The idea of manifest destiny has always been a part of american principles. The task of expanding from sea to shining sea has provoked The United States to make decisions. That have been questionable on the grounds of their consequences. And similarly plays a large role in our history. One of the largest and most destructive examples of this is the exploitation of the Plains Indians in the late nineteenth century. Although their desecration deprived them of their ancestor’s land. Culture, and their way of life, ultimately, room was made. That was necessary for the nation’s growth in agriculture, mining, transportation, advancements in technology, and overall economic opportunity.
Before the advent of settlers arriving on the plains, the Native Americans maintained the vast grasslands as a grazing area for herds of buffalo with minimal cultivation, meaning that hundreds of years of topsoil sat there, waiting to be used as farmland. In the years 1860 through 1890, agriculture acted as the fuel that propelled the nation upwards in terms of industry and economy. Without the food, grain, and livestock produced from the century of Westward expansion, we might not even be the country we are today.
The preface to the husbandry section of the 1860 census begins, “The Importance of Agriculture as a recourse for wealth, and as… means of subsistence to all classes of community, is so well understood, and its relation to manufactures, so many of the products whereof it consumes, and which it supplies with so many of its most important elements is so generally appreciated as to render superfluous any argument to prove its value” (Kennedy 3). Sadly, however, the growth experienced within these decades would have been difficult to accomplish in the political fragility of the time without the diminution of the millions of square miles in which the Plains Indians roamed.
With the discovery of gold in colorado and Montana, thousands of settlers began to move westward and and settle, which devastated the land that was occupied by the natives at the time. With the introduction of thousands of miners moving west came the devastation of the plains indians land. These “homesteaders” as they were called began to develop mines which caused direct conflict between the settlers and the natives. This ultimately led to military intervention which only helped in the destruction of the natives land.
The Western frontier began to grow rapidly, and one major addition to the frontier was the addition of the railroad. The railroad was key to connecting the new western frontier all the way to the eastern coastline. It was imperative that the U.S. Mail service could transport mail as quickly as possible to those citizens who had even settled in the most remote places of the western frontier. A major setback for the creation of a railroad that would span the width of the united states was the land that it was to be built on. It was ultimately necessary to take indian land in order to connect the east to the west. With the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, the east could now help the west develop more rapidly through its railroads and telegraph lines that ran parallel to them.
Other advancements have derived from the overtaking of the plains indians that pushed America into a new era of technological culture. Trains and the railroad were a big part of this, but not the only. The discovery of gold, along with coal, and the killing of bison for sport, were all detrimental to the lifestyle of the plain indians. It was during this time period also that steel plows and harvesters were created, which greatly improved farming efficiency, and made it easier to farm more land at once. Steam and electricity use for power fueled the expansion westward post-war. Entrepreneurs like John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, as well as J.P. Morgan all brought new industry and technology to the west, and into the lives of the plains indians. Nevertheless, it was necessary to alter the way of life for the Plains Indians in order for the American people to advance not only technologically, but their overall way of life.
Although the many advancements forward in technology brought with them the destruction of the Plains Indians and their way of life, the advancements westward brought many opportunities for people in the United States. Immigrants were greatly benefitted by all of the job openings which went perfectly with the idea of the American Dream. Jobs on the railroad were needed to lay the Transcontinental railroad, as well as make telegraph lines. People could leave the horrible working conditions of the factories in the North and move west to improve land westward, which was initiated by the Homestead Act. Cattle trails were prominent during this time, and people were always needed to move thousands of cattle to a nearby railroad terminal. America needed to have more jobs to strengthen the economy, especially as we returned to the gold standard. Even though the Plains indians lives were disrupted, many other people were given a chance to improve America as well as their own lives.
The economic growth experienced in the latter half of the nineteenth century was largely due to the opportunities found in the Western frontier. Agriculture, mining, and technology all propelled the nation into a new age of innovation and prosperity. Prosperity, however, is impossible to extend to all, especially in times of tremendous change. In order to make way for settlers, Native Americans were shoved into small areas of land, and although these methods were questionable, they were necessary to accomplish everything we did as the United States after the Civil War.
