Transcripts For CSPAN3 Elliott 20240704

Distinguished professor of history emeritus at the u of a. He earned his ph. D. At the university of colorado and the story that we hear is that he went to colorado study the history of the american south, but he was told they dont do that at university of colorado. And so he said so. Instead, he went on to become one of the leading scholars of the American West. He has written nine scholarly books, the last indian war, the nez pares story, the essential west. Hes won numerous prizes for his research, including the casey prize from the western historical association, the Francis Parkman prize from the society of american historians and the billington from the organization of american, those of you that have the good fortune to have been in class with him know that he is an outstanding teacher. Hes been recognized with the sec faculty Achievement Award arkansas professor of the year recognition from the carnegie foundation, and he was also named a finalist for the Robert Foster cherry award for the nations best College Teacher. We think hes the nations best College Teacher for sure. His latest book, the of tonights talk, is continental reckoning the American West in the age of expansion. This is a i read it over the break. This is monumental synthesis. Thats what i thats my take. You okay monumental synthesis based on decades of research on the American West but it also says a lot about country as a whole. The elliot west who arrived in boulder, colorado to study the american south, has at last received his wish. I guess because this book this book aims to together the narrative threads of westward to expansion and the American Civil War east and west to rethink the place of the west in American History. I hope that youll be inspired to pick up a copy from our friends at pearls books after. And ill warn you, im a european specialist by training. But if i had read this book when i was a college student, i think, i would be in a different field today. It was very inspiring so please join me in welcoming professor elliot west. Thank you. Thank you, laura. To. You can hear my contribution. Can we turn it down a bit . Not just trying to get. Thank you for that generous. What was my what my hearing aids or if i take them off i wont hear myself try. Whether that is okay. Okay. Whoops. So good. Please. Thank you very much, lawrence, for the wonderful thanks to the pryor center for having us here for this. This is talk like especially to the Kennedy Family and for all of those who have contributed to the to the kennedy to the kennedy lecture. It is my privilege and honor to take part in lecture. Tom kennedy there are very few people in my professional life whom i have loved more and who can make me laugh than tom kennedy. And those who those of you who know him. I think, can kind of can appreciate that. Anyhow, thank you all for coming on this on this chilly evening this last in this book continental is about the American West, but its also ive tried to make it also about something something more. And i want to take one particular theme in that book to to to talk about that a little bit this evening. Someone said, despite my early infatuation, the american south, i fell in love with the history of the American West. I love all of it. What i particularly have been drawn to this period of we might call the birth of the west. This period, roughly 30 year period when what we know of what we call the american that region that we call the west came into being. Its fascinating. Its one that most of us are familiar with through, Popular Culture. This is the period when of overland trails, the the period of the indian wars. This was the period custers sitting bull. This was the period of mining rushes, the period of all of those things that dominate, dominate Popular Culture. But what i hope to get across to you this evening is its really much more than that. It really is much more than that to teach us and tell us about American History. So what period will we talk about . What sets up the roughly as i said, about a but a 30 year period . It begins with expansion, the expansion of the states from 1845 until 1848, three years, a little than three years. It comes out about 28 months and 15 days. We acquired annexed texas in 1845, 1846. We acquire the Pacific Northwest in a treaty with england. 1846. We go to war with mexico to the south. The war that lasted a couple of years. 1848, we signed a treaty with mexico. The treaty guadalupe ago. That gives california or the southwest part of the great basin that adds up to about 1,200,000 square miles. Thats right. At three quarters of a billion acres added into this country in less three years. Thats a lot of land. What if we. Well, if that were to happen today, say, starting today, this expansion begins, it ends on july. 2025. What this country look like. We cant expand the far further west because we get wet. But if we expand to the south, what would that look . What would the United States look like . Then, july 4th, 2025. It would expand. It would reach across mexico now through all of Central America in about half of columbia. So if you can imagine, in less than three years, this country added that much territory. And of course, this like that territory. Its an area of enormous complexity geographically in terms of resources, climatically demographically, in terms of its human makeup. This is the map by a french cartographer in 1844, right on the eve of this. If you were to zoom on that map, you would see it while its claimed or its mexican territory up to the fort. Its like a parallel. Its really just this hodgepodge outside of parts of california. This is this is this hodgepodge. Different of dozens of different native groups overlapping authorities, different cultures. 30 years later, basically one generation later, its that all of that has come a kind of coherence. By 1848, its organized politically. Obviously you see on the map here. But also integrated into the United States integrated politically integrated culturally, politically, economically it has become by 1880, lets say, it has become what we call today, the west. The west has been born. So what we see then in this 30 year period is the emergence is the birth of this distinctive, familiar part of society and American Life in american landscape, the birth of the west. Thats what this is book continental reckoning. It was contracted to write about was contracted to be. Thats what was supposed to do here. I did it. Its a its a fabulous story. Fascinating, much more complex, interesting note than the Popular Culture would tell us. But as i researched wrote that, i became increasingly convinced that it was much more than that. Its really a couple of stories. These same 30 years waiting. 