Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History: the American West, c.1835-c.1895 Student Book (EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY (9-1))

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Unit 3: Modern World Source Enquiry: Option 3C The transformation of British Society c1951-1979 (5HA03/3C) Insect pests - In the 1870s, grasshopper plagues stripped the cornstalks 'naked as beanpoles' and sent pregnant women insane. Colorado beetle destroyed potato crops. Farming - A hard crust on the soil made it hard to start farming. Farmers could not afford a plough or machines. There were not enough workers.

The Waddell and Russell freight company established the Pony Express. Relay stations were set up across north America and riders carried mail from one station to the next. Unit 3: Modern World Source Enquiry: Option 3A War and transformation of British Society c1903-1928 (5HA03/3A) Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon religion, and his brother Hyrum were shot and killed while imprisoned for destroying a printing press. Unit 2: Schools History Project Depth Study Option2A: The transformation of British Society c1815-1851 (5HB02/2A)

Additional Resources About American West and Native Americans

Dirt and disease Outdoor toilets and open wells. The sod houses leaked, and fleas and bedbugs lived in them 'by the million'. It was impossible to disinfect the floor. As a result the death rate, especially from diphtheria, was high. A group of soldiers opened fire on a group of Sioux at the Pine Ridge reservation in Wounded Knee Creek killing 153 Indian men, women and children. A travelling shoe-maker or tinker might pass through who would provide or mend household items, but usually families just had to make do. The women collected 'buffalo chips' for fuel, stoked the stove, and made their own candles and soap. 'I have often wondered how my mother stood it', wrote an early settler. People had to make the most of any trip to their nearest town, where the women talked of the harvest and the men smoked corncob pipes and talked politics.

Cattle ranching had been firmly established in Johnson County since the 1870s and many ranch owners had become wealthy and influential. During the 1880s they wanted more land and tried to buy-out small time ranchers and farmers. Those small-time ranchers and farmers who resisted were accused of cattle-rustling and some were hanged. Teams of 'sodbusters' using steel ploughs did the first ploughing. After 1880, thresher teams travelled around following the harvest. Farmers could hire them for just a few days. Unit 1: Schools History Project Development Study Option1B: Crime and Punishment in Britain, C50AD to the present day (5HB01/1B)

American West Timeline

Realising that the Indians never fought during the Winter months, the army decided to mount a Winter Campaign to try to catch them by surprise and force them into submission. Following the death of the Mormon leader, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young decided to take the Mormons away from the persecution they faced in the East and to build a new life for them at the Great Salt Lake. This Act was an extension to the Homestead Act offering 160 acres of land for free provided that at least 40 acres was planted with trees. About a thousand people made the journey West to Oregon. This was the highest number of migrants to make the journey west in one year so far and became known as the Great Migration. Unit 3: Schools History Project Source Enquiry Option 3C: The impact of war on Britain c1914- c1950 (5HB03/3C)

The transcontinental railway was completed. A ceremony, known as the ‘golden spike ceremony’ because a golden spike was used to join the East and West railways, was held at Promontory Point in Utah. Unit 1: Schools History Project Development Study Option1A: Medicine and public health in Britain, C50AD to the present day (5HB01/1A) Wells Fargo established the stagecoach which allowed travellers to pay to be transported by stagecoach.

Settlers tried to harvest the crops before the grasshoppers came. They tried to kill them, but gave up, 'weary and dispirited'. The government raised relief funds. Modern insecticides solved this problem. The government realised that 160 acres was not enough to sustain people. The Timber Culture Act of 1873 gave farmers another 160 free acres if they grew some trees. F Glidden invented barbed wire. This invention meant that large areas of land could be fenced relatively cheaply.

Unit 1: Schools History Project Development Study Option1C: The changing nature of warfare in Britain, C50AD to the prsent day (5HB01/1C) Settlers built 'sod houses', while they lived out of doors - people did their cooking on an open fire. Option 10: Crime and punishment in Britain, c1000 – Present and Whitechapel c1870- c1900: Crime, policing and the inner city.Unit 1: Schools History Project Development Study Option1C: The changing nature of warfare (5HB01/1C) Unit 3: Schools History Project Source Enquiry Option 3C: The impact of war on Britain c1903- c1954 (5HB03/3C)