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Moving West!. Chapter 12 / Section 2 / Page 392. LAND!. People began moving west because they had dreams of new opportunities Like owning inexpensive land with good soil Many people began moving west, including: Cotton planters from the south Cattle and sheep farmers from New England
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Moving West! Chapter 12 / Section 2 / Page 392
LAND! • People began moving west because they had dreams of new opportunities • Like owning inexpensive land with good soil • Many people began moving west, including: • Cotton planters from the south • Cattle and sheep farmers from New England • Merchants and shopkeepers from the east
Conestoga Wagon: • Carried everything the families owned on their journey west • When they arrived in the west two tools were most important to their survival: • Long handled ax • Rifle
Pathways into the West: • Daniel Boone- lead a group of 30 lumberers across the Cumberland Gap • Boone’s party cleared the trail to central Kentucky • This became known as the Wilderness Road
Transportation systems improve Page 394
A Need: • People wanted new speedy, cheap transportation systems to help move raw materials and factory goods to market • In New York and Pennsylvania they began building a turnpike (a roadway which you must pay to travel on) • To travel on these roads you had to pay a toll, or a small fee which was used to build new roads and help keep up existing ones
Demand for better roads: • Settlers moving west demanded better roads because they: • Wanted the region to grow more rapidly • Wanted places in the west to gain statehood • Wanted to increase population • Wanted transportation to be quicker and less costly
National Road: • Government funded road that would aid in traveling west • Construction was delayed because congress was not sure it was constitutional • Once it was built is connected Cumberland MD to Wheeling WV • This made it easier to travel in all kinds of weather
Depending on Waterways: • During the 1800’s waterways were still the main form of transportation • Water transportation improved with the invention of the Clermont- Robert Fulton’s steam boat
Canals • Canals were more efficient then roads because it did not take as muck effort to transport goods • A Canal is a channel dug out and filled with water to allow boats to cross a stretch of land
Erie Canal • Designed by De Witt Clinton • Also called Clinton’s Ditch