45, 1845, 48 to about 1880. Those same 30 years were also years. And the american historians here with will confirm this year in which a fundamental the tragic story of American History our narrative shifts in an important way. It moves in a new direction that would carry us into we call today modern america. But 1880, the latter part of 19th century modern America Emerging the america that we know in the 20th century and in the 21st century. So the years of eight, 1850, in the 1880s were both the years of the birth of the American West and the years in which this nation shifts in its in its movement, Historical Movement into modern america. And what became increasingly convinced with about was these two stories overlap not only chronologically, not only in time, but in fact that in fact, the birth of the west, the birth of modern america, are hopelessly intertwined. And you cannot separate them. You cannot understand one without the other. And thats the thing thats idea that i want to play with. I want to play with this evening. And of course, its in a way, it flies in the face with the way we have been. Weve grown up thinking about the birth, the west, about these events. So when we mentioned those events before, so, you know, when you look at these years, what do you think of cowboys and indians, right. Mining rushes. I dont know. The indian wars before. What do they have with the birth modern america . What they have to do with. Well nothing. You can think of. You know, in our popular perception, its as if theyre sort of floating out there, you know, part of this other story, apart from apart from the course of whats going on. But in the main narrative of United States history, its as if those events were staged to entertain us rather instead of to instead of to show us what was on in this larger course of change in this country. Thats not true. Not true. And what i what trouble what i try to emphasize to you tonight is, again, those two those two stories are are absolute interlocking. So how can we show that . How do you how do you get that . What i like to suggest to you this evening is to imagine something. What do they call it . Its a thought experience experiment where the sort of thought experiment took make a list, a mental list of those. The main the most important traits of what we think of as modern america. Make a little list of them right up those events, those those traits of of america today, the 20th and 21st century that are fundamentally different from the United States before 1850. What the contrast. What do we mean . Modern america in contrast to. The earlier one. Now go back and look at whats going on with the birth of the west and see if there are any connections or their connections between this particular trait that defines america. And these changes that are going on out there between 1850 and around 1880. I think there were i think there were a lot of them. So i will suggest what im trying to make that point this evening, looking at three of those items on the list, three point historians or trinity is we always make three points, never, never for three points. So here are three ways in which we i think we can we can illustrate this. There is that there is a change. First, i think we can say without conscious the United States is the wealthiest and the most powerful economy, the wealthiest people, the most powerful economy in the history of the world. We are also we have gone through all stages of of industrial growth and power into a post economy. Now. And we did that more thoroughly, more productively. And more generating more wealth than any other nation in the world at the time. Okay. Are there any connections between that and what was going on in the west during these years . Yes. Lets begin. What i call in the first chapter of the book, the great coincidence. The great coincidence. The treaty that ended this three stage expansion, the treaty of what goes in a suburb of mexico city by nicolas trist, this guy on the left. That treaty was signed on february. The second, 1848, or january 24th, 1848, nine days before trist signed that treaty. This guy on the left, james marshall, kind of a happy, lucky guy, as you can see here for marshall of look down and the america he was he was overseeing the construction of a mill on the American River in northern california. And he saw this little fleck of shiny stuff. You pick it up and said, i think its gold and it was it was worth about 0. 50. Marshalls discovery this was roughly 200 hours, 200 hours before we acquired set loose what was by far the greatest output of gold in Human History until that time. More gold came out of california and one year, 1852 that had been produced the world throughout the entire 18th century. If you in australia they had their rush pretty after this one. If you add in australia gold to california more gold was produced between those two gold rushes and five years. Then it was produced. Between 1492 and 1848. Incredible incredible. So, you know, virtually at the same moment that we acquired california, it began to be revealed to california was one of the richest places on earth. Aphorism from the 19th century, god looks after dogs, drugs and the United States of america. And boy, you know, you got wonder at least back then. Well, and of course, over just the beginning, california forgetting what this then triggered a whole series of gold rushes, australia, australia and canada. But across the United States, in the us and all in the west all of this area that we had, we recently. Then ten years after marshalls discovery, just over the Sierra Nevada and virginia city, nevada. Silver was discovered it was be called the comstock lode that proved to be one of the richest silver strikes in Human History up until that time. And then there were other silver structures and not just nevada, but arizona and, idaho and montana and colorado. So over the next over the 30 years or so, one of the things west of us was to generate incredible amounts overall wealth. The very definition of wealth at that time that was used to finance this basic retooling of american the American Economy towards its modern its modern status. That was just the beginning of that provides the money to do it. And in terms of what you need, resources you need to to do to create that conversion, to make that change the most important, non precious of those years was copper. Copper thats used for the wiring in factories. Copper that she was the course for the telegraph enormous still is very valuable very valuable metal. It turns out the American West had at that by far the most productive concentrations of copper on earth and in history. Up until that time in 1865, michigan accounted for production of three fourths of all copper in the United States. 