Westward Expansion: Crash Course US History #24

[@hannahl.8635]

"And it was a lot of beef, if you know what I'm talking about. I'm actually talking about beef." I almost spit out my soup.

[@vincentyang7415]

it had beef in it?

[@MarkMcDaniel]

*spat.

[@sigbaconater910]

Online clases, exam due tonight at 11:59 PM, time is 10:21 PM I have to write two 750 essays about this. Wish me luck!

[@aydeflor18]

I feel like people completely blow past the channel name "Crash Course." He's not going to discuss every single thing in US History. People are mad because he leaves out important bits of American history that they themselves declare more important than others. I would think it important for him to expand on the Mexicans turned Americans who lived in the West a long time before the country's expansion and their assimilation to the change -- but that's only an opinion! not something turned to true importance to the country's history just because I deem it important. It's also not something that should be brushed aside as unimportant, however understandable why it wouldn't be included in a (what?) crash course! Just enjoy whats given to you for free as a subscriber and stop criticizing. If it bothers you that much, do the work yourself -- make you're own crash course (and I mean that seriously, not as a form of insult).

[@Slyismylife54321]

***** You're name is console peasant, so I know you're PC Master Race.

[@fuge511]

tell them to read their APUSH textbooks hahaha

[@leahb3384]

"kill the indian, save the man" my apush teacher would constantly quote a "paraphrase" of that when we got on her nerves and instead say "kill the teenager, save the man"

[@paulcosby8662]

Leah B dang that's depressing

[@pollyeffinpocket1644]

Wow

[@ajk9585]

"Books for putting on your shelf and pretending to have read..." Yup, we've all done that XD

[@11thNite]

The best US history teacher I had in high school did not shy away from the sadness, moral degradation and mortal consequences of the westward expansion, but neither she nor I nor any history teacher I have yet met were able to drive home the correlations, causes and momenta that related industrialization to westward expansion. Kudos.

[@kennedygreen-hawkins8999]

"What’s that? It’s going dry. MY GOD THIS IS A DEPRESSING EPISODE"

[@therealxenith3237]

I died at that part! LOL XD

[@rebecca9725]

thats what she said

[@iheartamerica100]

I am so glad these crash courses exist. My teacher doesn't help me at all. These help a lot. Thaaaaanksss

[@Groot-yp5hd]

i feel you pain

[@surpriseshotty2383]

my teacher helps but these are awesome

[@n3v3rg01ngback]

highawesomeness Maybe you’re a shitty student.

[@Rea13434O]

Dark Rainbow I doubt they’re taking the initiative to watch history videos if they’re a shitty student

[@not_obsidian]

My teacher throws crash courses at us instead of teaching lmao

[@Cherry-hu4xm]

I’m here because the quarantine means no history lessons and I need to pass my exams 😬

[@neilchintalapudi4184]

2020 gang!

[@bethanyreese2937]

Same. My teacher said if I dont watch this I wont get my notes😂😣

[@jorgemarques739]

What's the situation there in U.S ? I'm from Brazil

[@codymann2980]

Same I have to do this for my U.S. History Class

[@jaketaubman9607]

My teacher sends me these videos.

[@SebastianMuriel]

I would like to thank Crash Course for being helping me get an A in APUSH this semester. I have my final tomorrow and I'm so ready! You guys are awesome!

[@mackenzie7144]

*Quarantine squad where you at*

[@yne_aspekt7249]

Just a Beanut Butter Cup right here🖐

[@vP3ppy]

Here

[@ImS0ulidify]

I’m here yeet

[@songmingi3703]

Here

[@Delta285]

homeschooling with this as part of my collage coarse. Looks like this is coming to an end.

[@KellyNaylor]

As depressing as this is, I've studied so much about the history of the Indigenous People of North America that I can say it's not really as depressing as the reality... but mostly because it only scratches the surface of the topic. But thank you, John, for at least shedding more light on the topic than any of the history classes I had from grade school through college.

[@madisonsappia7124]

I have been watching Crash Course for about 3 years now, and I just realized that this John Green is the same one that wrote Paper Towns, Fault in our Stars, Looking for Alaska etc. I love this man!!!!

