Homesteaders and the Railways
- Created by: alicemae1407
- Created on: 12-02-17 13:13
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- Homesteaders and the Railway
- The Railway companies encouraged Homesteading
- Politicians and railway companies exaggerated claims about the good life on the Plains
- 'Booster' (promotional) railways were built by companies trusting that their existence would help create communities and customers
- Politicians wanted 60000 residents so their territory could become a state, giving them more power
- 'Booster' (promotional) railways were built by companies trusting that their existence would help create communities and customers
- Rail companies were granted huge areas of land in 1862 by the government to fund the railways
- Sold land cheap to settlers
- Huge geographical, economic and engineering problems were overcome to construct the transcontinental railroad
- Government supplied loans
- Labour shortages in the West were overcome by employing Chinese workers.
- Steep gradients were risked when crossing the Rockies
- Army defended railway gangs against attacks by Plain Indian tribes
- Lines built from the East to West met at Promontory, Utah in May 1869
- Made westward migration, and communication with the East easier
- Politicians and railway companies exaggerated claims about the good life on the Plains
- More Government Acts and new technology helped
- Homestead Act of 1862- each settler was given 160 acres of free land, if they agreed to farm on it for 5 years
- Was meant to discourage speculators- people aiming to make a short-term profit
- New crops tried, better machinery was developed including John Deere's 'Sodbuster' plough
- Wind pumps increased water supply
- New techniques allowed settlement on the High Plains
- Farmer learnt 'dry farming' using techniques such as turning the soil after rain to retain the moisture
- In ;less fertile areas farmers needed more than 160 acres of land
- The Timber Culture Act (1873) and the Desert Land Act (1877) gave them more land for free or at a low cost
- Homestead Act of 1862- each settler was given 160 acres of free land, if they agreed to farm on it for 5 years
- Homesteading was hard but eventually successful
- Failure rate for new farms was high. Frequent droughts and problems caused by over grazing
- Railways made a boom possible by linking producers to wider markets
- 10 million immigrants to America during 1865-90
- Some African-Americans moved west after Civil War (1861-5) had ended slavery
- Homestead Act failed to discourage speculators and drain poverty from Eastern cities
- Did achieve settlements in the West. By 1900 there were 500000 farms on the Plains
- The Railway companies encouraged Homesteading
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