Week of 9/4-9/8

Monday: No School

Tuesday: Review for test tomorrow

Wednesday: Group test over review of 7th grade history

Thursday: Continued test

Friday: Started new Unit:

Moving West

Key Questions:

Why did the settlers/people move to the Great Plains/West?

Describe a Cowboy’s life.

Describe the importance of the buffalo to Native Americans and how the buffalo were destroyed.

How did the US government deal with Native Americans in the mid to late 1800’s? What were their policies?

Why did people move West/ Great Plains?

  • Farming, Hunting, Gold, Buffalo, Cattle Ranching

  • Manifest Destiny: God given right to move West

  • Cattle Ranching: Cattle were in high demand, people in cities needed food

  • Sheepherding: Needed for wool and clothing

  • Inventions: Reaper- made harvest quicker, Plow- needed to break up the dirt, Barb wire- kept the cattle in place

  • Homestead Act: Anyone who wanted to move West was given 160 acres of land for free- over 600,000 families moved west to take advantage of this

  • Gold and Silver mining: people going to California, Nevada, South Dakota, Colorado, and Alaska~ People used panning, shakers, mined~ Not a lot of people became rich from doing this

  • Working of the Railroad: main ones were Union Pacific and Central Pacific- making the Transcontinental Railroad (San Francisco to Omaha). Majority of workers were Chinese- came to California because China had war and poverty

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