[@TheKenchixx]

uhm my new history teacher is called Mr Green lol

[@vincentyang7415]

hah

[@TheNueKid4]

i had a subsitute teacher name mr green, and he was gae!!! his voice tho it was the funniest thing

[@zacktessean7921]

Kenchixx ahhh you don’t know what it’s like in quarantine

[@TheNueKid4]

@@zacktessean7921 yea ur rite

[@sadgho5t798]

Did I ask

[@dodgev142]

If you use closed captioning/subtitles it says SUCK IT STAN SUCK IT after the mystery document even though he didn't actually say that.

[@cheezeyman0495]

Oh Stan

[@sirpixelot8853]

LOL

[@harutooo_8184]

Shawn Dodge lol

[@LanSu11i3]

my guess would be a mistake in editing haha

[@horus9442]

"mistake" looool

[@crashcourse]

Well, I don't think use of Crash Course should be the metric for good teaching. But I'm glad the show is appearing in classrooms! -stan

[@samwelltarly6700]

We welcomed them as brothers, knowing nothing of their greed. Born hunters, not the hunted, as the white man hunts for me. We are descendants of the animals, we live upon them free. Our trail of tears would end, one day at wounded knee. When we do the ghost-dance, the buffalo will return Paint ourselves for war, let blood and fire burn. Great spirit make us strong, take us to the sky The Cherokee are brave, we are not afraid to die. There has been much killing, there will be much more The medicine man is dancing, he's calling us to war. Hatchets sing with pride, let the white man die. Lyrics from "Spirit Horse of the Cherokee" by Manowar

[@paris2685]

Samwell Tarly thats deep

[@katywilbekin3152]

This is a nice poem with some truth to it; however, no humans are descendants of animals.

[@crashcourse]

I think it varies depending on the school, the state, etc. There are a lot of teachers out thee doing a great job. Sometimes they run up against problematic textbooks or mandated curricula, and there are all sorts of other issues. -stan

[@FoundArchive]

LMFAOO!!! if you guys put on the closed caption on at 7:00 it reads... "suck it "OH YES YES SUCK IT STAN SUCK IT!" i dont think that was suppose to be in there lol

[@thomasmoe9145]

*George Takei Voice* Ooooooooooohhhhh mmmmmmmyyyyyy..........

[@jacobguerra7690]

lololo

[@TheNueKid4]

It doesn't say that. But i know its like 5 years later

[@jaketaubman9607]

uuuh no it doesnt.

[@FoundArchive]

Sorry y’all, u missed it

[@savedthroughgracebyfaith]

The last Native boarding school was closed in 1991, and there is a problem today with Native children being placed with white families. My mother, 100% Ojibwe, was split from her two siblings, forced off the reservation, and put into a white family. Her mother, my grandmother had died from a drug overdose. My moms grandmother could have adopted her but the government wouldn't let her. As for my father, 100% Blackfoot; his mother who lived on a reservation could not afford to keep him, and she was forced to give him up to a white family. The dis-placement of native children is still happening. 1/3 Indigenous women in the United States will be raped at least once in their lifetime. Natives have the highest rate of AIDs related deaths. We are still struggling. stop acting like we're not

[@QuietlyCurious]

:( Sorry to hear that. Native children are still placed with white families? What part of the country are you in?

[@savedthroughgracebyfaith]

Omandita4 It happens on every reservation in America and Canada

[@sydnaestewart2477]

Richy Rich How do you miss a point so spectacularly

[@JeffDvrx]

sydnae stewart ... The comment section on this video is just SO WRONG it hurts. Either people make a serious statement just to get ridiculous answers like that one, or they make hateful, stereotypical comments that are just absurd and filled with hate. Yeah, i know, that's the internet for you, but still... I don't think I've ever been as sad by reading comments on a youtube video as with this one.

[@KillingCrusemsPaige]

I am confused and maybe you can help me with this. I looked a lot into adoption of children, and I was under the belief that most native american children couldn't be adopted by a white person unless allowed to by the chief of what ever tribe the come from.