1885. The amount copper produced in United States have increased nine times over, and two thirds of it was produced in montana and in arizona. So the basic stuff of the basic stuff to accomplish this transition came out of the world as well as the money that to pay for it all. This were moving into the age of metal. But this was in some ways still age would the american way especially northwest gives us this unprecedented amount of Timber Products to build the infrastructure we would need for this for this new economy. The amount of wood that was cut, it put down deep into the earth to build a comstock lode, to produce the silver that came out of the comstock low was enough wood to build a modern houses for a modern city of 50,000 people that much wood went down into into this one this one industry and counterforce all the other stuff that were building again for this retooling just, you know, this remaking of American Economic life, other things that you might not think of, you probably think of some others. But heres one you might not think of. Were all familiar with the great slaughter of the bison it takes place about 12 years, 1870, to do around 1884, 1872. There were about million bison on the great. 1884. There are 1019, according to official according to the official count, thats a decline. Of 99. 99993 over 12 years. Were familiar with this. You know, all the great cases, environmental misconduct in modern history. But you have to ask yourself why, what . Why did they do that and why did it happen . Just its like somebody flips a switch. Suddenly they go out there, start killing all these bison. Right. Money, obviously, for the guys who were shooting it. But why what . Whats worse . The demand for the ban in 1870, it was a global shortage of leather, of leather, not for boots or hats or upholstery leather for factories, leather that was used for this before rubber. And so for synthetic rubber. Leather that was used for the belts of these machines. Leather was used for the gaskets. And these industries in argentina have been providing this. But cattle, of course. But that was about. So there was this huge for industrial leather. And in 1871, two tanneries, one in pennsylvania, one in germany. Their experiments discovered that they could treat, bison hides into and turn them into industrial leather. So just like that, just like they go there and starts killing or killing them 12 years, theyre basically gone. Thank you for go out there. Theres a kind of a nice parallel here. It was, you know, the process. It looks like a factory, right . Its basically it slaughter out on the great plains as part of this Industrial Revolution thats taking place in this country. So is there a connection . Yeah. The west gave us money. The west gave us resources that we needed. The west even gave us the leather. Those factories that were building. But when i got into it, you know, i began to understand that there was really more than this there was another change a related change thats going on here, another christmas. The birth of the west took place exactly coincident with this revolutionary technology, revolutionary technologies and movement, the movement of people, the movement of things, movement of information. 18 railroads, most obviously one who really began to take in the 1840s and fifties by 1855, as you can see, you know, there are about 128,000 miles of rails in the United States. In 1880. And a lot of a lot of those miles around with those were all. And for every one of those large, you see all, of course, feeder lines, of course. And going off them or lift something dont i think were less aware of the same kind of revolution and power is being to Maritime Movement and commerce especially the the invention of development screw propeller that allows ships to go much to rely far less on wind to go much faster and farther with less fuel. The screw propeller, the first ship, the princeton, the first u. S. Ship, a screw propeller was built in 1849. So exactly coincident with this with the beginning of this. And you can see here. Those were all maritime routes of commerce during those years, those new technologies. And, of course, a lot of it centering there on San Francisco that is suddenly one of the busiest ports on earth because of because of the gold rush. And of course, the telegraph the telegraph was first famously, of course, first demonstrated what have gone right may of 1844, the year before this expansion begins. And an the first transport telegraph line, 1861 by 1880 32 million telegraphic messages sent every year in this country over these lines. And by 1880, youll helena montana is on telegraph in connection with tokyo. So in other words, the world is shrinking because of these tech, new technologies and boom. But what does that mean for the west . Well, for one thing, this allows us of course to do acquired, take those resources, get them out to where we them. So it connects us to those basic resources i talked about just a moment ago. It also integrates the west into the National International economy, become one economic tissue by the 1880s. But it also this is took me a while to catch on to this but it also does is allow the American West itself to go through this Industrial Revolution in ways that you wouldnt normally think. I mean, so far what ive talked about, i think youve probably of okay with the western parts of the west was are the resources the to go east to accomplish that economic that Industrial Transformation but because of this that transformation is happening in the west itself as well. The west in many ways was industrializing faster earlier than the and in areas that you might not think of like agriculture, agriculture, i think farming in the west, you probably think of and you should, but that was not all that was going on. The Central Valley of california, almost over within a decade, 50 years really became one of the most productive grain producing areas in the world world. By 1875, the value of grain exports not just produced the value grain exported out of california was greater than the value of gold and silver being produced in california. It becomes major a major world. The largest foreign market for grain coming out of california was liverpool, 17,000 nautical miles away from the Central Valley and has also produced basically by these sort of industrial methods. Its its industrial grain production, basically. These are in north theyre called mega farms, three farms in the Central Valley of california together covered 76,000 acres, one