Give Me Liberty!

by Gerry Spence

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Student Question

How did the West transform economically and socially in Chapter 16 of Give Me Liberty!?

Quick answer:

Chapter 16 of Give Me Liberty! examines the economic and social transformations in the American West post-Civil War. Railroads facilitated the movement of raw materials to eastern cities and brought manufactured goods to western markets, fostering population growth and consumer culture. The chapter highlights diverse opportunities such as homesteading, mining, and trade, often at the expense of Indigenous peoples. It also describes small family farms and large bonanza farms, both reliant on cash crops and financial markets, leading to the decline of traditional cowboy life.

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This chapter in Give Me Liberty! discusses some of the large changes that occurred in the American West in the decades after the Civil War. It mentions that the proliferation of the railroad made many of these changes possible. With more railroads reaching into new areas, raw materials, meat, and grain from the West could quickly get to cities in the East. At the same time, manufactured goods were able to get to new markets in the West.

This supported a growing population in the West and led to a growth in consumer culture throughout the country. National brands and chain retailers soon became the norm.

With overcrowding becoming increasingly common in eastern cities, the West was seen as a place for opportunity and new beginnings. The text describes homesteaders on the prairie, gold miners in California, and merchants in emerging towns all hoping to make their way in the growing economy of the country. Of course, much of this expansion by European Americans came at the expense of the Indigenous peoples already in the region.

This chapter describes two types of farms that were common in the American West at this time. There were small family farms, where women often conducted a lot of the household labor and families were very isolated. There were also bonanza farms that covered thousands of acres and employed many people. Both types of farms tended to focus on a single cash crop. This tied them into large national and international commodities markets and made them dependent on loans and financing from large banks.

With more farms fencing off large swaths of land, cattle herders found themselves increasingly pushed aside. By the end of the nineteenth century, traditional cowboy life had nearly come to an end.

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