[@bobdull6699]

Hey John Green, I know that AP scores have been posted for over a month but I would just like to take a minute to thank you for helping me get a four on my AP US History test. You rock!!

[@kennedygreen-hawkins8999]

"And now let us move from tragedy to tragedy."

[@harunsuaidi7349]

It was around this time Bioshock Infinite backstory began to took place, right?

[@SyrupFan]

More like 1880s to 1910

[@malkielmirzakandov8565]

Think so.

[@xanderthecommander7491]

Harun Suaidi You're thinking of The Wounded Knee Massacre (1890) 150 Native Americans were slaughtered and Booker DeWitt took part in this

[@sparklejames4614]

Harun Suaidi 1:00

[@0xxdemonxx029]

Harun Suaidi *take* not took

[@elizabethgrace6382]

I must say that John is getting significantly less confident in his guessing abilities

[@lilliansunshine7499]

I was actually really moved when he started showing the pictures of nature and speaking of the atrocities done to Native Americans. That was a good choice, very respectful

[@dubsy1026]

he didn't even cover a fraction of it. have you ever heard of the battle at wounded knee? 400 native Americans were doing the ghost dance, when the 7th cavalry turned up and placed cannons around them. they then confiscated any blade, gun, or even kitchen implements. then, one ONE supposedly resisted, so they started firing indiscriminately into the crowd, killing over 240. 23 Americans were killed by friendly fire. 20 medals of honour were awarded for this and they are STILL valid. this was business as usual for the American army at that point

[@JJ-pm4ob]

+Dubsy 102 That doesnt sound like a battle to me.

[@lindsayzmail]

You mentioned Australia's policy of removing aboriginal children from families and placing them with white foster families which lasted until the 1970's but that happened in the US and Canada as well. They took children from their mothers in the hospital after they were born and put them in the foster system. That's what happened to my mom, who was born in 1967 and she ended up getting adopted by a white family. Her little brother, who was also adopted, was also taken in this way.

[@AironExTv]

Good episode. Makes we want to learn more about that period. Btw, when I was in school (here in Berlin, Germany), it wasn't up until 12th grade that we learned about the charming horrors of 1933 - 1945 in this country. We were kinda surrounded by history with the Berlin Wall all around us and several divisions of soldiers occupying the city, but the actual history of the first to second world wars was was not taught to us. I learned that from TV documentaries and later books. All pre-web.

[@maceym.3162]

For those of you who have read the little house books by laura ingalls wilder, I'm pretty sure the ghost dance was the Indian dance in little house on the praire, as it was in the same state as laura was ,and is the same time period if i'm not mistaken.

[@PlainsPup]

This has gotta be my favorite Crash Course US History episode.

[@frodoswaggins3132]

This was my second correct guessing of the mystery document author. I highly recommend reading about Hinmatóowyalaht’quit (Chief Joseph) and the Nez Perce war.

[@erraticonteuse]

It's astonishing to me that I didn't learn about allotment until literally the last possible moment in my education-- my final semester in law school when I took the totally elective class of Federal Indian Law. It did always feel like there was a gap in my US History classes, where we just stopped talking about the Natives until the 1970s (if we got that far), but then no one had ever taught me that the tribes had been treated as sovereign nations up until a certain point either.

[@moodinfinite]

I think most American students experience with U.S. history prior to college is one of disillusionment. So when John doesn't sugarcoat it or is "hating on America" as some people might say, it is very much appreciated and extremely fascinating.

[@BifronsCandle]

Surprised there was no mention of Wounded Knee, both a low point and an end for the Indian Wars'.

[@BetweenGraces]

John, THANK YOU. I'm a teaching student and I needed something like this for my lesson on friday. You are awesome!

[@vel9761]

Haha, if you turn captions on when he guesses the name, you can read a part of the video they edited out XDXD

[@corscott5]

guys, I don't care where you are in the video, go back/forward to 6:48 and watch with the captions on, it's fucking great

[@vel9761]

Corey Scott That's what I was talking about lol

[@LeenaSregneva]

haha

[@vincentyang7415]

um i dont see it

[@roking13]

John Green, sometimes you make me feel that nothing good ever happened in history...

