114A: Reasons for Westward expansion Flashcards
Why did many settlers move out West in the 1840’s?
With regard to the Mormons, who moved to escape persecution, high taxes and over population in the East
What did the West offer the possibility of?
Starting a new and better life with cheap and fertile land
What did the government encourage?
Settlers to move West as it meant the government could control more land
What discovery brought over many new settlers?
The discovery of Gold in California in 1848
What else was the move west influenced by?
Manifest Destiny
What was Manifest Destiny?
The belief held by many Americans that God had chosen them to populate the entire of the US. It also gave white Americans the ‘divine right’ to populate the continent and to spread its Christian and Republican values
What was Manifest Destiny also a doctrine of?
White Supremacy that granted no Native Americans or non-white claims to permanent possession of the lands in the US
What was ‘Manifest Destiny’ the key slogan of?
Justifying the expansion of the USA in the 1840s and 1850s
How did the federal government secure control of the lands west of the Mississippi?
By creating federal territories governed by officials appointed by the Federal Government
What population did areas have to reach to become a state?
60,000
What did the government introduce in 1862?
the Homestead Act
What did the Homestead Act do?
Released 160-acre plots of land for farmers to claim for free provided they would farm the land for 5 years
By 1865, how many homesteaders had settled on the Plains?
20,000
Which act was introduced in 1873?
Timber and Culture Act
What did the Timber and Culture Act do?
Gave homesteaders and additional 160 acres of land provided 40 of the acres were planted with trees
Which act was introduced in 1877?
The Desert and Land At
What did the Desert and Land Act do?
Offered a further 640 acres at $1.25 dollars an acre provided some of it was irrigated
What were some of the pull factors of the west?
Offer of free or very cheap land, chance of a new start, stories of the beautiful land, looking for good farm land
What were some of the push factors to the west?
Escape poverty and unemployment in the East, escape religious persecution (e.g. mormons), ex-soldiers of the Civil War who saw a lack of opportunity when they returned home and looked to the West as a chance for a new start
What were the government keen to encourage?
Railroad expansion in the West, they realised it would lead to more migration to the area
What did Lincoln sign in 1862?
The Pacific Railroad Act
What did the Pacific Railroad Act do?
Authorised 2 companies to build a transcontinental railroad
Why was did the railroad affect the Native Americans?
They were not consulted despite the railroad running through their lands
What were the Central Pacific to do?
Build eastwards from Sacramento, California
What were the Union Pacific to do?
Build westwards from Omaha, Nebraska
Where and when did the two lines meet?
Promontory, Utah in May 1869
How did the trains affect the Native Americans?
It disturbed the buffalo herds and lured settlers to their plains
Where did the second gold rush occur?
The Black Hills of Dakota in the mid 1870s
What was the problem with the discovery of gold in the Black Hills?
The US government had recognised the Black Hills as belonging to the Native American tribe, the Sioux
By which treaty was the Black Hills recognised as belonging to the Sioux?
The Treaty of Laramie of 1868
