NAME:______________________________

DEBATING THE SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST: BENEFICIAL FOR ALL?

DIRECTIONS: Examine the provided primary sources given and answer the supporting questions for each document. After
responding to each document, sort the key ideas from the documents to the appropriate column while also placing the corresponding
document letter next to the evidence you listed. In doing so, you will organize your historical evidence in an attempt to answer the
essential question: “To what extent did the settlement of the West, following the Civil War up through 1900, produce positive benefits
for all in the region?”

“Yes, the settlement of the West was beneficial “No, the settlement of the West was not beneficial
because…” because…”
DOC CORRESPONDING EVIDENCE DOC CORRESPONDING EVIDENCE
LETTER LETTER

B This tells us that the Natives tried to

C This allowed people to travel across
protect their land from the Americans
all of america on the railroad
and warned them that there would be war
system.
if they did not stop.
 DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION
Using information taken from the documents given as well as your
knowledge of American history, answer the questions that follow each
document in order to better understand the documents. These questions
will prepare you to write an essay response to the prompt below. Once
you have analyzed each document, utilize the outline scaffold to
organize your essay prior to writing.
ESSAY QUESTION: To what extent did the settlement of the West,
following the Civil War up through 1900, produce positive benefits for
all in the region?
HISTORICAL CONTEXT: While Americans had already begun
moving and settling west prior to the Civil War, this movement and
activity accelerated following the war. The settlement of the West
brought with it a wide array of economic activity that shaped both the
region and the nation in many different ways. Yet, this transformation
would have different effects, both positive and negative, for certain
groups of people.
ESSAY DIRECTIONS: Utilize the provided outline to construct an
organization and argument for your response. Your response should
include:
• Incorporates evidence from SIX of the documents to support
argument
• Balances document usage with relevant outside information
• Constructs a concise thesis (central argument to address
prompt/question) that addresses all aspects of the question/task
• Employs an introductory and closing paragraph that go beyond
simply summarizing your position
• Utilizes a coherent organization to the essay
• Demonstrates analysis of evidence (applies, evaluates, draws
connections)
DOCUMENT A: The Homestead Act (1862)
AN ACT to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain.
Be it enacted, That any person who is the head of a family, or who has
arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United
States, or who shall have filed his declaration of intention to become
such, as required by the naturalization laws of the United States, and
who has never borne arms against the United States Government or
given aid and comfort to its enemies, shall, from and after the first of
January, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, be entitled to enter one
quarter-section or a less quantity of unappropriated public lands, upon
which said person may have filed a pre-emption claim. . . . Provided,
that any person owning or residing on land may, under the provision of
the act, enter other land lying contiguous to his or her said land, which
shall not, with the land already owned and occupied, exceed in the
aggregate one hundred and sixty acres.
Q1: What is this law promising to people?
The law is promising that legal U.S citizens are promised a portion
__________________________________________________________
of land.
__________________________________________________________
Q2: What would this law enable an individual to do or establish that
they may not have had or been able to prior?
That enables them to have their own land and start their own
__________________________________________________________
business.
__________________________________________________________
DOCUMENT B: One Horn, Miniconjou (1868) DOCUMENT C: Union Pacific Railroad advertisement (1869)

You and ourselves all wish for peace…This Indian country we all (the
Sioux Nation) claim as ours. I have never lost the place from view. It is
out home to come back to. I like to be able to trade here, although I will
never give away my land…If the whites had listened to me in times
back, we should have never have had any of this war…Instead they
established forts and drove away the game…The whites kept coming
more and more through our country. I see that the whites blame the
Indians, but it is you that acted wrong in the beginning. The Indians
never went to your country and did wrong. This is our land, and yet you
blame us for fighting for it.

Q1: What is the speaker trying to defend?

The speaker is trying to defend that the land belongs to all
__________________________________________________________
including the Sioux Nation.
Q2: What evidence does the speaker present of wrongdoing by the
“whites?”

He says that the whites did not listen to him and they
__________________________________________________________
established forts and this eventually started the war.
__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

Q1: What is the advertising promoting that the railroad accomplishes?

That you travel across the country in less that four days.
__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

Q2: What benefits to settling the West might the railroad provide?

It will help with industrializing it as it is easier to transport

__________________________________________________________
resources.
__________________________________________________________
DOCUMENT D: My Life on the Frontier, 1864-1882 (Miguel Antonio DOCUMENT E: Exodusters outside sod house (1878)
Otero, 1935)

The “Gorras Blanco,” or White Caps, became very active in San Miguel
County about this time, burning houses, cutting fences, and resorting to
all kinds of intimidations. They stopped teams from hauling railroad
ties, because the owners of the team, usually the driver, were not
charging the contractors enough money for the hauling.
Pablo Herrea was considered a labor agitator, and on his return to San
Miguel County he reorganized the “Gorras Blanco” and started to run
things…A warrant was soon issued for his arrest and given to Felipe
Lopez, a brother of Sheriff Lorenzo Lopez, to serve. He met Pablo very
close to the courthouse, pulled his pistol, and without a word shot him
through the heart, killing him instantly.

