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Factors Influencing Frontier Settlement: A Historical Overview

Explore the key factors that propelled the settlement of the American frontier, including availability of land, Homestead Act of 1862, promotion of agricultural education, impact of railroads, discovery of precious metals, and the role of the Frontier Thesis in shaping American life.

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Factors Influencing Frontier Settlement: A Historical Overview

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  1. Factors leading to the settlement of the Frontier

  2. Availability of Cheap Land • Homestead Act – 1862 • 160 acres of land free if settled within 5 years

  3. Promotion of Scientific Agricultural Education • 1862 Morrill Act • allocated 17,400,000 acres of federal land, which when sold, raised $7.55 million to support the creation of land-grant colleges, • in order to promote the “ liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life”.

  4. Railroads • Government land grants allowed for completion of transcontinental routes • Facilitated movement of goods and people • Ended frontier isolation

  5. Discovery of Precious Metals • Encouraged the adventurous to move West to find their fortune

  6. Destruction of the Buffalo and Confinement of Native Americans • “obstacles” to settlement were removed

  7. Importance of the Frontier in American Life

  8. Frederick Jackson Turner’s “Frontier Thesis” The Frontier had a major role in shaping the American character: • It was a safety valve for the discontented • It promoted individual self-reliance – survival, inventiveness • It promoted social equality – no class distinctions; everyone was equal with the same opportunities (social mobility)

  9. It promoted economic opportunities • There were resources and land available • It promoted the growth of democracy • The West was the first to adopt democratic reforms • Women’s right to vote (Colorado & Wyoming) • Direct election of US Senators • Use of political primaries to choose candidates for political office

  10. Close of the Frontier in 1890 • 1890 – Government announced no more unexplored or unsettled land existed within the U.S. • Our foreign policy is then adjusted to promote increased foreign trade and expansion of foreign markets • It encouraged many to support a move to obtain overseas colonies (a “new frontier”) (imperialism) • The U.S. began to realize limits in space and resources - need to promote conservation of resources and immigration restrictions

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