moving west mr. williams 10 th grade u.s. history september 2, 2009
TRANSCRIPT
• “We were going to God’s Country. Eighteen hundred and 90….It was pretty hard to part with some of our things. We didn’t have much but we had worked hard for everything we had. You had to work hard in that rocky country in Missouri. I was glad to be leaving it. We were going to God’s Country….We were going to a new land and get rich.”
Pacific Railway Act• Signed in 1862 by Lincoln• Provided for right-of-way
construction of a transcontinental railroad by two companies• Union Pacific began westward from
Omaha, Nebraska• Central Pacific Railroad began
eastward from Sacramento, CA
Cornelius Vanderbilt• By 1869 had purchased and
merged three short New York railroads to form New York Central• Built Grand Central Terminal• At time of his death worth an
estimated $100 million
Effects of Railroad• Created many jobs: building
railroad tracks and cars, engineers, firemen, brakemen, mechanics, loaders, machinists, etc.• Increased demand for coal, steel,
timber, etc.• Linked major markets spurring
industry as well
Why Move West?Homesteaders, Miners, RanchersFrom 1870-1900 more land was settled
than in all the previous history of the country
*Eight new States entered the UnionColorado, Montana, North and South
Dakota, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah
•White Settlers: Came from middle class families and could afford supplies and transportation • African Americans: Left because of
KKK and Black Codes• Rumors spread that Kansas would
be set aside for former slaves
• European Immigrants: Economic Opportunity • Farming, Work on the Railroads• Chinese Immigrants: Gold Rush,
Railroad Work, or Farming • BUT laws outlawed Asians from
owning land
Homestead Act of 1862Promised 160 acres free to any citizen
or prospective citizen, male or female, who settled on the land for five years.
With the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, People could choose from 4 different companies to make the trip in less than a week.
SodbustersPoor farmers who did without even the
basics, living in dugouts carved in the land and using muscle instead of machinery
Most Homesteaders found only poorer lands, far from markets, transportation, and society
• “Along the line, as far as the eye could reach, with a shout and a yell the swift riders shot out, then followed by the light buggies or wagons and last the lumbering prairie schooners and freighter’s wagons. Above all a great cloud of dust hovered like smoke over a battlefield.”
Mining•Major mining communities sprung
up in Colorado, California, and along the Canada-Alaska border
• Dug mine shafts, tunnels, and drilled out the ore. Dangerous work, always threat of a cave-in and explosions
Ranching• Demand for beef grew in the East• Ranchers would ship cattle, using
Railroad to cities like Chicago• Between 1882 and 1886 more
than 400 cattle corporations developed in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and NM