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Westward Expansion. In 1780, 2.7 million people lived in the original 13 states By 1830, 12 million people lived in 24 states The average family had five children !!. 50 Years Later…. Push Factors. “THE MOTIVATION” What causes people to leave?. Push Factors to the West.
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In 1780, 2.7 million people lived in the original 13 states • By 1830, 12 million people lived in 24 states • The average family had five children !! 50 Years Later…
Push Factors • “THE MOTIVATION” • What causes people to leave?
Push Factors to the West • Overcrowding (you need a new place to live) • Need for jobs (displaced workers) • Ethnic/Religious repression • Refuge for outlaws
Push Factors • Think about . . .What “pushed” you out of bed today?
Pull Factors • “THE INSPIRATION” • What leads people to a particular area?
Land (cheap and plentiful)(you want a new place to live) • Riches (gold, silver, later oil) • Freedom of religion/beliefs • Family connections • Jobs and new opportunities
Pull Factors • Think about this . . . What “pulled” you to SS today?
Incentives to go west included: • The Pacific Railways Act • granted railroad company’s 10 square miles on either side of each track laid west • Morrill-Land Grants • land grants from states to educational facilities with curriculum tied to agriculture and mechanical arts • (Texas A&M, Oklahoma A&M etc..)
Incentives to go west included: • Homestead Act – for approximately $10, settlers could have 160 acres of western land, if they met certain criteria: • American citizens who were 21 years or older, or the head of a household • Built a home on their lot, and lived in it at least 6 mos. of the year • Farmed the land for 5 years or more
Why did the government encourage so many Americans to go west? • A belief in the philosophy of Manifest Destiny, which stated that …..
…. God, …, clearly wanted hard–working American(s) to occupy North America. It was inevitable and good that the United States occupy the continent “from sea to shining sea.”
John L. O’Sullivan gave these ideas a name: Manifest Destiny. • It is, he wrote, “our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.”
Were there any specific incentives for groups of people to travel west?
What were some of the issues preventing western expansion? • Financially Expensive • Long Journey • Uncharted Territory • Fear of the Unknown • Climate and Geography • Native Americans • Foreign Claims to the Land
If we wanted the land, how could we acquire it? • War • Purchase • Theft • Trade • Land Grants
Transcontinental Railroad • Connected the East Coast w/ the West Coast 2 Companies • Central Pacific Railroad • Union Pacific Railroad
Central Pacific Railroad • Moved east out of Sacramento, CA • Used Chinese Immigrants to lay track
Union Pacific Railroad • Moved west out of Omaha, NB • Used Irish Immigrants to lay track
Transcontinental Railroad • Took 7yrs to complete • May 10, 1869 @ Promontory Point Pres. Grant connected two lines w/ a golden spike • Time Zone were then created to keep trains on time.
Exodusters • Groups of African Am. moved west. • Led by Benjamin “Pap” Singleton • Get away from harsh treatment
Exodusters Where did they get their name? BIBLE – Book of Exodus
Farming • Harsh Conditions • Dry Farming – crops that don’t need much water • Bonanza Farms – farm controlled by large businesses – grew single crop
Mining • Gold & Silver strikes all over the west • Mining towns scattered all over west – mostly men
Mining • Placer Mining – shovel loose dirt into boxes/ pans then run water over it. • Once metals gone towns became ghost towns
