This is the popular saying of Mary Elizabeth Lease, the champion of the farmer and member of the Populist Party. The cool connection to our students is that she lived in Kingman County for a time.
Students will explore the problems of the plains farmer in the late 1800's and early 1900's, including debt, high interest, high cost of machinery, high shipping rates of the railroads, and government policy. The rise and fall of the Populist Party is examined.
Today students will continue to learn about farming the Great Plains and the new technologies that made it easier and more profitable. Students will find out about the laws enacted to give farmers educational support through the building of agricultural colleges and programs.
Students are going to learn about the difficulties women encountered while trying to raise a family and make a living on the Great Plains. Students will get to view many tools that women would have used and view pictures from that era.
Students learned about the Wild West Personalities of Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley. Students role played each character in front of the class as a different way of learning the information. All students were very brave and portrayed their character with style.
Students have been learning about the conflicts between the Native Americans on the Great Plains and the miners, settlers and U.S. Army. They have also discovered the hardships experienced by the American Cowboy on the long drive as we prepare to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Kansas Cattle drive in Kingman, Kansas, on Sept. 9-11. http://classzone.com
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