[@blairn9663]

Green rules all things HISTORY and HUMOR!

[@Kira.D07]

“MY GOD WHAT A DEPRESSING EPISODE!” I almost choked on my water

[@alanmullinax6785]

I love you all I can not thank you enough for all the work you do. I am a non traditional student and without you all help i would probably fail.

[@doomdtn]

Why do we even need school? Ive learned more about western expansion in 13 minutes than my entire 4 years of high school.

[@WhitDough]

Watching these with the subtitles on is far more entertaining.

[@kennedygreen-hawkins8999]

"And it was a lot of beef. You know what I’m talking about. I’m actually talking about beef."

[@mikecronis]

Oregon Trail Apple II game reference for 1000 points. White man as Mr. Rogers at 06:28 for 200 points.. and you went over all my entire Native American History College Course in 10 minutes. Robot spider at 10:50 from Wild Wild West. Amazing.

[@VanRamsey]

I GUESSED THE AUTHOR OF THE MYSTERY DOCUMENT!!! I'm so damned proud.

[@jbien-aime9272]

Watching these videos make me slightly depressed. Luckily, it's John Green.

[@ValeAzul]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU PEOPLE FROM Crash Course FOR MAKING ME THINK BETTER...really had a romanticised idea of the "Wild" west...because of this episode I can actually feel new sinapsis in my brain...THAAAANKK YOUUUUUUUU...and I´m not even american, but from the good propaganda, soon to be canadian...jejejejeje

[@sbrandybuck]

"If you know what I'm talking about... I'm actually talking about beef." HAHAHA I LOVE YOU

[@chipo715]

lol, the subtitles are awesome this episode. " Oh - Oh Yes! Yes! Suck it Stan! Suck it! " lol

[@jaspalmer1730]

LMAO how could it be MORE interesting? Graphics, wit, pretty colors, dynamic storytelling, jokes, irony, and pretty much first class info all in 12 minutes...you're right! Maybe an explosion at the end please?

[@marthalindout]

x) "Putting books on your shelf and pretending to have read." Thanks for that, John. You know my family too well.

[@lenanguyen383]

This helped me a lot! I’m in 4th grade and my class is learning about westward expansion!

[@garland3rader]

You have provided me lots of help throughout all your videos. Thank you for being detailed and also understandable!

[@DylanKreutzer]

Oh my god he made an Oregon Trail reference this makes me so happy

[@p1nkpumpkin773]

I'm actually from Arizona and grew up on a farm. A litter of chickens is usually 12 chicks it can varie to 6-8 or even 13-15. A litter is amount of whatever animal that is born at the same time.

[@MsCuteliltaz]

I was watching with earbuds blasted cuz ur voice was kinda low....and then the intro music came, I NEARLY HAD A HEART ATTACK. AND IT WAS NIGHT, AND I WAS TRYING TO KEEP IT LOW. xD thank you john u really are the best

[@reeky8373]

I’m here cause of Coronavirus and have no school and this is for my online school.

[@Rix227]

We watched this in my us history 2 class today. Y'all do some great work over there. Keep doing what you're doing!

[@jaspalmer1730]

thanks for spitting the history, no matter how depressing. This stuff is important to know and poorly taught, at least it was in my school.

[@gabrielelias983]

This series is really starting to hit its stride. I'm enjoying the push and pull between myth and reality, especially when played out in political economic arena. Thanks!

[@kozmo7]

I have a question. When in history do we all just, get along? :[

[@christianhall3348]

never

[@magictelevision3502]

:'(

[@Hector-bj3ls]

Hasn't happened yet...

[@agathaking4255]

65 million years ago

[@JackToeRip]

Tomorrow

[@biggkemo]

And all this time I thought that Black people were the only ones victimized by European colonialism. I was so wrong...

[@Cheekster15]

This was my favorite episode yet. I liked your point of how American's (and indeed all of humanity) is constantly in a myth making business. The world was not always empirically understood as we think it is. Perhaps the greatest goal of history is not to tell what happened, but how it shaped our current identity. KEEP IT REAL John!

[@adinatovalandon3230]

This episode is so depressing... Strangely enough, it has cheered me up from my dour mood that I've been suffering all day.