of those farms produced in one season, enough grain to fill 40 ships that were being sent all around the pacific rim and also over over england to. Feed the bellies of folks of liverpudlians over there. So, oh, heres another example. These are called bonanza. This is on the northern plains. Enormous, enormous productions of grain, as you can see, the railroad hauls in and out the new mechanized machinery thats developing during these years being used. Gang often imported abroad. Its industry this is basically industrial production. So in addition to areas that you would expect like mining the west was industrializing even even in its farms. So were not only paying for all of this transformation, were not only providing the resources for it. The west is in many way leading the way in the process. This is the birth. This is part of the birth, an a central part of the birth of modern america. Point. Latin america as a scientific leader, was trying to figure out a way to to illustrate this. So i got online there are three categories of nobel prizes. In the sciences chemistry, physics and. From 2010 until 2004, 2010 or 1221 nobel prizes were awarded. 54 scientists in. The United States that is equal to the number of nobel prizes in those three Sciences Awarded to the next six nations after us. Second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. So i think its fair enough to say that if we are not the leader, were really up there in terms of of scientific muscle in world today, well look at that possibly have to do with the with the birth of rhythm what does a sitting bull or or have to do have to do with that . Well, you know, you can read a lot of history on this period, though, getting the slightest inkling that fact the west during those 30 years was one of the most productive Scientific Laboratory arrays on earth during these years in field after field after field after field name of field. Pick one out geology. In some ways, sort of the prince of the sciences during those years, fundamental breakthroughs made in both historical and structural geography, geology that is the history of the earth and the mechanisms of the formation, the formation of the earth and its topography topography, relatively young areas, and the social sides like anthropology. The american whats called the American School of anthropology, was a leader in this emerging ethnology during these years, meteorology you know, choose enology, you know, and i could probably show you people out there who are doing this fundamental work thats its recognized all over the world of epidemiology, a sort of talk on that type. One of the most important, most fundamental breakthroughs in our understanding of disease in a particular held diseases transmitted comes from is connected to, of all things, those cattle drives that came out of texas, you know, driving longhorns northward was a problem. There was around those cattle that led to this aha moment of understanding how diseases are passed from one, one person to another. But id like to focus on this evening. Is one of the most active ones of the early years and one of the most important ones, paleontology, you know, bone hunting. What the search for the categorization of ancient fossils fitting together into this to to, after all, try to tell the oldest story in the world. The story of story of life. Life on earth. This was a really hot topic during these years and for an obvious reason. This, of course, spoke directly to the most contentious idea of the day. And that was Charles Darwins theories of evolution and by natural selection. One way you test darwins ideals darwin said okay this is this is a change of species that happens over unimaginable amounts of time and what you can see you know these if you study these ancient these species youll be able to see these relationship that im talking about. So these bone hunters went out there. The two most famous them were these guys. After youll see marsh, nobody is of sun after you anymore. Oh, see marsh edward. Author o. C. Marsh was a professor paleontology at yale. Cope was, a very wealthy independent researcher. These two guys were the they were the superstar and they were engaged this ferocious competition. They bitter bitter bitter enemies. And that, of course, spurred them to do to keep trying to to scoop or to scoop the other one. This is front page news would read front page articles in New York Times on the rivalry between these two guys and the hatred. The open loathing and hatred between them is a story, you know, great press. But the result was hundreds of new ancient species were unearthed by these guys and the people were who were working with them. So this was this was a very popular topic at the time. And the west was the center of the action, in particular the great plains and the american southwest. What was interesting to me when i got into it is that while these guys with the superstars, some of the most interesting work and work was being done by westerners, these selftaught, trained paleontologists who out there making these fundamental footholds, theres heres one bill reed. Bill reed was a meat in the construction of the Union Pacific railroad. He would go out and shoot bison to feed the guys who were building the railroad. But he he became interested in bone hunting and sort of reading up on it became a pretty pretty good seat of. The pants paleontologist. And he caught marcias eye when he found some stuff and it correctly it telegraphed marsh said ive got these things im not tell you where they are because want some money so they and bar said great he hired him on reed went on to become top field man at the como fossil bears in wyoming, which are the richest fossil birds in that time it was bill reed who found and oversaw the unearthing the reassembly of a most famous of these dinosaurs on earth at the time. You know, diplodocus, a carnegie, which is today in the Carnegie Museum in pittsburgh. Anybody ever seen that been there to seen it . You can, you know, people finding this thing, it was like huge news. Well, it was it was it was bill reed, the meat hunter who who found the thing to do a and who oversaw the the excavation of it. Charles sternberg. He was a teenager in upstate new york. When he when he moved out to kansas to fort parker, where his brother, george, who incidentally later went on become the Surgeon General of the united. His brother george was that was the surgeon was post surgeon at fort harker wood had a ranch. So charles started working on the ranch and coming across these fossils of ancient trees, magnolias know and caught the bug. He then went on to work with cope up in montana went on on his own and became one of the