Reimagining the American West: Challenges and Prospects

1. Knowledge Quiz based on the last lesson • Who were the main three indigenous tribes we looked at last lesson? • Why were they forced off their land? • How were they forced off their land? • Where were they moved to? • Who was the president during this time and what role did he play? • What wars were fought and what impact did they have? • Why did the ‘Trail of Tears’ get its name? • By 1838 what was the situation in the South?

2. What was the journey westwards like?(California and Oregon) Enquiry 2- how and why were people reimagining the American West, 1839-1860? Starter- study the map. What prospects may the west have had at this time that the East was starting to have pressure with? Extension- what problems wpuld arise from the move westwards and why? Where would they have to cross?

3. Some Will analyse the main factors causing their movement and which was the most significant Gold Most Will explain the probems that arose on these travels Silver All Will know why people started to move to places like California and Oregon Bronze TARGET SETTING Learning Journey

4. Key words/concepts • Manifest Destiny; the 19th-century doctrine or belief that the expansion of the United States throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable. • Oregon Trail; The route over which settlers travelled to Oregon in the 1840s and 1850s; trails branched off from it toward Utah and California. • California Trail; was the name given to several routes used by settlers traveling to California in the nineteenth century. Several immigrant parties, setting out from towns along the Missouri River, attempted to reach California in the 1840s, after branching south off the Oregon Trail.

5. Fill in this mind-map using the next two slides Why did people reimagine the West and what problems were associated with it?

6. Why did people start moving westwards? • By 1939 a number of factors were conspiring which led to some white Americans reimagining the Plains and the ‘Far West’ (home to many native tribes) as a place to move and settle. The journey was long and dangerous with many clashes with natives along the way. • Overtime trails were in place that people could take, but these were long, the routes on these trails were bad, and the journeys were gruelling. Difficulties with natives along the way was always a worrying factor. • Different people moved westwards for different reasons- overpopulation to the East and pressure on the economy, availability of land and prospects in the West, escaping or continuing slavery, Christian missions and Manifest Destiny.

7. What were the problems associated with the move? • Long and dangerous route with hostile plains to get through • Disrupted relations with the natives as they moved over the Plains- led to many conflicts between the government and the Plain tribes over rights and access. • Settlers of the Far West faced a four-month journey across little-known territory in harsh conditions. • Due to fictional stories about the savage Indians that travellers would face along their way, travellers on the overland trails often overstocked guns and ammunition at the expense of other more necessary items. Once they embarked, settlers faced numerous challenges: oxen dying of thirst, overloaded wagons, and dysentery, among others. Trails were poorly marked and hard to follow, and travellers often lost their way. Guidebooks attempted to advise travellers, but they were often unreliable. 

8. Read the hand-out; ‘Why move West’ Write a paragraph to explain……. ‘Why did people start to move West from 1840-69?’ • Include the following words/concepts • Overpopulation • Farmland • Prospect of wealth • Logging • Mining • Advancements in transportation • Then cut out the table and glue in to your books under your paragraph

9. Westward Expansion • American migration into Texas led to an armed revolt against Mexican rule and a famous battle at the Alamo, in which a band of Texans fought to the last man against a vastly superior force. The Texans’ eventual victory over Mexican forces subsequently brought Texas into the Union. • The belief in Manifest Destiny spurred them on, believing moving west was their ‘destiny’ as Americans to grow and expand.

10. Manifest Destiny: Mexican American War • The United States fought Mexico in the Mexican-American War in the 1840s • This was due in large part the desire of Mexican held lands • The American victory in the war in 1848 led to the addition of an enormous territory that included the present-day states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and parts of Colorado, and New Mexico. • In 1853 the United states bought an additional tract of land from Mexico- opening up more opportunities to travel and move there

11. Study the map- how did the American/Mexican wars help the move West?

12. Complete the table as we work through the slides

13. So what was the ‘Oregon Trail’? • The Oregon Trail migration, more correctly known as the Oregon-California Trail migration, is one of the most important events in American History. The Oregon-California trail was a 2,170 mile route from Missouri to Oregon and California that enabled the migrating of the early pioneers to the western United States. • The first emigrants to make the trip were Marcus and Narcissi Whitman who made the trip in 1836. However, the first mass migration did not occur until 1843 when approximately 1000 pioneers made the journey at one time.