[@anchimel]

The animated machine from Wild, Wild West at the beginning was a nice touch.

[@gore4651]

at 3:35 hahahah oh you guys are making fun of that poor lady who messed up jesus!! lol

[@humicroav215]

Came here to say this!

[@Obstreperous_Octopus]

"...books for putting on your shelf and pretending to have read" *looks over at book shelf.* : ( So true...

[@shaydag8802]

The Jesus restoration on the wall at 3:30 !!!!!! hahaha!

[@CapitalMort]

I'm glad this wasn't sugar coated, too many people are ignorant of the crimes against humanity that the Americans committed, and they are still doing it today in the Middle East.

[@erraticonteuse]

In a college history class, my professor asked why we thought the US didn't engage in imperialism in the 1800s like Europe did. After some discussion where no one challenged the question at all, I was just staring at the US map when a lightbulb went off in my head. And I said, "But we did. We took over an entire continent. The people who lived there were nations we conquered." The room was dead silent after that. We're just not taught to think of Indians like that, and it's insulting.

[@trentthegoat3793]

nobody: Absolutely nobody: *John green: **6:58*

[@VonBearsJr]

"and now let us move from tragedy, to tragedy" good stuff

[@abrahambestiii2337]

So Canada was using residential schools up until the 1990s. Not sure if anyone has mentioned this.

[@bobbyyon1435]

2:45 Here in my garage, just bought this new Lamborghini here. It’s fun to drive up here in the Hollywood hills. But you know what I like more than materialistic things? Knowledge. In fact, I’m a lot more proud of these seven new bookshelves that I had to get installed to hold two thousand new books that I bought. It’s like the billionaire Warren Buffett says, “the more you learn, the more you earn.” Now maybe you’ve seen my TEDx talk where I talk about how I read a book a day. You know, I read a book a day not to show off it’s again about the knowledge. In fact, the real reason I keep this Lamborghini here is that it’s a reminder. A reminder that dreams are still possible, because it wasn’t that long ago that I was in a little town across the country sleeping on a couch in a mobile home with only forty seven dollars in my bank account. I didn’t have a college degree, I had no opportunities. But you know what? Something happened that changed my life. I bumped into a mentor. And another mentor. And a few more mentors. I found five mentors. And they showed me what they did to become multimillionaires. Again, it’s not just about money, it’s about the good life; health, wealth, love and happiness. And so I record a little video, it’s actually on my website, you can click here on this video and it’ll take you to my website where I share three things that they taught me. Three things that you can implement today no matter where you are. Now, this isn’t a “get rich quick” scheme. You know, like they say if things sound too good to be true they are too good to be true. I’m not promising you that tomorrow you’re gonna be able to go out and buy a Lamborghini. But what I am telling you is that it can happen faster than you think if you know the proven steps. So, I record a little two minute video on my website. Like I said, now it’s not the most professional I just shot it here with my iPhone, but it’s real. Nobody can argue, this is my true story. And I’m going to give you the three most important things you can do today. So click the link, go there it’s completely free to watch it it’s just a couple minutes. Invest in yourself. Always be curious. Don’t be a cynic. Okay, people see videos like this and they say “Ah that’s not real that’s for somebody else.” Don’t listen, don’t listen. Be an optimist. Like, Conrad Hilton, the man who started Hilton Hotel, he said that he was only fifteen years old when he read a book by Helen Keller, and that book changed his life. Books can change your life. And in that book, Helen Keller said “optimism” so if you’re a cynic, if you’re a pessimist you don’t need to click here. Don’t worry about it, I don’t need to talk to everybody. But if you’re somebody who knows that there’s something better, cause the dream is possible, you know, for some of you watching it’s not necessarily a Lamborghini, maybe it’s a new job, a new opportunity, starting your own company. Maybe it’s a new lifestyle without so much stress, traveling the world, doing those things you know you’re destined to do. You can do those unless you understand finances. Money, I don’t call it money anymore, I call it fuel units. You must have enough fuel units to live out your dream and to live out your destiny. So, I’ll see you on my website, it’s a quick video and you’ll see there absolutely free. So just click this video and you’ll be taken there in a second, and uh, I’m excited to share this amazing stuff. You’ll see, not because of anything of me but because I’ve been fortunate enough to learn from mentors many years ahead of me. Not just in books like these, although I love books but also real in-person mentors. So let me share with you these three tips that have made all the difference in my life. They’re practical, you can do them today, you can start on them today. All right? See you there on my site.

