american west part 1- expansion: opportunities and challenges Flashcards
Geography of North America in 1840
-27 states in the east of America
-‘Great American Desert’ term used to describe Great Plains, uninteresting during this time, bounded in the west by Rocky Mountains and east by Mississippi River
-area unfit for farming, was scarce of wood and water
-landscape was a region of gently rolling grasslands and slow flowing rivers, to the north there was ‘Black Hills’ where soft rock eroded to fantastic shapes
-Vegetation scarce, some rivers and valleys close to Mississippi River had woodland. Berries, root plants and wild fruit grew in some places
-Climate had extreme temperature with strong winds all year, in winter these brought blizzards and freezing clods, in summer were scorching and dried up
rivers and land
-Plains Indians lived here
Belief in ‘Manifest Destiny’
-mid 19th Century Americans believed it was their ‘manifest destiny’ to control the whole of the USA
-believed God’s will was for Americans to occupy the whole continent from coast to coast, that they occupy new lands and take their ideas of Christianity, freedom and democracy
-Believed they would use these lands more effectively than their original occupants -viewed Mexican Hispanic people as lazy and Plains Indians as savages
Where did the Americans want to spread to
Texas in the south 1845
Oregon in the North West 1846
California from 1846 after Mexican-American war
Great Plains, home to the Indians
Push factors that made early settlers want to move west
-economic depression in eastern states in 1837, leading to wage cuts
-crop prices fell so farmers wanted to move
-increased unemployment, loss of savings when bank collapsed
-religious persecution (mormons)
-Eastern farmland was too expensive
-Many Europeans flooding into Eastern cities causing overcrowding
-Racial persecution caused people to seek freedom in west
-farmers in some areas had overcrowding, Missouri population grew from 14,000 in 1830 to 353,000 in 1840
pull factors making early settlers want to move west
-good farming land
-better climate
-excitement of somewhere new
-Pacific railways Act of 1862 and 1864 granted land to those aiding construction
-Homestead Act of 1862 offered free land to settlers willing to travel left
-Failed entrepreneurs sought a second chance in new location
-newspapers encouraged people to move west, term ‘manifest destiny’ first used in a newspaper
First groups of people to travel west
-Furtrappers becuase fur had become popular in eastern USA in 1820’s and 30’s and there was plenty of money to be made
-also known as mountain men
-following them was pioneer farmers who went west for various reasons (push and pull factors)
Problems faced on the journey west
-Grassland for miles; inhabitable as no protection from weather or Indians who resented their journey
-cholera epidemic as people went to the toilet near the river
-Rocky Mountains had lack of grass for animals and minimal potable water
-had to resort to cannibalism to eat
-By 1869, 400,000 people had travelled on Oregon trail and 20,000 had died
-Had to make it through the Rocky Mountains before snow hit and they got lost
-Oxen pulled wagons as they were strong but were slow and only moved 3-4 miles a day
Brigham Young and the journey to Salt Lake: why and the success/failure of journey
-moved as wanted a more isolated space which was out of US government control as it was still a part of Mexico
-Brigham sent a band ahead in spring to establish first way, at this camp he split the Mormons into separate wagon trains with a captain in charge of each wagon. Wagons were divided into groups of 100, which was then divided into 10’s led by Lieutenants- discipline was strict
-By June 1846, Young and his wagon trail reached Missouri River and despite being prepared, 700 died over winter
-April 1847, ‘Pioneer Band’ of 143 led the way to the Great Salt Lake leaving signs for others to follow
-Used experienced trail guides to find quickest and safest route, avoiding Oregon trail to prevent seeing other migrants
-Families gathered sticks for firewood and they planted potatoes on the way for other Mormons to eat
-had handcarts as well as wagons to carry belongings as they were cheaper than wagons pulled by oxen. Had regular rest breaks to so livestock and people weren’t exhausted
Challenges of settling in the Great Salt Lake
