The unsettled land west of the Mississippi River contributed greatly to the growth of the United States after 1865 through territorial expansion enabled by new technologies and innovations. Railroads transported settlers and goods, promoting growth. Inventions like barbed wire and steel plows made farming the prairies viable. Adaptations such as dry farming, sod houses, cattle ranching, and windmills helped settlers survive on the Great Plains. However, unsustainable practices later led to ecological problems like the Dust Bowl.

1. Mrs. Brown
6th Grade Social Studies

2. Growth of the
United States
• Territory Growth – New states added
to the Union
• How did the unsettled land west of the
Mississippi River contribute to the growth and
development of the United States after 1865?

3. United States Territory
Growth: 1810

4. United States Territory
Growth: 1850

5. United States Territory
Growth: 1880

6. United States Territory
Growth: 1900

7. http://wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/1483/1518969/DIVI230.jpg
Territorial Expansion by
the Mid-Nineteenth Century

8. THE GREAT PLAINS
• To Do: In your pods,
brainstorm anything and
everything you can
remember about the
physical characteristics
of the Great Plains.
– Rainfall
– Climate
– Vegetation
– Physical Features

9. The Great Plains:
“The Great American Desert”
• Physical Features &
Climate of the Great
Plains:
1. Land Eroded by Wind
& Water
2. Low Rainfall
3. Frequent Dust storms
4. Flatlands that Rise
Gradually from East to
West

10. How were the physical features
and climate of the Great Plains
obstacles for Western settlers?

11. Lack of Water
Supply for
Humans and
Crops to Survive
Physical Characteristics:
Obstacles for the Western Settlers
1. Little Rain, Rivers and
Streams that only had
seasonal flow…

12. Physical Characteristics:
Obstacles for the Western Settlers
2. Treeless Flatlands –
No Materials to Use
for Building a House or
Barn, No Materials to
Use for Fuel

13. Physical Characteristics:
Obstacles for the Western Settlers
3. Tough Prairie Soil
Eroded by Wind and
Water -
Land was Difficult
to Cultivate

14. What does this painting represent?

15. • Manifest Destiny
– “(It is)…our manifest
destiny to over spread and
to possess the whole of
the continent which
Providence has given us
for the development of
the great experiment of
liberty.”
– John O’Sullivan, 1845
“The Morning Post”
Manifest Destiny
by John Gast, 1872
What is Manifest Destiny?

16. Before the Civil War, people considered the
Great Plains, a “treeless wasteland” and
referred to it as “the Great American
Desert”.
WHY?

17. After the Civil War, people changed their minds
about living in the Great Plains.
Now people saw the Great Plains as the territory
full of opportunity.
WHY?
What changed?

18. NEW
TECHNOLOGIES!

19. Changes in the Great Plains…
“Hey…I hear
the Great
Plains aren’t
so bad
anymore…”
“Is it true
they are
giving away
FREE land?”

20. Inventions &
Adaptations
New developments after the Civil War changed
the perception of the Great Plains as a “treeless
wasteland” into a “vast new area” to be settled.

21. Inventions & Adaptations:
Barbed Wire
• Barbed Wire
– Became commercially
available in the 1880’s
– Solved the problem of
lack of wood for fences
– Protected Farmer’s Land
and Kept Cattle Enclosed
1

22. • Steel Plows
– Invented in 1837, by
John Deere
– Enabled farmers to cut
through the thick,
tangled roots of the
tough prairie sod
– The Steel Plow allowed
farmers to cultivate the
land
Inventions & Adaptations:
Steel Plows
2

23. Inventions & Adaptations:
Dry Farming
• Dry Farming
– Technique developed to
cultivate the drier lands of the
Great Plains…less than 20 inches of
annual rainfall
– The soil is plowed deeply to
allow for slow evaporation of
ground moisture
– Loosen the ground soil to
allow maximum water
absorption
– Maintain excellent surface
conditions so that moisture is
better utilized
www.solpass.org
3

24. Inventions & Adaptations:
Sod Houses
• “Soddies”
– Due to the lack of trees in the
Great Plains, there was no
wood for houses
– There was plenty of Prairie
Grass & Prairie Sod, so
settlers learned to construct
houses from bricks of Prairie
Sod
– Sod Houses were enforced
and/or replaced with lumber
and other materials brought in
on the railroads
www.sdhistory.org
4

25. Inventions & Adaptations:
Sod Houses
4

26. Inventions & Adaptations:
Sod Houses
http://www.vw.vccs.edu/vwhansd/his122/Images/SodHouse.jpg
4

27. Inventions & Adaptations:
Beef Cattle Raising
• Beef Cattle Raising
• Cattle ranching originated
in Spanish colonies
(Mexico) and spread to
the Great Plains via Texas
– Open Range Era
• Early to Mid 1800’s
• Raised on large areas of open
grassland unsuitable for
growing crops
Kansas Cattle Market
5

28. Inventions & Adaptations:
Beef Cattle Raising
• Longhorns - hardy breed of
cattle originally from
Mexico, herded north to
breed and stock new ranges
• Cowboys herded thousands
of cattle across the Great
Plains during the “Open
Range” period
5

29. Inventions & Adaptations:
Beef Cattle Raising
• Cattle Raising quickly spread
across the Great Plains…all the
way to Canada
• Starting in the 1860’s, cattle
grazing on the open range of the
western plains from Texas to
Montana became the major
industry
• The cattle industry provided food for
the industrializing cities in the
Northeast
• Railways provided transportation of
goods between the Ranches in the
Great Plains and cities such as
Chicago and New York.
5

30. Inventions &
Adaptations:
Beef Cattle
Raising
The Cattle
Trails
5

31. Inventions & Adaptations:
Beef Cattle Raising
• The end of the “OPEN RANGE” era
– The Homesteaders
– Barbed Wire
– Over Grazing caused by Cattle Industry Boom
• Peak of Open Range 1875
• Competition between cattle barons and small ranchers
• Over supply of beef caused prices to drop
• Devastating Winter 1886-1887
• Financial Ruin for many Cattle Ranches
Helpful Websites:
– http://www.answers.com/topic/homesteaders-and-the-cattle-industry
– http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CLASS/am485_98/cook/form2.htm
5

32. • Wheat Farming
– Wheat is a hardy crop that has
adapted to dry growing
conditions
Inventions & Adaptations:
Wheat Farming
• Increase in Wheat
Production in the Great
Plains during the 1880’s -
• 1879 = 12 million acres harvested
• 1899 = 54 million acres harvested
• 1919 = 103 million acres harvested
6

33. Inventions & Adaptations:
Wheat Farming
6

34. • Due to problems with
overplanting:
• Acreages of native
grasslands are greatly
reduced
• Top Soil Erosion
• Long Term Ecological
Damage
Inventions & Adaptations:
Wheat Farming
• Direct cause of the Dust Bowl,
1934 -1939
• Additional Dust Bowl Pictures
6

35. Why does dry wheat farming cause
soil erosion?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/348200_dirt22.html
6

36. • Windmills
– Farmers used windmills to
mine groundwater for crop
irrigation, livestock, &
personal use.
– Acted as water pumps to
bring water to the arid (dry)
territory
– During the 1880’s, Ranchers
had crisscrossed the open
grasslands with windmills &
barbed wire to “draw up”
water and feed their
livestock
Inventions & Adaptations:
Windmills
7

37. Inventions & Adaptations:
Railroads
8

38. RAILROADS:
To be continued…