Q1: How does this excerpt portray life for those living in the West?
It gives good details of what it takes in order to live out there .
__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________
Q1: What might have been the circumstances or life situation of this
Q2: Who do you believe the “Gorras Blanco” are and what do you family prior to the Civil War or immediately after?
believe is the purpose of their group?
__________________________________________________________
They could have had troubles with their masters if they
I think they are a group of people fighting for the natives land
__________________________________________________________ were slaves.
back. Their purpose is to help restore the land to how it was __________________________________________________________
before the Americans got their.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Q2: What has this family achieved according to the photograph?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
They have achieved their freedom along with their own land.

__________________________________________________________
DOCUMENT F: “The Only One Barred Out” (1882)
Q1: According to the political cartoon, who is “barred out” and what are has had on the environment and people in the area.
they “barred out” from?
The Chinese are barred out and they are barred out from the
__________________________________________________________
country.
__________________________________________________________
Q2: How does the political cartoonist characterize this individual in
contrast to those let in?
That this man is from china so he is not allowed to enter.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
DOCUMENT G: Joaquin Miller, Life Amongst the Modocs (1890)
Look intently down among the black and rolling hills, forty miles away
to the west, and here and there you will see a haze of cloud or smoke
hung up above the trees; or, driven by the wind that is coming from the
sea, it may drag and creep along as if tangled in the tops.
All this city [Sacramento] had been built, all this country opened up, in
less than two years. Twenty months before, only the Indian inhabited
here; he was lord absolute of the land. But gold had been found on this
spot by a party of roving mountaineers; the news had gone abroad, and
people poured in and had taken possession in a day, without question
and without ceremony.
The whole face of the earth was perforated with holes; shafts sunk and
being sunk by these men in search of gold, down to the bed-rock.
Windlasses stretched across these shafts, where great buckets swung, in
which men hoisted the earth to the light of the sun by sheer force or
muscle.
Q1: What type of economic activity is being described by the author?
__________________________________________________________
Golding mining.
__________________________________________________________
Q2: List some of the effects that the author mentions that this activity
He mentions that the earth is then perforated with
__________________________________________________________
holes and the land that was just once the natives is
now being mined for gold.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
DOCUMENT H: R.D. Hume, “Salmon of the Pacific Coast” (1893) DOCUMENT I: John Wesley Hardin, Life of John Wesley Hardin as
Written by Himself (1896)
In a lapse of ten years, what a change! Portland has by this time become
a city of importance, and Astoria has stretched itself along three miles of
About the last of February we got all our cattle branded and started for
water front; while instead of four small landings along the main Abilene, Kansas, about the 1st of March. Jim Clements and I were to
Columbia, between Astoria and Portland the number has increased to take these 1,200 head of cattle up to Abilene and Manning; Gip and Joe
more than forty, and instead of one small steamer making tri-weekly Clements were to follow with a herd belonging to Doc Bumett. Jim and
trips, we have four elegant steamers running between these places daily,I were getting $150 per month.
besides about a dozen running in the fish carrying trade for the use of Nothing of importance happened until we got to Williamson County,
the canneries, and in place of a product of 4,000 cases of 48 tins each,where all the hands caught the measles except Jim and myself. We
we have a product of 450,000 cases, of the same number of tine, and we camped about two miles south of Corn Hill and there we rested up and
have our wheezy and dilapidated old mills running night and day to recruited. I spent the time doctoring my sick companions, cooking, and
supply the demand for lumber to build new canaries, and where branding cattle.
desolation ruled before we find signs of the greatest activity. We find all
After several weeks of travel we crossed Red River at a point called Red
trades and professions plunging to get a whack at this new El Dorado. River Station, or Bluff, north of Montague County. We were now in the
Indian country and two white men had been killed by Indians about two
Q1: What type of economic activity is being described in this excerpt? weeks before we arrived at the town. Of course, all the talk was Indians
The activity of fishing.
and everybody dreaded them. We were now on what is called the
__________________________________________________________ Chisum Trail and game of all kinds abounded: buffalo, antelope, and
other wild animals too numerous to mention. There were a great many
Q2: What effect has this economic activity had according to the author? cattle driven that year from Texas. The day we crossed Red River about
fifteen herds had crossed, and of course we intended to keep close
This has had the effect of feeding the economy.
__________________________________________________________ together going through the Nation for our mutual protection. The trail
was thus one line of cattle and you were never out of sight of a herd.
__________________________________________________________
Q1: What type of economic activity is being described in this excerpt?
The cattle industry.
__________________________________________________________

