4. Homesteader problems and solutions

• History
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)
• GCSE

The clothes that people wore were simple and good for farming, Many people had only one outfit. 

A house made of sod bricks. Bricks that are dug from the ground. 

An extended family of settlers. many people were needed to make a farm work so famillies would stick together. 

The land was used to farm wheat crops like Turkey Red

When the family first arrived there would have been tall grass on this land. They would have cleared the land, built the house and brought all tools, equpiment and furniture with them.  

What originally grew on the praire?

1. Wheat
2. Grass
3. Trees
4. Flowers

What were settlers houses made from?

1. Sod
2. Bricks
3. Sticks
4. Straw

What was the name of the homesteader crop?

1. Chicken Blue
2. Turkey Blue
3. Turkey Red
4. Chicken Red

Many people left the East coast to settle on the central plains of America. The wanted to set up farms and become independent. 

They wanted to be their own boss and make their own living. However, it was not easy to live on the plains

You have to collect buffalo dung for fuel for the fire.

You live in a house made of mud bricks called sod.

The house is full of bed bugs, fleas mice and snakes.

You have no neighbours so spend all your time with the family.

There is little water to wash with so everybody smells.

Problems of living on the plains

5. Sod houses with little water were unhygienic and many people developed diseases particularly children. 

2. Weather could be extreme - too hot in summer and too cold in winter. The winds howelled and sent some homesteaders mad. 

1. Water was scarce so it was difficult to keep clean. 

3. There was no fuel for heating and cooking so homesteaders used dried buffalo chips - dung. 

4. There was very little to build homes with so homesteaders used mud bricks dug from the ground. These were called sod bricks. These homes were cool in summer and warm in winter but let in the rain. 

Which would be the worst problem and why?

Problems of farming on the plains

5. The plains grasses caught fire easily and crops were burnt. Plagues of grasshoppers could descend and devour hundred acre cornfields in a few hours. 

4. Traditional crops like maize and wheat were not strong enough to survive on the plains. 

3. There was no wood to fence the land so buffalo and stary cattle would eat the crops. 

2. Drought in summer and freezing winters damaged crops.  

1. Water shortage led to crops failing. There were no rivers or lakes on the plains so homesteaders dug wells. 

Which problem can you find a solution for?

What could they have invented?

Russian immigrants introduced hard winter wheat called Turkey Red which grew well on the plains.

Farmers kept animals (sheep and cattle) as well as growing crops.

1874 Joseph Gliddon invented barbed wire, providing cheap and effective fencing.

Once established farmers could grow extra crops for sale.

John Deere invented a strong plough, known as a sod-​buster that could break up the grass roots.

Ploughing after heavy rain or snow meant that the moisture was preserved in the soil.

There was no wood to make fences that would protect the crops.

The weather is very hot in summer and very cold in winter, making it difficult to grow crops.

The lack of water leads to crops failing.

Plagues of grasshoppers 240km long ate all the crops in 1871,1874 and 1875.

Prairie fires started easily destroying the crops.

The plains grasses had dense roots that broke the plough

Used two PEE paragraphs

Used key terms and dates

Described two problems

Explained two solutions