leading paleontology just in the United States in the world because his fans are in museums all over the world, including this one. This was a triceratops this is the London Museum of natural history. So these these sort of local groups are doing as well. But but the but the big guys, you know, are marsh and cope and its out especially the the of marsh that the most important breakthroughs confirming darwins ideas of the entire during a two hour period came marsh would go out every summer out of the plains to lead expeditions out on the plains hunt this stuff up furiously in the center up there of course those are all yale grad students, by the way. Try trying really hard. Look tough in western right . Theyre going Bank President s to after this. But anyway davos you know darwin argued that every species today every species ever existed is descended from earlier ones and reached its current position, embodiment through a series of gradual changes that come about through. We know now a sort of genetic drift. But he saw these gradual changes that link together to produce the current one that you see and his critics said prove it so marsh did marsh did he did it with a study of horses in particular horse feet, starting with horse toes, a three toed animal through a series of fifth. He fits these these changes together going back about 50 billion years to the eocene, up to up to the modern horse. So this by clicking sort of fitting horse feet he he shows you know and it was incontestable this is how it works so you can see here. Starts out here of a wreck a theory but the size of a collie makes its way up. These are the toes. The. To the modern horse equus cowboys. This was the first demonstrated evolutionary chain the first time that anyone ever been able to show the evidence for exactly what darwin had predicted. Darwin also argued that if you take this branching, think of this as a sort of a twig at, the end of this great tree of life, right . If you take this tweaking and you trace it back, youll see that it branches off something and theres another twig going the other direction. And you follow that common branch. That branch is one that branches off with these others. So this, you know, this gradual branching out. So what this means is that if you follow that branching back, that you will find distant relationships between seemingly very different animals. Right there. Theyre related. If you go back far enough. Were all related, of course, to amoebas or something. If you go back far enough. And the critics, of course, prove it, show it. And marcia. Okay, so he did you you published this oden tortoises, if you could, but you know its safeway checkouts too and were going out to go out on tortoises. This is a study of ancient aquatic birds there were pulled primarily out of the chalk birds of kansas by marsh and by these others who were who were working with him. What he showed here is quite clearly or absolutely darwin, for example, suggested that birds are connected to reptiles. You know, birds are connected. They go back to dinosaurs right. Remember the final scene of jurassic park, you know, theyre flying off, you know, theyve escaped to escape the island. Theyre flying away and they look the window of these birds flying. What are seeing, of course, is those birds are descended from those things that were trying to eat us a few minutes ago. So you know he was saying pigeons over our distant cousins to crocodiles and people said really show us so okay ode on tortoises these are these go back between 100,000,060 million years ago they are very large birds swam like penguins snapping up fish back in the well kansas was this shallow ancient sea. If you look at the leg bones i dont i dont know how to read that stuff. Of course but what he showed was these leg are quite clearly related to reptiles. You can find these connections between them but whats really a stunner there really was a stunner was here was a superstar. I was on his were regardless birds birds about six feet long ancient with teeth toothed birds thats what oden tortoises means. Birds with teeth. So he said, here you are, you know, and you can trace where the leg bones or other things you can trace this back to tooth reptiles, like like crocodiles. And this was the clincher. This was the clincher tooth birds. Oliver Wendell Holmes read this and wrote marsh and said, when i read this about two birds, he said i was astonished. Is the midwife who first looked at from the mouth of richard the third and whats lovely about this what i love about the horse field of course. Is there any animal besides a bison that we associate more with the west the horse . What does he call this has brought us regardless any classical scholars here its the royal bird of the west. I love that. Well, this was this was convincing proof. Two things. Convincing proof of two of the claims. Basic claims made by darwin during this during this period. Darwin also marsh sent him a copy of ode on tortoises. The next day after he got it, darwin wrote marsh. And so this is the best evidence confirming my ideas in the last 20 years. Now this published in 1881. Whats he saying . The last 20 years or two of species was published in 1859, saying is this is the best proof of ideas published. Ive been found since. I wrote this book since i published this book. So is there connection between modern america this cases as a scientific superstar and the birth of the west . Yeah, ill take the risk in this. If this is just scientific area in which we can which we can show this. For three, its its a little murkier, a little a little more complex, modern america and the question of citizenship citizenship, the United States or america, of course from the beginning has been society of remarkable range of ethnicities and, races and origins. But modern america, i think, is distinguished in part because because the United States has accepted citizenship and the basic rights around citizenship to virtually all of these across the board, the diversity been there from the beginning. But modern america has. Of it this way from the start. Weve been a very Diverse Society but but beginning in the late 19th, beginning of the second half of the 19th century and into the 20th and 21st century, there are embrace the basic of american citizenship has widened. You know we have in the literal meaning the word comprehended reached around more and larger and larger part part of our society to bring them in to citizenship. And its rights on paper. Thats the good news for most of us. I think the bad news that that extension of citizenship and rights has always been limited in fact, theres never been complete and its always been contested in some cases, bloodily seem to be that as as scientific leadership, economic power seems to be. That is also part of the definition of modern america. As in contrast to the america before. Okay. Can we associate that back with the birth of the west in some way. Well, when i say to you during the during a 30 year period, america embarked on this extraordinary of which we in which we embraced we bring far more people into society, into the national embrace into the American Household than before. I think probably the first thing you would think of would be emancipation. And you should. 