American History: Settlers Rush to Claim Western Land
14 April 2010
An 1889 photo of a sod home and farm built by settlers in Kansas
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.
In the late eighteen hundreds, white Americans expanded their settlements in the western part of the country. They claimed land traditionally used by American Indians. The Indians were hunters, and they struggled to keep control of their hunting lands.
The federal government supported the settlers' clhoaims. It fought, and won, several wars with Indian tribes. It forced the Indians to live on government-controlled reservations.
This week in our series, Larry West and Steve Ember tell about the people who settled on the old Indian lands after the wars.
LARRY WEST: After the Indians were defeated, thousands of settlers hurried west. Some hoped to find new, rich farmland. The soil they left behind was thin and overworked. Their crops were poor. Some simply hoped to buy any kind of farmland. They did not have enough money to buy farmland in the east.
Others came from other countries and hoped to build new lives in the United States.
All the settlers found it easy to get land in the West. In eighteen sixty-two, Congress had passed the Homestead Act. This law gave every citizen, and every foreigner who asked for citizenship, the right to claim government land. The law said each man could have sixty-five hectares. If he built a home on the land, and farmed it for five years, it would be his. He paid just ten dollars to record the deal.
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25