Westward Expansion Westward Expansion In

							Westward Expansion
In 1780, 2.7 million people
lived in the original 13 states

     50 Years Later…
By 1830, 12 million people
lived in 24 states
– The average family had five children !!
Push Factors
 “THE MOTIVATION”

 What causes people to leave?
Push Factors to the West
 Overcrowding (you need a new
 place to live)
 Need for jobs (displaced workers)

 Ethnic/Religious repression
 Refuge for outlaws
Push Factors
 Think about . . .

 What “pushed” you out of bed
 today?
Pull Factors
  “THE INSPIRATION”

 What leads people to a
 particular area?
Land (cheap and plentiful)
(you want a new place to live)
Riches (gold, silver, later oil)
Freedom of religion/beliefs
Family
connections
Jobs and new
opportunities
Adventure!
Or maybe to
find love ??
Pull Factors
 Think about this . . .

 What “pulled” you to SS today?
Incentives to go west included:
 The Pacific Railways Act
  – granted railroad company’s 10 square
    miles on either side of each track laid
    west
 Morrill-Land Grants
  – land grants from states to educational
    facilities with curriculum tied to
    agriculture and mechanical arts
  – (Texas A&M, Oklahoma A&M etc..)
Incentives to go west included:

 Homestead Act – for approximately
$10, settlers could have 160 acres of
western land, if they met certain
criteria:
   • American citizens who were 21 years or
     older, or the head of a household
   • Built a home on their lot, and lived in it at
     least 6 mos. of the year
   • Farmed the land for 5 years or more
Why did the government encourage
so many Americans to go west?
 A belief in the philosophy of
 Manifest Destiny, which stated
 that …..
…. God, …, clearly wanted hard–
working American(s) to occupy North
America. It was inevitable and good
that the United States occupy the
continent “from sea to shining sea.”
John L. O’Sullivan gave
these ideas a name:
Manifest Destiny.


It is, he wrote, “our manifest destiny to
overspread the continent allotted by
Providence for the free development of
our yearly multiplying millions.”
Were there any specific incentives
for groups of people to travel west?
What were some of the issues
preventing western expansion?
 Financially Expensive
 Long Journey
 Uncharted Territory
 Fear of the Unknown
 Climate and Geography
 Native Americans
 Foreign Claims to the Land
If we wanted the land, how could we
acquire it?
 War
 Purchase
 Theft
 Trade
 Land Grants
Once we’ve decided to go west, how
did we get there?
on steam powered boats
Wagon Trains
On Horseback
Stagecoach
Locomotive
Most often – WALKING!!!
Transcontinental Railroad
   Connected the East Coast w/ the
   West Coast
            2 Companies
1. Central Pacific Railroad
2. Union Pacific Railroad
Central Pacific Railroad

 Moved east out of Sacramento, CA
 Used Chinese Immigrants to lay
 track
Union Pacific Railroad

 Moved west out of Omaha, NB
 Used Irish Immigrants to lay track
Transcontinental Railroad
 Took 7yrs to complete
 May 10, 1869 @ Promontory Point
 Pres. Grant connected two lines w/
 a golden spike
 Time Zone were then created to
 keep trains on time.
Problems for Western Settlers

 Drinking Water – collected rain
 water
 – “Prairie Fever” or Typhoid
 Solution: Dig Wells
 – DANGEROUS!
Problems for Western Settlers

 Squatters – people who moved
 onto land that doesn’t belong to
 them
 Women find ways to preserve
 food, make clothing, soap, &
 candles
Exodusters
 Groups of African Am. moved
 west.
 Led by Benjamin “Pap” Singleton
 Get away from harsh treatment
Exodusters
Where did they get their name?