1865, you know, for more than 4 million enslaved people are freed and invited and given citizenship given the right to vote, given the right on paper the rights of citizenship. And we also know, of course so there was compromise from the very there was increasingly compromised. And in fact, after. It turns very, very ugly with this imposing vision of a racial order, a white dominated order on what went on paper is this broad grant of citizenship and rights. All right. Thats a central part of the american story. Central part of the birth of modern america. But and its all, of course, critical understanding that. But begins before that. And it begins in the west its in the west where this story begins. It begins with expansion expansion. The mexican cession, about 100,000 former mexican citizens are in admitted or admitted to the citizens, the rights to property or guaranteed under the treaty of guadalupe delgado. At the same time, we american borders are now around dozens of different tribal peoples. Now we dont give them citizenship. 1924 officially, but the is you will become american citizens now you got it you got to get more you got to be more like us. So what the government says is we will make you citizens. Eventually you will one of us. But its going to take time. You know, youve to be changed first. You got to become like the rest of america, a society before you could fit in for your own good. For your own good. That was, of course, through reservations. Reservations. The main point of reservations was, of course, to take their land away and to open up to settlement by others who were coming in. But the reservations were also seen as this kind of social, cultural, liberal theory in which indian peoples would be great, would be transformed into mainland americans. How are you going to do it . One great way to look at this is these are called peace medals in. The 19th century president s out these medals to leaders of different native native groups, symbols of friendships of alliance on one side of this goes back to jefferson. On one side is the current president. Obviously, lincoln, the other side of these medals shows what that particular president , that particular administration considers the ideal relationship between the government and the indian peoples. You know, whats our vision for you . Go back to detested it betrayed its come a long way by 1862 this is the verso. Did you see much of this . Heres an ending with a headdress plowing plowing. So number one, you got to be farmers, right . I understand that. Not farmers now, but i dont really understand as you cant possibly farm out there in wyoming, but nevertheless youre going to be farmers because. Thats sort of the basic first step into American Economic life. Youre going to be christians. Theres a Church Christian conversion and were going to send your kids to school. Agriculture, christianity, educate for the children. Those are the three steps in which you will become american citizens. Theres also a wonderful detail. Can you see this baseball. During recess . You go there and play baseball. So you know, so therefore things will agriculture, christianity, education and baseball. So to become a real american. So this is whats interesting here, of course, is this was 1862. Weve had three years because, of course same way the supposedly freed people are going to be brought into american society. The freedmans the Freedmans Bureau right. Send your kids to school school. All these guys, you know, oliver howard, theyre all evangel christians. You know, we are. And of course, 40 acres and a mule. The ideal of it. So what were doing here is the the the prototype in the west is extended to free people in the east with the emancipation all part of the same old part of the same process. So this is the this is the offer. But of course, the other side, it is this darker side of it is the imposition, the imposition of a cultural order of a racial order in this process, well grant you these things on paper. Thats not really how its going to work. Thats really going to work is. Were going to have this we have this racial system white dominated racial system that will really, really run things. This, of course, is part of it. What are they saying here . You may think you have your own religion. You may think you can know how to how to treat the land. You may think that youre raising your children rightly, which are not. You know, were going to tell you what to do, that were imposing this idea of who youre supposed to be on you. But it gets much uglier than this. In certain parts. The west know were looking at the resistance to this expansion. Were expanding in modern america. We expand this offer at the same time we resist it. In some parts of the west outright. Genocide, thats a its a tricky term, and i argue with my colleagues about where you can apply it and where you cant. This is california, no question. And california this is this is attempted genocide. Native peoples. Native population in california drops by more than half in 12 years after 1848, 90 , about 1900 within within 52 years. This is partly through outright killing. Its sponsored by the legislature, passes bills, paying for these militias to go out and slaughter indians in these different roger rivers and elsewhere the government, the federal government passes provides money to reimbursed the cant afford the legislature for these these slaughters. This is a its attempted genocide other places its quite so outright but but the obvious point is the obvious is that this is at the same time that were expanding this offer of citizenship. Others are resisting it. And were saying, okay, heres the offer, but its on these terms. How about the hispanics the hispanic, especially in Southern California and in the southwest . Oh, there was this. The same thing is going on this attempt. Theyre giving citizenship. But at the same time, there is this outright concerted effort to margin allows hispanics from the main areas of economic life. And if theres any resistance to it, to kill them through lynching. This is a very famous lynching of a a