Question 3.
In source C the disease typhoid is a problem. This highlights the real problem of why it occurred. The reason was lack of a sewage system and no organised fresh water system. The influx of miners brought overpopulation, this caused disorganisation of layout and waste disposal in the mining town of Virginia City of Montana. These problems contributed to the faults of most mining towns.
From my own knowledge I am using a contempory source written by Jennie Calder, “There must be a lone ranger”. It is example of another mining town Murray, and what it was like. “It is composed of a hideous half-mile long street of huts” Murray also had problems with communication due to the different ethnic minorities such as the influx of Chinese people shown in ‘The tables’.
With every second building being a drinking saloon, drunken men who cursed and caused trouble were a problem. Below the saloons and in the mud lived one of the main causes of disease, rats. The image ‘Mud and Rats’ shows this and the struggle to get rid of the vermin.
Overall the other problems were lack of public health, consequently resulting in disease.
Question 4.
Source D shows the bank robbery by the James Younger Gang in Northfield, Minnesota in 1876. From the source there are many guns pictured including rifles and pistols. An example of a rifle is a Winchester. An example of a pistol is a Colt Navy Revolver.
The source is useful as it shows robberies took place. You can see the names of the shops. This information supports the story. The picture is also useful to show the importance of the horse as the robbers getaway transport. The image is useful because it shows the citizens had grouped together to maintain law and order in their town, because there was little law and order in the town of Northfield. Although the source matches other information about the robbery, it may not be completely reliable because it is an artist’s impression.
Source E is about a vigilante group lynching a suspected criminal. This is clear evidence that ordinary people took the law into their own hands because there was lawlessness throughout the West. In source E the vigilante group warn murderers “ye murderers, the fate that this brute has met with awaits you”. This shows they want law and order in their town and they are willing to get it by any means necessary.
Source F is a journalist impression of Virginia City, like source D it may well be unreliable as it is Mark Twain’s impression of Virginia City. Source F indicates that there is law and order in the West. It mentions authority over the town such as a “Chief of Police” and “City Marshall”. Source F also suggests that Virginia City’s crime prevention system is successful at obtaining criminals “half a dozen jails in full operation”.
Sources D and F show that there was a problem with law and order in the American West. Whereas source F shows organisation, and law and order throughout the town of Virginia City.
One source on its own does not give the whole impression of law and order in the West, but having three to look at means we can gain different concepts that are useful for our understanding of the West.
Question 5.
There was lawlessness throughout the West but many sources as well as source B suggest there was no law and order in the mining town of Bannack. Professor Dimsdale, a journalist who gave eyewitness accounts of vigilante groups’ events, witnessed a lynching by vigilantes “their brutal desires” he describes the trial of a man and the crowds attitudes. This suggests along with source E, there was lawlessness and vigilante groups attempted to bring justice, their lynching did not ensure a fair trail and justice. Source E warns criminals especially murderers of the lynch-law “the unpleasant means of lynch-law” The vigilantes would try to bring popular justice by any means necessary. Despite the lynch-law being illegal vigilante groups continued to lynch purely because it was what the people wanted, and in some cases the crowds through peer pressure forced them to.
Source B suggests it was difficult to assign a trust-worthy authority because Bannack was a multi-ethnic town and communication was difficult; you did not know whom to trust. This is shown in the case of Henry Plummer who was appointed sheriff of Bannack despite being secretly the leader of ‘the roughs’ a gang who terrorised citizens. Source B also indicates the lack of law and order through the fact that the people carried guns for self defence. Their “trusty rifle” is their only means of protection.
Source D however suggests that some vigilante groups were good for maintaining law and order in the West as the picture shows a group of citizens trying to capture the ‘James Younger gang’ after their bank robbery in Northfield. The picture also shows the citizens were prepared for the raiders, by the positioning of the gunmen.
Overall the vigilante groups were a good thing because they reduced crime, however they were also a bad thing because their means of prosecution were unfair and inconsistent. There was a lack of law and order due to the geography and vastness of the West, this made policing difficult.
Question 6.
Source G suggests the problems of lawlessness in western towns were due to the influx of early settlers, and their financial motives.
Alternatively source A creates the image of a hard-working organised community with a different motive to those suggested in source G. Source A shows the settlers to have non profitable motives, they just wanted to escape persecution and live in harmony.
Source B does not support G, but offers different reasons for the lawlessness in the West. Source B indicates the reason for a lack of law and order was the fact you did not know who to trust because different ethnic groups and false characters such as Henry Plummer and Wyatt Earp made electing a trust-worthy authority difficult through communication.
Source C does not agree with source G because C shows that the citizens were living in rough conditions, but tried to improve their lifestyle by setting up a caring community “built themselves cabins and did their own cooking”. Whereas source G suggests the citizens were only interested in earning money.
Source D partly supports source G and partly doesn’t. The fact the robbers are in the raid for financial gain much like the views of the citizens in source G “directed their energies to not only making money”. Source D also disagrees with source G through the citizens trying to resist the ‘James Younger gang’ in order to maintain a caring, united community.
Source E is double sided, the vigilantes show source G to be correct because of their unfair prosecutions and lynching. However the vigilante groups are trying to maintain law and order, although the method may be unorthodox and unlawfully, the motive is opposite to the one describe in source G.
Source F does not support source G, source F creates an image of organisation, social harmony and law and order is maintained. The community is concerned with the state of their town, unlike the views William J McConnell in source G, who criticises the first settlers in the mining towns of Idaho.
Using my own knowledge I am aware that the geography of the West made policing difficult, the mountainous areas such as the Rockies and the vast area of the plains was too much for one man to control successfully. With the invention of the gun came a dramatic increase in crime, this made policing the West even more difficult. With the first and only transcontinental railway being built 1869 there was a lack of transport for the law enforcement to travel rapidly.
Source G is partly correct but there were other factors such as the geography of the Plains and the lack of law enforcement, which made policing difficult. A lack of transport and communication effected policing and social harmony.