Assignment #6:

1. The transcontinental railroad was constructed following the need for more and more whites to travel westward for expansion. The transcontinental was the next step in transportation, while ox-drawn wagon parties took several months to make it to California and Oregon; it took passengers of the transcontinental trains only a week to make the same trip. The labor for the construction of the railroad came from migrant workers, especially the Chinese immigrants. 
2. Congress promoted the construction of the transcontinental railroad with the Pacific Railroad Act. The act stated that the government would award the railroad companies with grants of land and other subsidies based on every mile of track completed. This made the railroad companies some of the largest land owners.
3. Railroads attracted settlers to the west because of the land that they know owned. Many western states like Nebraska, Kansas, Oregon, Utah, and Texas gave most of their land acreage towards the construction of the railroads. The railroad companies sent agents to other countries, mainly European countries to gain recruits to join in settlements in the Midwest. After that the railroad companies started land bureaus that would help with loans and jobs.
4. The Homestead Act was an effort to gain more immigrants into the west from other countries and from other states. Congress believed that with this act they would be able to secure financial independence for poor Americans. The act stipulated that 160 acres of land would be given to any individual if that individual is willing to pay the $10 registration fee, live on the land for at least 5 years, and during that time improve the land. This attracted many European settlers from other countries as land in Europe, as fertile as land in America, was much, much more expensive.
5. Two major problems that arose with the enactment of the Homestead Act was that, as the initial intention was to give land to poor Americans, land speculators and railroad companies used agents to file false claims in order to gain a lock on most of the land. Another problem was that some farmers/settlers needed more land in other areas of the Midwest. Acts such as the Timber Culture Act, The Desert Land Act, and the Stone Act were passed in attempts to counter the problem but proved ineffective. 
6. Farmers were able to produce more products in the 1870’s because of the advancements made for farming in the west. New ploughs, harrows, windmills, harvesters, planters, and other machinery were developed specifically for efficiency in western farming. This coupled with the advancements in the use of cash crop grains like wheat, barley, and corn made farming more and more promising to western settlers. Though that was not entirely true as land prices started to rise, farmers depended only on cash crops, when entered into the international markets, due to the railroads; farmers had to compete with world supplies. If there was an overproduction of wheat or corn prices would drop so much to place the western farmer in ruin. 
7. Barbed wire was an invention that resulted from farmers in the west trying to insure the safety of their cash crops. Cattle ranchers would allow their livestock to roam freely across the land until they rounded them up, which also meant that this cattle could roam into a farmer’s field for grazing. Farmers used barbed wire to stop the cattle from intruding onto their property and eating their crops.
8. Two large problems faced by the Homesteaders living on the Great Plains were Adaptation to Midwestern life and creating a new culture and society. Many of the settlers were taken in to moving out west to the Great Plains because of descriptions of beauty and wealth that lay ahead, but in reality there was more to handle than expected by the settlers. Mosquitoes, a lack of timber, and severe weather made it very difficult for the settlers to adapt to their new lives. Along with making a home for themselves settlers needed governments and towns. With the spread out communities of the Midwest many state legislatures were small and had the main purpose of providing solutions to small problems. Many Midwestern towns and cities were conservative.