Challenges in the Late 1800s

Lesson 2 The West Is Transformed

Key Terms
Vigilante- Self-appointed law enforcers
transcontinental railroad- Rail link between the eastern and the western United States
land grant- Land designed by the federal government for building schools, roads, or
railroads.
open-range system- Method of ranching in which the rancher allowed his or her
livestock to roam and graze over a vast area of grassland.
Homestead Act- 1862 law that have 160 acres of land to persons willing to live on and
cultivate it for five years
Exoduster- African Americans who migrated from the south to the west after the civil
war.
Las Gorras Blancas- Group of Mexican Americans in New Mexico who attempted to
protect their land and way of life from encroachment by white landowners.

Academic Vocabulary
administer: to manage or direct
silt: small particles of sediment carried in the water
squatter: someone who lives on a piece of land without paying

Lesson Objectives
1. Analyze the impact of mining and railroads on the settlement of the West.

We could deliver supplies and other necessities over to Americans living in the west.
Industrialization became big in the west and we started to revolutionize that part of
America just like we did for the east. Boomtowns were born just to mine to find gold.

2. Explain the impact of physical and human geographic factors on the settlement of
the Great Plains.

Moved about the region. There aren’t a lot of waterways in the west. So there were more
inventions made to make life easier dry, great plains.

3. Discuss the ways various groups used land in the West and conflicts among
them.

People used the lands to mine and find gold and silver. Boomtowns were used until all of
the gold and silver were gone, then they would be completely deserted because there
was no use for them.

Interactive Reading Notepad • Lesson 2

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4. Analyze the treatment of Chinese immigrants and Mexican Americans in the
West.

Chinese and Mexican immigrants mostly did the more dangerous jobs. They were
blowing up mountains to build railroads through them. They did the more o the
dangerous work that people didn’t want to be doing.

Mining and the Growth of Railroads: Text

1. Identify Key Steps in a Process Mining stimulated the development of new

towns, some of which became well established. Identify the key steps in this process,
and briefly explain how each step led to the next.

The main thing that happens is the boomtowns. When boom towns were established,
people flooded them to go and mine. Once they are done mining, they leave everything
and go on to the next boomtown.

2. Determine Central Ideas What were the main benefits to the nation of a
transcontinental railroad?

There was easily accessible aid from the government. Supply and demand for product
prices could be brought down because everything is so easily accessible.

The Cattle Industry Boom: Text

3. Compare and Contrast cattle ranching before and after the invention of barbed
wire.

Before the invention of barbed wire, people had to go and hire cowboys to rile up their
cattle so they wouldn’t leave the land. Now that there was barbed wire, they could lay
the wire at the edges of their properties. The problems of cattle escaping or wandering
off would not be a problem.

Farmers Settle the Plains: Text

4. Categorize As you read “Farmers Settle the Plains,” use this graphic organizer
to keep track of the advantages and disadvantages to people of settling on the Great
Plains.

Advantages: Land was well suited for modern farm machinery,

Disadvantages: Soil was less fertile needed larger farms, Resulted in farm
consolidation, Some distance between neighbors.

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 5. Draw Conclusions Describe the laws that the U.S. government passed between
1841 and 1862 to encourage people to settle the West. Why do you think the
government wanted to encourage settlement?

So the east will decrease in population and people can expand to cover all of the land
and drive away the native Americans.

Minorities Encounter Difficulties: Text

6. Cite Evidence that Chinese immigrants and Mexican Americans were

discriminated against in the West. How did these groups respond to the discrimination?

They were given terrible jobs that no one else would do because they needed to make a
living somehow. They took advantage of them immigrants because they didn’t speak
English so they could trick them to do anything they wanted.

7. Determine Central Ideas Throughout this lesson, what central idea is conveyed
about minorities and the parts they played in the settling of the American West?

They played the part of like low lives in away.

Struggles and Change Across the West: Text

8. Identify Cause and Effect What caused tension between miners, farmers,
ranchers, and sheepherders that settled in the West? Give examples of situations that
created tension.

When there were arguments about land. People were very greedy when It came to land
so they would fight over the land.

9. Draw Inferences What cultural differences between Mexicans and Americans does
the El Paso Salt War illustrate?

That there is a completely different culture and way of life between the two countries.

10. Cite Evidence from the text that by 1890 the United States no longer had a western
frontier.

Interactive Reading Notepad • Lesson 2

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In 1890, the Census Bureau announced the end of the frontier, meaning there
was no longer a discernible frontier line in the west, nor any large tracts of land
yet unbroken by settlement. For the first time in history, America was without a
frontier. The frontier was a part of American national identity.

Interactive Reading Notepad • Lesson 2

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