[@BardovBacchus]

I am truly enjoying this series and I am reminded of Stephen Colbert who famously said, "reality has a well-known liberal bias." Thank you Crash Course.

[@KarateKidX]

Wow, I actually guessed the mystery document before John did.

[@WhoddaWhaddu]

Can you speak a little more on the ongoing inter-generational trauma caused by the boarding schools and reservations? It felt very rushed and it was pretty rushed in my history class, too (until I asked the teacher if I could personally give a talk to the class on it). I just want the information out there so people can know about what we're still fighting against.

[@ladyfoxy223]

And it was a lot of beef, if you know what I'm talking about... I'm talking about beef. Hahaha :)

[@seanduff8878]

Maybe next you should do a history of the British Commonwealth? Get the British Isles, Canada, and Australia all in one series.

[@jimmyyang9464]

If you’re looking for good reading material, I recommend the memoir Black Elk Speaks. Truly powerful stuff.

[@ohmygoshtosh]

is this the same John green that wrote "the fault in our stars?" hahaha

[@HEagle72]

It is

[@cursedswordsman]

Oh, I know what you're talking about... juicy angus beef... Wait what?

[@naenkota5248]

Thank you for putting this up,It really helps me in My 9th grade us history class😊

[@scarletarmada5637]

+NaeN Kota What? I learned this in 5th grade. Are educational systems different depending on what state you live in?

[@bombasticbrian.]

+Scarlet Armada yes

[@scarletarmada5637]

Patient Zero Good to know. I guess the "American schooling is terrible" argument is unfounded then.

[@bombasticbrian.]

+Scarlet Armada my school system sucks. 10th graders have to do freaking ALGEBRA 1! I should be in Precalc!

[@scarletarmada5637]

smh what state/school district do you live in. my school district is pretty cool. Lots of good school here

[@ksutubagal]

Thanks for mentioning Abilene, KS as part and the end of the Chisholm Cattle Trail for a time. There's a maker outside our post office denoting the end of the trail. Traffic blocking trains are still active in town despite the lack of cattle!

[@dmeads5663]

My great grandfather was a black foot Indian from eastern PA, to all foreigners watching this, understand that the reservations are voluntary, a Native American doesn’t have to live on one and most of them today live regular lives in American society.

[@southernbeautyblogger]

He talks very fast

[@titimeme8854]

Yup.

[@samuelp6953]

Because He's a part-time Sound Cloud rapper

[@yikesmcgee1283]

.75 playback speed

[@Pytzhi]

yess

[@cbmathews0440]

I put it on 1.25 lol

[@EmzieEvs]

Please do more on the west, also medicine in history :) I absolutely loved crash course English, will you be doing more? If so, please cover some English literature eg. pride and prejudice please :) thank you so much for making this course!!

[@acidlysynth4063]

10:10 Me: laughs then completely cuts if off and says "we're all gonna die".

[@bradygriffith1893]

I guessed the mystery document in 1 try! Thank-you Idaho history.

[@etherealukiyo894]

i love watching crash course on 1.75x speed to cram before a test

[@carterlavering2553]

JUSTICE MENTIONED ‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼

[@andrewthegeek6522]

2:35 in a rpg system known as savage worlds they follow that history and throw in other mythic elements in a setting called the wierd west

[@Merlmabase]

Great episode, and I appreciate the ongoing there-are-no-easy-answers theme in crash course. Keep it up!

[@aznneozanet]

When it comes to getting you down it never lets you down.

[@brianwalsh288]

Cant say I'm exactly too pleased to hear my hometown of Carlisle, Pa mentioned for said reasons..

