What ethnic/social/economic groups moved to the Great Plains? Why did they make this move? What challenges did they face?

The first groups to settle the Great Plains included people in lower economic classes, European immigrants, and African Americans. The main appeal of settling this region was large quantities of cheap land; the 1862 Homestead Act, which was passed to encourage the settlement of this region, made land in the area cheap and available in large quantities. This appealed to those who could not afford land in other states, Europeans whose countries had little unclaimed land to offer, and African Americans who wanted the opportunity to start farms despite generational poverty.

The settlers of the Great Plains often struggled with farming. The climate of the region was not ideal for agriculture; droughts were a common feature of the summer season, and it got very cold in the winter. Additionally, farmers had to break through layers of grass roots in order to plant, and grasshoppers often infected crops.