-Shoshone name for lake was Ti-tsa-pa (bad water) as it was too salty for crops and humans and livestock to drink so they copied Indigenous techniques like building dams in creeks to store water and dug ditches to irrigate crops
-Ground hard and brome ploughs when hey tried to plough it, so they watered the land to soften it
-Very few trees in the desert landscape so lack of wood to build houses with so they copied indigenous techniques using ‘adobe’ (mud baked with straw) to build houses and broke wagons to make furniture
-Young wanted settlement to be self-sufficient to avoid interaction with Americans so had to grow enough food for everyone so each family was given half an acre of land to build a home, plant a garden and grow food. Square mile of fields planted around each settlement for crops and barns used for storage. Teams of craftspeople built new settlements
-Thousands of workers needed to build Salt Lake City and many more Mormons wanted to move west but couldn’t afford it, so they set up Perpetual Emigration Fund in 1849 to raise money for them to migrate
By 1869, Salt Lake City had grow to 80,000 settlers due to discovery of gold in California, bringing migrants, money and trade through the city
Miners and the Californian Gold Rush
-1849 a rumour of gold in California, found by James Marshall finding rock glinting in a trench built by Indigenous people meant 90,000 people arrived in California, by 1855 the population of California grew by 30,000
-Spread by a Sn Francisco newspaper then spread over the USA and beyond
-people travelled by sailing round the east coast or on foot via California Trail or across the Great Plains
-sorts of people included Mexicans, Chileans, Peruvians, Californian Indians, ex-convicts from Australia and Chinese slaves
-Working conditions tedious, back breaking and ruined the land, worked all day
-in spare time they went to saloons, drank, by 1853 San Francisco had 537 saloons, gambled and saw prostitutes for $400 a night
-lived in shacks- old blankets spread over wooden frames- worked all day and ate greasy pork
-epidemics of dysentery, malaria and scurvy
-By 1852, population of California rose from 15,000 in 1848 to 250,000 by 1852
-Gold rush ended in 1852 and miners moved to look for gold in Rocky Mountains
consequences of Californian Gold Rush; US expansion
-California became a state in 1850 as it had 60,000 inhabitants
-Most migrants didn’t find gold but settled in California, fertile soil meant farming business grew
-new businesses set up to provide migrants with tools and food increasing US economy
-Rapid economic growth in California strengthened belief in manifest destiny
consequences of California Gold Rush; Indigenous people
-miners hunted the animals they depended on for food, clothing and trade
-Prospecting for gold in rivers killed fish they ate
-miners who failed to find gold claimed Indigenous land for farming
-settlers allowed by law to capture Indigenous people to use as workers and ‘adopt’ children to use as workers
-any resistance from Indigenous people met with brutal retaliation from local militias or US army, funded by government
-Historians estimate almost 20,000 indigenous people in California were killed between 1848 and 1870
consequences of California Gold Rush; Chinese migrants
-1852, 20,000 arrived in San Francisco from Guandong and worked extremely hard and got gold out of abandoned mines
-most took up large debts to travel to America and never made enough to return home
-100’s of racist attacks on Chinese from Euro-Americans including lynchings
-law enforcement did not protect them, forced out of jobs and worked building railways
-1882, government banned immigration from China
consequences of the California Gold Rush; the environment
-Indigenous people used the rich resources of coasts and forests sustainably
-prospectors dug up river beds, polluting rivers with sediment and changing river habitats
-mining released toxic chemicals into the river and soil, killing fish and polluting water supply
-Forests cut down for wood for buildings, increasing soil erosion and changed habitats
Tipi advantages
solved problems such as:
-lack of wood- wooden poles took with them when they moved so they can live in woodless areas
-strong winds- conical shape mad it strong enough to resist wind of Great Plains
-extremes of temperature- always fire burning for heat and floor covered with furs, and the bottom could be rolled up in summer to let air in
-Nomadic lifestyle- could be packed up in 10 minutes and they had rules to follow to respect people’s space