Q2: How do you believe this economic activity benefits or harms other
people in America?
I believe it benefits america because it provides them with
__________________________________________________________
so many resources.
__________________________________________________________
DOCUMENT J: Rath and Wright’s Buffalo Hide Yard (1878)
Q1: Why do you believe this many buffalo hides have been collected OR
for what purpose did hunting this many buffalo serve?
They could sell the hides for a large profit.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Q2: What group of people in the West do you believe may have been
impacted negatively by this activity and why?
The natives because that was their main source for food, clothing
____________________________________________________________
and cover.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
DOCUMENT K: F.B. Tracy “Why the Farmers Revolted” (1893)
Nothing has done more to injure the western region than these freight
rates. The railroads have retarded its growth as much as they first
hastened it. The rates are often four times as large as Eastern
rates…These freight rates have been especially burdensome to the
farmers, who are far from their selling and buying markets, thus
robbing them in both directions…
The land question, also, is a source of righteous complaint. Much of
the land of the West, instead of being held for actual settlers, has
been bought up by speculators and Eastern syndicates in large
tracts…
Closely connected with the land abuse are the money grievances. As
his pecuniary condition grew more serious, the farmer could not
make payments on his land. Or he found that, with the ruling prices,
he could not sell his produce at a profit. In either case he needed
money…
Q1: What are some of the complaints being made by farmers?
They are complaining that the railroad is causing
_______________________________________________________
problems.
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Q2: How does the situation of the farmer in this document compare
to previous documents regarding farmers in the west? [What has
changed?]
This farmer is struggling with the railroad system while the
_______________________________________________________
other is succeeding with the railroad system.
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
 DBQ ESSAY OUTLINE/PLAN OF ACTION
THESIS/CENTRAL ARGUMENT:

BODY PARAGRAPH A BODY PARAGRAPH B BODY PARAGRAPH C

THEME/ARGUMENT THEME/ARGUMENT THEME/ARGUMENT

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCORPORATED DOCUMENTS TO BE INCORPORATED DOCUMENTS TO BE INCORPORATED

DOC____ WHY? DOC____ WHY? DOC____ WHY?

DOC____ WHY? DOC____ WHY? DOC____ WHY?

OUTSIDE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT OUTSIDE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT OUTSIDE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT

1. 1. 1.

2. 2. 2.
SCORE CRITERIA FOR SCORE
• ADDRESSES THE TASK: Thoroughly develops all aspects of the task/question and in-depth
• UTILIZING HIGHER THINKING SKILLS: Is more analytical than descriptive
• DOCUMENT USAGE: Incorporates relevant information from at least SIX documents
5 •
•
OUTSIDE INFORMATION: Incorporates substantial relevant outside information
ARGUMENT SUPPORT: Richly develops key argument/thesis with relevant facts, examples, and details
• ESSAY ORGANIZATION: Utilizes a clear plan of organization with an introduction and conclusion that go beyond a restatement of the
central argument
• ADDRESSES THE TASK: Develops all aspects of the task/question, but may be unevenly addressed
• UTILIZING HIGHER THINKING SKILLS: Is both descriptive and analytical
• DOCUMENT USAGE: Incorporates relevant information from at least FIVE documents
4 •
•
OUTSIDE INFORMATION: Incorporates relevant outside information
ARGUMENT SUPPORT: Supports thesis with relevant facts, examples, and details
• ESSAY ORGANIZATION: Utilizes a clear plan of organization with an introduction and conclusion that go beyond a restatement of the
central argument
• ADDRESSES THE TASK: Develops all aspects of the task but with little depth or develops some aspects of the task in some depth
• UTILIZING HIGHER THINKING SKILLS: Is more descriptive than analytical
• DOCUMENT USAGE: Incorporates accurately some relevant information from THREE or FOUR of the documents
3 •
•
OUTSIDE INFORMATION: Incorporates limited outside information relying more on the documents
ARGUMENT SUPPORT: Supports thesis with relevant facts, examples, and details; some minor inaccuracies that do not distract from
meaning
• ESSAY ORGANIZATION: Satisfactory plan of organization with both introduction and conclusion, but might be limited to restating
central argument
• ADDRESSES THE TASK: Minimally develops all aspects of the task/question or develops some aspects in depth
• UTILIZING HIGHER THINKING SKILLS: Primarily descriptive with, perhaps, limited and faulty application of analysis
• DOCUMENT USAGE: Incorporates accurately limited relevant information from TWO documents
2 •
•
OUTSIDE INFORMATION: Presents little or no relevant outside information
ARGUMENT SUPPORT: Includes few relevant facts, examples, or details that support thesis/argument
• ESSAY ORGANIZATION: Demonstrates a general plan of organization, but lacks focus; may not clearly develop argument; may lack
either an introduction or conclusion
• ADDRESSES THE TASK: Minimally develops all aspects of the task/question OR ignores at least one entire aspect
• UTILIZING HIGHER THINKING SKILLS: Is descriptive; lacks either understanding, application, or analysis
• DOCUMENT USAGE: Makes vague, unclear references to documents OR utilizes irrelevant details of documents
1 •
•
OUTSIDE INFORMATION: No relevant outside information incorporated
ARGUMENT SUPPORT: Thesis or argument is supported with very few facts, examples, or details OR major inaccuracies distract from
meaning
• ESSAY ORGANIZATION: Organization distracts from argument; lacks both a clear introduction and conclusion; may contain digressions