woman, which is very rare. But on a larger scale, goes far beyond that. Heres an interesting statistic from based on some recent research we associate lynching course with the southeast mississippi is highest rate of lynching during the during the the worst years in 1880 over until the 1830s this is a rate of lynching now not numbers but the rate per thousand per 100,000. What is the rate of lynching this is based on Extensive Research in mississippi of far less Extensive Research on california in the south world. But its a hint whats the rate per 100,000 in mississippi during years 53 . What is the in the 30 years before that before 1880 in Southern California, the southwest for hispanics, 473 now again, please. This had been studied far more thoroughly in the south east than it has in the southwest. But these guys, the people who did this were pretty, pretty thorough and at least as hitting of. So the the point of course here of the chinese the most anomalous these groups during years are the chinese. What about them they are never offered citizenship and in fact in 1882 the congress for the only time in American History and the chinese exclusion act in 1882, only time in American History. Congress excludes or refuses immigration into this country closes the door. Absolutely for group based exclusively on their place of origin at time that has never, ever happened. The great wall of china keeping keeping the chinese the chinese out. So the point the point here think is that its a very muddy point. But modern america is think modern america. You know, we we talk a great game. We offer citizenship. We offer the rights to a lot of people. But at the same time, there is always resist, always assisted. Its always this pull and took pull into over the question of, you know, just help pluribus unum. This in this country. So see this. If you look into the 20th century, we the door narrowed in the early 20th century, the china you know, the immigrant exclusion act of 1924, which we try to keep out those garlic spelling from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe after world war two. The doors were open. Thats done with civil rights legislation. You know, black power, red power. And then more recently, i think were seeing the other ones pulling back. You know, resistance more resistant. It once again, the focus is out west and once were told that wall said this time its a its not metaphorical but actual. Okay august 7 00. So a the point ive tried to emphasize a night is first a couple of things. The story of birth of the west by itself is a great story. Its a wonderful story, but its a story that is also intertwined with story with the birth of the birth of modern america, the birth of the west, the birth of america. Theyre really theyre really inseparable the American West is at one time born of modern america, the west at the same time is helping to give birth to a west helping to give birth to modern america. Its as if were the west is both both the child and the midwife of the modern america that we been know in the 20th and the 21st century. But more broadly this, of course, i think the point im trying make partly about the title of the book, the continental reckoning, is that were going to understand American History generally. Weve got to make more of an effort to look at that history truly. Continental, you know, to bring the west fully into the story and to look at the american narrative from coast to coast. Thanks. Thanks very much. Appreciate appreciate. You. We have a time for time for questions. Oh, come on, ursula. Doctor. Julie, hi. Hey, janine. I could listen to you talk all day. This is so interesting and. I just wondered if you could elaborate a little bit more on the third point, because its of greatest interest to me in and government. Why not also and perhaps did in the book talk about the west as a leader in expanding citizenship to women west as a leader what in expanding citizenship to women . Well, thats a thats a very point part part of the expansion of is between genders with the granting of the vote to women and so forth. In fact, i do i write about that in the west. What youre saying its interesting to speculate, but there was a doctoral defense today and we have a guy we talked about this. Well, the fact is the west led the way in the nation in the of coverture. For example, you the principle that a woman essentially gives up her legal identity in marriage the west has by far and away the most generous access to divorce in the nation the rate of divorce rate of divorce in the west is was seven times the area. The rate of the south atlantic and three times the rate of all of new england. Women are given rights in legal system across the west that they will not have years and the east. Its interesting to speculate why that is. And i have some ideas, but that was certainly the case. You know, the homestead act we forget is as gender neutral. The homestead act said anyone can take up 160 acres, male or female. Right. And 10 of the homesteads taken up in the northern plains. And one study were taken up by single women, either single women or widowed women who had never married or widowed. Now everything connected. Homestead teaches that more complicated, that its a very complicated story. But i think the larger picture in the west is, in fact, one in which womens rights really significantly expanded. Theres an interesting sort of other of this. Theres been some really interesting work doing a what are called women in waiting these are gold rush widows these thousands of men, many of them husbands and fathers who go out to the goldfields and, to other mining rushes in the west and they leave their women, they leave their wives and mothers home to take on womens i mean, womens work, you know, theyve got to run the business, right . Theyre going to run the farm. Theyre to take on those responsibilities that had been done by men before, that the result of that you follow that story. A lot of cases didnt come back and the wives say, well, glad youre back, honey. Others who come back to me to take over just i dont think so. Its so its its interesting, you know, its one more way in which we see westward expansion and the civil war interacting because these were, after all, you know, two events, two of this in which south sons of men left their homes and left women behind to take on male. And you cant tell me there was not some connection between that in the fact that in the generation just a few years. But here we see the rise of modern feminism in the United States. So i think its one way in which this was these are connected. Hey, chris, your student back in the eighties and of course there were very different