14. What was the journey like? • This trail was the only feasible land route for settlers to get to the West Coast. • From 1843 until 1869 when the first transcontinental railroad was completed, there were over 500,000 people who made the trip in covered wagons pulled by mule and oxen. • Some went all the way to Oregon to farm and others went to California to search for gold. The trip usually took 4-6 months by wagon traveling 15 miles a day whereas the only other route to the west, by sea, took a full year. • Many chose to give up and settled along the eastern fringes as the west and the journey through the plains was seen as very dangerous and hostile.

15. What were some of the problems they faced? • In the early Spring, emigrant campers would infiltrate Independence, Missouri and set up camp, waiting for the grass to grow along the Oregon Trail. • While waiting, the emigrants would stock up on supplies, try to locate friends, and make other preparations for their journey. If they left too early, there would be no grass for their animals to eat which could be a fatal mistake. If they left too late, they would get caught by the winter snows. • Most settlers travelled in farm wagons, four feet by ten feet, with a thousand pounds of food. These wagons had cotton covers treated with linseed oil to keep the rain out. Many were equipped with tool boxes, water containers, and spare axles as breaking an axle without a spare meant abandoning the wagon. • When the time finally came to leave, the settlers would all try to leave at once creating a massive traffic jam further hindered by the inexperience of some of the green east coast teams. As their traveling progressed, most realized they had over packed and were forced to lighten their loads by throwing things overboard. Because of the heavy loads, many were forced to walk the 2,170 mile journey instead of ride in the wagon. • Another major danger to the settlers was weather. Traveling in the summer meant dealing with thunder storms, lightening and hail. Many were killed by lightning or hail the size of baseballs. All in all, one in ten did not survive the journey.

16. What conflicts arose? • One common misconception about the travellers journey is that the biggest danger was the Indians or Native Americans. The Native Americans were actually friendly more often than not. Encounters most often involved simple trades and there were very few of the pioneers that actually died at the hands of the Native Americans in the so-called massacres. • The most notable of the massacres was the Gratten Massacre. A cow wandered from an emigrant wagon train and a nearby Sioux village found it and ate it. Twenty-eight men lead by Lt. Gratten set out to make the Sioux Indians pay for their mistake. When the troops got to the Sioux village, the Indians realized their mistake and offered a horse in return. Gratten ordered his men to fire on the tribe. The Indians were ordered by their chief not to fight back, but Gratten turned and shot the chief. This lead to an all out war with the Sioux Indians than went on for decades.

17. What conflicts arose between the government and the Plain Indians? • In the 1840s, settlers moved west to the Great Plains. They were looking for land and gold. The government built roads and railroads for the settlers. Many Indians lived on the Great Plains. The government tried to get them to sell their land. The government wanted the Indians to move to reservations. • The Plains Indians did not want to live and farm on the reservations. The reservations were small. The land was poor. Most of the Indians were not farmers. They were hunters. • U.S. soldiers tried to make the Plains Indians give up their land. The Indians fought against the soldiers. Some famous battles were the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the Battle of Wounded Knee, and the Sand Creek Massacre. Finally the Indians were defeated and forced to move to the reservations. (will look at these battles in future lessons)

18. True or false? • The American Mexican War was a success for the Mexicans? • 1 in 10 people died making the journey west? • The fear of natives was the biggest concern for travellersWest? FALSE TRUE FALSE

19. GCSE exam style questions- answer the following using the set criteria/marking scheme from last lesson Today we will practice Q3 You should all have a copy of the marking scheme (page 10) Q3) What was the impact of the growing population in the East in the 1830s? Support your answers with examples. (10 marks) Consider- • Why the East became overpopulated • Why the West started to be reimagined and the reasons for the move • The problems/conflicts that occurred • the impact on the Mexicans/Natives as a result Need help? Ask for possible sentence starters for Q3

20. Possible sentence starters for Q3 Possible SS:

21. Plenary- use a green pen to SELF ASSESS • WWW- what did I do well? • EBI- what can I do to improve?