Life in the WestLife in the West

Essential Questions: 1.How did the U.S. acquire Western lands?2.What was life like on the journey West?3.Why did American settlers choose to go West?4.How did people make the move westward?5.Why did people move west?

Santa Fe TrailSanta Fe Trail A transportation route

connecting Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico

It served as a vital commercial and military highway until the introduction of the railroad

It served as the U.S. invasion route of New Mexico during the Mexican-American War

Was 900 miles of arid plains, desert and mountains

On this trail there was a serious danger of Indian attacks

Lack of food and water also made the trail very risky

The Oregon TrailThe Oregon Trail One of the migration routes West It helped the United States

implement its cultural goal of Manifest Destiny

◦ To expand the nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean

5 -6 month journey over 2,170 miles

Independence Rock

◦ A granite rock, approximately 120 feet high, in Wyoming

◦ Many settlers carved their names in the granite rock

Statistics

◦ In 1840 there were 13 people in the Oregon territory

◦ In 1844 there were 1,475 people

◦ In 1853-54 there were 13,500 people

Westward by SeaWestward by Sea About 15,000 people took

this route in 1849

For one person the cost was about $600 to over $1,200

Panama Route◦ It was 75 miles up the

Chagres River, then 25 miles by mule to Panama City

◦ Yellow Fever, and Malaria were common on this route

Cape Horn Route◦ Ships were often pulled to

far south toward the Antarctic

The Route From ChinaThe Route From China Most Chinese crossed the

ocean in small boats without light or ventilation

The cost of the 4 to 8 week voyage by steamer from Canton to San Francisco was $50

Most Chinese immigrants entered California through the port of San Francisco

Many Chinese were part of a larger exodus from China searching for better economic opportunities and fleeing a situation of political corruption

Why Did People Move Why Did People Move West?West? The federal government

encouraged settlement of the West by offering land at cheap prices

Settlers were looking to start a new life after and during the Civil War

New discoveries helped pull people towards western lands

Industrialization helped facilitate the movement westward

Mining The FrontierMining The Frontier Almost immediately after the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 settlers began to mine the newly acquired territory

Over the next few years, hundreds of thousands of people crossed the continent in search of deposits of mineral deposits…precious stones, ore, silver…gold

The rush overwhelmed the Native American peoples already living in California

White settlers took land claims from Hispanics and killed many Native Americans.

In 1848, along the American River, the world would change the world forever

Who cares?Who cares?

1. Why does it matter that we settled the West?2. How might world history be different if the

United States looked like this?