The Gilded Age

People moving out west to seek new opportunities in the Great Plains.

Westward Expansion

People moving to America for new economic opportunities in areas like New York City.

​​Immigration

​People work in factories, and factory owners use capitalism to profit.

Industrialization

The railroad contributed to the closing of the western frontier in two ways:

1. Greater ease of travel

2. Higher demand for unclaimed territory

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​The Transcontinental Railroad

• The Transcontinental Railroad was built after the Civil War.

• Railroads moved people and goods and moved east to west.

• Population grew from 1850 to 1900 from 23 million to 76 million

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​Growth of Railroads

• Chinese immigrants worked on the railroads.

• People were worried that the Chinese immigrants were taking jobs away from Americans.

• Law is passed that limits Chinese immigration.

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The beginnings of the cattle industry was based on the need to process large amounts of cattle and it made meat packing a major industry.

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• As people moved west, they began to build barbed-wire fences to keep out outsiders.

• This impacted the meat industry, because the cattle no longer had free access to grass. Many cattle died as a result.

The primary objective of the Dawes Act was to promote cultural assimilation of Native Americans

They wanted Native Americans to speak English and Americanize them

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​The Dawes Act

• The Homestead Act provided free/cheap land to settlers. However, once people got out west they realized that access to timber was limited (there was no wood)

• ​People had to start building their house out of sod

• The main reason for rapid settlement of the Great Plains was Congress allowing homesteading

Homestead Act