connections"While I am the

employ of A. Majors, I agree not use profane language, not to get drunk, not to gamble, not to treat animals cruelly and not to do anything else that is incompatible with the conduct of a gentleman. And I agree, if I violate any of the above conditions, to accept my discharge without any pay for my services."

Questions, Comments?

Thank Youafitzpatrick@aihe.inf

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