questions about the west back then Frontier West west as region west is a process and then of course we went through the new western history. I notice in your book you basically refer to frontier there in i tell an italicized word one time and i was wondering if youd address that. I think very intriguing because when we were grad students with the new western history, many of us said were never using that word again. Right. Thank you. This is chris over to our colleague up in newark, whos my m am a student. About 200 years ago. And he asked me why didnt use the word frontier once attended it. Italics, crystals perfectly well. Why i didnt use the frontier. Hes hes setting me up there. Its become that sort of a buzz word. But its not so much that its a that its a petit limerick, you know, sort of the wealth most associated with the new western history referred to the word frontier, the f word. So and its not its not so much obscene anymore. Its just, okay, you know, lets get beyond that. Lets get beyond that. There are other things, other ways to look at this. We dont need, shoehorn everything into this famous and concept of the frontier. And whether were for it or not or against it, or how we define or so forth, its time to move on now. We can use it occasionally in italics. I thank you. I wanted to ask about that. Before 1840s, so just going by this map, would you define the American West geographically as all territory west of the river and secondly, missouri . Im sorry i use the missouri river, but the point is, of course. Right. Okay. Well, that might be a little bit different. Im curious whats going on in the louisiana louisiana territory. From 1803 until the 1840s, oh, a great question. You mean losing the purchase, the louisiana purchase, right. So, yeah, thats a grizzly purchase. So the territory that we are we already owned before the treaty of guadalupe. Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay. Well, the. With of course, the missouri compromise, we draw this line across that 333 story and just north of us open, you know, bella vista basically everything south of that is open to slavery, everything north of there, everything north of there, which is a much larger territory here. Your answer question that kind of a crappy deal. We just get the small part down there and they this huge expanse of there. Well, the there was a reason for that was that except for iowa and what minnesota included a part of that none of that was considered usable at all. You because it was it was it didnt have enough rainfall in fact think of this in 1845. The topic of the time youre talking about right that was called officially called indian country. It was just left up to the tribes. Youll do do whatever you want right. 1845, none of it had any government whatsoever. It adds up to about one quarter of all territory in 1845, one fourth of all, the United States had no government whatsoever. And thats because it was considered irrelevant. It was sort of a national irrelevance. And what happens when follow to that . What happens is when gold, when we get all that land to the pacific, then gold discovered suddenly that country becomes important, not because what it can produce. Itll be a while later, before arable for its usable, but because now its right in the middle of an expanded country and weve got to get across it. Right so we got to start dealing with the indians, not to, to get transit across out. And then pretty soon we got to build a railroad across it, we got to organize it because cant you cant make law work without without this without being organized to to define the property. It becomes important expansion makes suddenly makes that that has been irrelevant up until suddenly makes area very important simply because its in the middle of the country and in its in its history changes from that point on. Its a very good question. Thank you. Somebody else everybody wants a beer . Yes, sir. With constitution of paleontology. Oh, sorry. Yeah, with the contribution to paleontology was anthropology you also expanded when the in the west. Yeah. Thats its its a i was hoping no one would ask. It is in fact i imagine you know its a relatively new field anthropology its john wesley powell, the first head of the bureau of anthology, called it the science of man and the efforts. Anthropology were really quite extraordinary. These railroad surveys of the 1850s, surveying ways that go out to the the most usable routes for a Transcontinental Railroad they all brought along science a Sciences Scientists and among them anthropologists and they record you know theres this incredible amount of material, anthropology go material describing these various native peoples. I think what they found on the way out there, published in these gorgeous volumes, we dont have any library. The only copies we have nearby are crystal bridges, the publication, the cost of publication of these of scientific explorations, the 1850s was roughly one fourth of the entire National Budget covering this stuff, and it included all this remarkable i mean, zoology, biology of botany and entomology and all this out there, including a lot in anthropology. And what this did was was give a great to the study anthropology in this country what expansion did well suddenly offer this huge number of strange peoples you know to go out there and study and we did but and heres the other side of it. This was also a period of of sort of socalled race science or pseudoscience. You and which which they were major figures like agassiz. He was most famous scientist of the day at harvard who believe in polly jenness. That is other its not theres not one human race. There are human races. And you can divide all all of humanity in these different racial different and there are species out there, species. And they are, of course, also ranked in terms of ability, intelligence, cultural possibilities. And guess whos on top so right. And because as you as you go down lower guesses lower and lower and indians are close to the bottom except and you can guess, you know African Americans so its called the school of anthropology and it becomes a a become and become very well known across the world. This racial theorizing and looking ahead. If you look ahead into germany in the 1930s, you figures like a. German racial theorists look to the americans of anthropology as confirmation. You know, of what they are, what they believe. So its a very dark side. Its not obviously this has nothing to do with any of the polish today. We get out of that. But thats yes. So it was very active and its also very influential in terms of its impact, this particular social science impact on the world of the chipper note