2. Land ownership was at the heart of a virtuous citizenry

3. West was a safety valve from industrialization, urbanization and capitalism

4. Free land would prevent wage slavery

5. Preserve American values

6. Homestead Act-men and women could get 160 acres of surveyed land, immigrants also eligible, had to live there for 5 years and build a house or barn, privileged white farmers over AA and Hispanics, cost roughly $1000 to do this, most could not afford this, Chinese denied access , no provision for poor in Eastern cities, drove Indians out of their land, most land fell into the hands of speculators

7. Industrialization transformed the west from agrarian to industrial

8. Railroads-helped to settle the west and create a national market for goods

9. Pacific Railroad Bill-1862-land grants and loans to Union Pacific and Central Pacific to build a transcontinental railroad(Omaha to Sacremento)

10. Govt gave away 131 million acres to build the railroad

11. Backlash against chinese in Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882-to suspend immigration for 10 years due to influx of Chinese to work on railroads

12. Joined in 1869 in Utah with a golden spike, nothing changed the west more than the railroads

13. Mining-men were drawn by the 1849 gold rush but by 1870s were laborers for corporations

14. Changes in processes like hydraulic mining led to massive returns but environmental devastation

15. Railroads made mining of silver, gold and copper more lucrative

16. Miners were overworked and underpaid, most dangerous job in American in 1900, unions struggled to bring change

17. Ranching-majority of cowboys worked for corporations by the 1900s,

18. 1/3 were AA, Hispanic or Indian

19. Cattle drives and the open range-

20. Railroads made cattle market explode, prices soared and the market was established in Texas

21. Used cattle drives until railroad became accessible

22. Linked cattle ranching and Chicago stockyards, later had the refrigerated railcar

23. Open range grazing was used until supply exceeded demand, stopped moving cattle, smaller more specialized herds, barbed wire

24. Industrial cowboys-railroads decreased the need for cowboys to move cattle to markets

25. Mexican Americans-movement into Texas and California of whites forced MA to lose their lands over time and to suffer at the hands of groups like the Texas Rangers(vigilante group)

26. Itinerant laborers-most lower level jobs were seasonal, people moved around and followed the work but industrialization created a precarious situation for the workers

27. Homesteading and Farming

28. 49% could not prove up their claim, others were beaten by the environment