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CHAPTER 8: GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATIONOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORYwhelmingly agrarian, and economicallydependent. Moreover, its racerelations reflected not just the legacyof slavery, but what was emerging asthe central theme of its history — adetermination to enforce white supremacyat any cost.Intransigent white Southernersfound ways to assert state controlto maintain white dominance. SeveralSupreme Court decisions alsobolstered their efforts by upholdingtraditional Southern views of the appropriatebalance between nationaland state power.In 1873 the Supreme Court foundthat the 14th Amendment (citizenshiprights not to be abridged)conferred no new privileges or immunitiesto protect African Americansfrom state power. In 1883,furthermore, it ruled that the 14thAmendment did not prevent individuals,as opposed to states, frompracticing discrimination. And inPlessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Courtfound that “separate but equal”public accommodations for AfricanAmericans, such as trains andrestaurants, did not violate theirrights. Soon the principle of segregationby race extended into everyarea of Southern life, from railroadsto restaurants, hotels, hospitals, andschools. Moreover, any area of lifethat was not segregated by law wassegregated by custom and practice.Further curtailment of the right tovote followed. Periodic lynchingsby mobs underscored the region’sdetermination to subjugate its African-Americanpopulation.Faced with pervasive discrimination,many African Americans followedBooker T. Washington, whocounseled them to focus on modesteconomic goals and to accept temporarysocial discrimination. Others,led by the African-Americanintellectual W.E.B. Du Bois, wantedto challenge segregation throughpolitical action. But with both majorparties uninterested in the issueand scientific theory of the timegenerally accepting black inferiority,calls for racial justice attractedlittle support.THE LAST FRONTIERIn 1865 the frontier line generallyfollowed the western limits of thestates bordering the Mississippi River,but bulged outward beyond theeastern sections of Texas, Kansas,and Nebraska. Then, running northand south for nearly 1,600 kilometers,loomed huge mountain ranges,many rich in silver, gold, and othermetals. To their west, plains and desertsstretched to the wooded coastalranges and the Pacific Ocean. Apartfrom the settled districts in Californiaand scattered outposts, thevast inland region was populatedby Native Americans: among themthe Great Plains tribes — Sioux andBlackfoot, Pawnee and Cheyenne— and the Indian cultures of theSouthwest, including Apache, Navajo,and Hopi.A mere quarter-century later,virtually all this country had beencarved into states and territories.Miners had ranged over the wholeof the mountain country, tunnelinginto the earth, establishing littlecommunities in Nevada, Montana,and Colorado. Cattle ranchers,taking advantage of the enormousgrasslands, had laid claim to thehuge expanse stretching from Texasto the upper Missouri River. Sheepherders had found their way to thevalleys and mountain slopes. Farmerssank their plows into the plainsand closed the gap between the Eastand West. By 1890 the frontier linehad disappeared.Settlement was spurred by theHomestead Act of 1862, whichgranted free farms of 64 hectaresto citizens who would occupy andimprove the land. Unfortunatelyfor the would-be farmers, much ofthe Great Plains was suited more forcattle ranching than farming, andby 1880 nearly 22,400,000 hectaresof “free” land was in the hands ofcattlemen or the railroads.In 1862 Congress also voted acharter to the Union Pacific Railroad,which pushed westward fromCouncil Bluffs, Iowa, using mostlythe labor of ex-soldiers and Irish immigrants.At the same time, the CentralPacific Railroad began to buildeastward from Sacramento, California,relying heavily on Chineseimmigrant labor. The whole countrywas stirred as the two lines steadilyapproached each other, finally meetingon May 10, 1869, at PromontoryPoint in Utah. The months of laborioustravel hitherto separating thetwo oceans was now cut to about sixdays. The continental rail networkgrew steadily; by 1884 four greatlines linked the central MississippiValley area with the Pacific.The first great rush of populationto the Far West was drawn to themountainous regions, where goldwas found in California in 1848,in Colorado and Nevada 10 yearslater, in Montana and Wyoming inthe 1860s, and in the Black Hills ofthe Dakota country in the 1870s.Miners opened up the country, establishedcommunities, and laid thefoundations for more permanentsettlements. Eventually, however,though a few communities continuedto be devoted almost exclusivelyto mining, the real wealth of Montana,Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho,and California proved to be in thegrass and soil. Cattle-raising, longan important industry in Texas,flourished after the Civil War, whenenterprising men began to drivetheir Texas longhorn cattle northacross the open public land. Feedingas they went, the cattle arrivedat railway shipping points in Kansas,larger and fatter than when theystarted. The annual cattle drive becamea regular event; for hundredsof kilometers, trails were dotted withherds moving northward.Next, immense cattle ranchesappeared in Colorado, Wyoming,Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotaterritory. Western cities flourishedas centers for the slaughter anddressing of meat. The cattle boompeaked in the mid-1880s. By then,not far behind the rancher creaked178179