BIBLE
  – Book of Exodus
Native American Wars
 1830’s Pres. Andrew Jackson
 removed all major Nat. Am. Tribes
 west of the MS River (Oklahoma)
 Trail of Tears
 Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek,
 Chickasaw, & Seminole
Native American Wars
 Many Tribes signed land treaties
 They were then put on reservations
 – federal land set aside for Nat.
 Am. Tribes
Native American Wars
 Apache Wars – began during the
 Civil War in 1861; lasted 25 years
 Apache were forced onto
 reservations
 Geronimo – famous Apache leader
Native American Wars
 Sand Creek Massacre – US troops
 led by Col. John Chivington raided
 a Cheyenne camp
 450 men, women, & children were
 killed in the raid
 Cheyenne tribe will surrender a yr
 later
Native American Wars
First Sioux War – started in 1866
when gov’t started building a road
through their land
Sioux attacked the
men killing 80.
Native American Wars
 Sioux agreed to live on a
 reservation in the Dakota Territory
 1875 US gov’t violated the treaty
 Allowed gold miners on the land
Native American Wars
 Second Sioux War – Sitting Bull &
 Crazy Horse led a small band off
 reservation.
 Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer-
 leader of 7th Cavalry; was set after
 Sioux
Native American Wars
 Battle of Little Big Horn – the
 Sioux had joined forces w/ other
 tribes
 Col. Custer & 200 of his men died
 in the battle
Native American Wars
 In response – gov’t floods region
 w/ troops
 Eventually Sioux returned to res.
Native American Wars
 Massacre at Wounded Knee – after
 Sitting Bull’s death; followers left
 res. to perform Ghost Dance
 7th Cav. sent – killed 200 unarmed
 Sioux
Extinction of the Buffalo

 Railroad – killed to feed workers
 Settlers – killed for hides/fun
 Gov’t – killed them to starve out
 Native Am.
Dawes Act

 Gave plots of land to Native Am
 families
 Land not good for farming
 Not interested in farming
Dawes Act

 Gov’t followed a policy to
 assimilate the Native Am.
 Set up boarding schools where NA
 children would learn to be “white”
Indian Territory
 Present Day Oklahoma
 Gov’t gave away 2 million acres of
 Indian land to whites in a race
 April 22, 1889 – Great Race – over
 10,000 settlers raced for claims
Indian Territory
 Boomer – settler who rushed into
 the land legally
 Sooner – settler who marked land
 before the race
 illegally
Farming
Harsh Conditions
Dry Farming – crops that don’t
need much water
Bonanza Farms – farm controlled
by large businesses – grew single
crop
Mining
 Gold & Silver strikes all over the
 west
 Mining towns scattered all over
 west – mostly men
Mining
 Placer Mining – shovel loose dirt
 into boxes/ pans then run water
 over it.
 Once metals gone towns became
 ghost towns
Cattle Industry
 Growing pop. = demand for more
 beef
Problem: How to get cattle from TX
 ranches to railway centers in the
 north?
Cattle Industry
 Long Drive – transporting cattle
 from ranges to cow towns/ railway
 centers
 Cowboys helped move cattle
Cattle Industry
 Farmers against cattle drives
 Barbed Wire – invented by Joseph
 Glidden ended the Long Drive
Populist Party
 Created by Farm and Labor
 Leaders
Populist Party
 Increase circulation of $
 Unlimited printing of silver
 Progressive Income Tax – % of
 taxes owed increases w/ income
Populist Party
 Gov’t control of communication &
 transportation
 8 hour work day
Western Legends
 Buffalo
 Soldiers – name
 give to African
 Am. Cavalry
Western Legends
 Dime Novels –
 fictional
 western stories
 about real
 people
Western Legends
 Pony Express –
 Relay mail
 delivery system
Western Legends
Deadwood Dick
 Nat Love
 African Am
 cowboy &
 rodeo star
Western Legends
Jesse James
  Led gang w/
  bro
  Robbed banks
  & trains
Western Legends
Billy the Kid
 William Boney
 Hired Gun
 Stole Cattle
Western Legends
Butch Cassidy
 Led Wild
 Bunch
 Robbed banks
 & trains
Western Legends
Sundance Kid
 Henry
 Laughabough
 Butch
 Cassidy’s
 partner
Western Legends
Doc Holiday
 John Holdiay
 Dentist turned
 gambler
 Gunfight @
 OK Corral
Western Legends
Wyatt Earp
 US Marshall
 Doc’s friend
 Gunfight @
 OK Corral
Western Legends
Bat Masterson
 Town Sherriff
 Friend of Wyatt
 Earp
Western Legends
Wild Bill
 Hickock
 James Hickock
 Town Sherriff
 Killed playing
 poker
Western Legends
Buffalo Bill
 Bill Cody
 Army Scout
 Showman
Western Legends
Annie Oakley
 Expert
 markswomen
 Part of Buffalo
 Bill’s show
Western Legends
Calamity Jane
 Martha Jane
 Cannary
 Army Scout