[@jp5morin]

Thanks for giving that "point" to Canada, but in reality, we don't deserve it. We had our own residential school system (in fact based on the Carlisle School) which continued well in to the 1970s and the last school didn't close till 1996. I'd suggest looking at John Milloy's "National Crime" or J.R. Miller' "Shingwauk's Vision". Keep up the great work and I'll be showing this episode to my students!

[@Stardweller1]

Behold: Humanity. (This is why I prefer blaming governments to blaming the countries those governments lead).

[@nathenhutchison6182]

As always, the United States can one up you on the shame meter. During the 1960s into the '70s, the "Indian Health Service" in the United States instituted a policy of forced sterilization of Native American women.

[@Lucy-zi4wh]

Nathen Hutchison yeah unfortunately there was forced sterilization for Canadian indigenous peoples as well. I think it’d be pretty difficult to find something shameful that Canada hasn’t done to its First Peoples.

[@mra4521]

Not sure if John mentioned it or if it is in the comments, however the Ainu of Hokkaido Japan also battled Imperialism's genocide and lost in the same horrible ways the vast tribes, nations, and more of the Americas and Oceania did. PS this episode proves Cormac McCarthy is kind of a jerk in terms of his "realistic" portrayals of women (of all ethic groups, and non-white ethnic groups) presence in the "Wild West."

[@lesliemaryannneal8212]

Seriously? You talked about how farmers irrigated the Great Plains from the Ogallala Aquifer but never mentioned the horrendous decade-long environmental disaster called the Dust Bowl. After years of soil conservation efforts began to succeed, and rainfall brought about the end of the drought, dust storms abated. After World War II, farmers began irrigating the very same land that had caused the dust storms, using the Ogallala Aquifer. I love Crash Course, but this is a really painfully big omission.

[@davidsuarez8934]

So this episode is a part of a series of videos about U.S. history. Considering that even World War I wasn't mentioned should let you know that The Great Depression and The Dust Bowl have not happened in the time frame he is talking about here. There is an episode (episode #33) dedicated to to The Great Depression. He most likely talks about The Dust Bowl then.

[@lesliemaryannneal8212]

David Suarez Of course, I know that the Dust Bowl is far in the future; I am watching this whole series in order. But I recently wrote an article on that catastrophe, and I learned in my research that farmers didn't start tapping the Ogallala Aquifer for irrigation until after WWII, though they used it for drinking water. If they had known to irrigate the Great Plains back during the time of westward expansion, the Dust Bowl would not have happened in the first place. A major part of the problem that Great Plains farmers faced in the 1930s was a decade-long drought. They relied entirely on rainfall that simply didn't come. So my point is that in this episode they mentioned irrigating the land as if it was something that happened during this era, but that's simply not true.

[@davidsuarez8934]

Ah, I understand your point that they weren't using the Ogallala Aquifer until after WWII. However, there are plenty of sources indicating that U.S. farmers were getting into large scale irrigation in the late 1800's. Although the use of the Ogallala Aquifer is not specified, the states that began using large scale irrigation lied on top of the Aquifer, namely Nebraska. On another note, even cursory glances at one of the major causes of the Dust Bowl was, like you said, farmers relied heavily on rain and that was generally a dry place. So there was definitely irrigation, but very weak arguments for it and few people doing it.

[@Cameldactyl]

Leslie Maryann Neal He actually referred to the Ogallala Aquifer in the context of how we supply plains agriculture later on and to present day. The point he was making was that the plains, while productive agriculturally requires massive irrigation projects, whether trying to tap into underground water or irrigating from another location. Basically, it was not good for people that could not afford to create these huge infrastructures which were later exploited by corporations and estates.

[@TehFrasssaa]

These kind of schooling systems weren't just used in the new world. The British Empire used them in Ireland to Anglicise the Irish people by making them learn the English language, making them use the new English names for geographical locations and making them use the Anglicised versions of their names.

[@WhimsicalCyn1]

What's funny is one of the positive points he mentions is how cheap wheat and food had gotten... but if you watch Ken Burns' Dustbowl (avail. on Netflix now!), half of the first episode is about how the dropping prices of wheat and food left farmers starving, homeless, and doing way more farming than what was good for the Earth.

[@jumpmancami5490]

I'm here bc of red dead redemption 2