Westward Expansion and Growth of the United States

United States Territory Growth: 1810

Reasons for Westward Expansion

• Opportunities for land ownership

• Technological advances (example: railroad)

• Discovery of gold and silver (Goldrush!)

• Adventure

• A new beginning for enslaved African Americans

• Manifest Destiny

– “(It is)…our manifest

destiny to over spread and

to possess the whole of

the continent which

Providence has given us

for the development of

the great experiment of

liberty.”

– John O’Sullivan, 1845

“The Morning Post”

http://www.historyonthenet.com/American_West/images/manifestdestinylarge.jpg

Manifest Destiny

by John Gast, 1872

What is Manifest Destiny?

Homesteaders

Circa 1880 – 1900’s

The Great Plains:“The Great American Desert”

• Physical

Features/Climate of the

Great Plains:

– Land Eroded by Wind &

Water

– Low Rainfall

– Frequent Dust storms

– Flatlands

• Rise Gradually from East

to West

http://www.geog.nau.edu/courses/alew/ggr346/text/chapters/ch8.html

Physical Characteristics: Obstacles for the Western

Settlers

● Little Rain, Rivers and Streams that only had seasonal flow

● Treeless Flatlands

● Tough Prairie Soil Eroded by Wind and Water

Lack of Sufficient Water for Humans and Crops to Survive

No Materials to Use for Building a House, a Barn, or to Use for Fuel

Land was Difficult to Cultivate

What Changed?

• Life was very difficult in the Great

Plains. What came about after the Civil

War that gave the settlers success and

made life easier for the settlers?

TECHNOLOGY!

Advancements: Railroads

• At the time of the California Gold Rush in 1848, wagons were the only way to get across the Great Plains.

• The Transcontinental Railroad was built and people could travel across the Great Plains and get products and goods much quicker and easier.

http://simplymarvelous.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/wagon_train-2.jpg

Advancements: Railroads

• Moved natural resources (like copper and lead) to Eastern factories and steel mills

• Also transported finished products to National markets (cities) to be sold

Advancements: Railroads…done!

• “The last rail is laid. The last spike is driven. The Pacific Railroad is completed.”

• May 10, 1869 in Promontory, Utah

• Travel Time = less than 1 week, coast to coast

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/transcontinental-railroad-2.jpg

InventionsNew developments after the Civil War changed the

Great Plains from being a “treeless wasteland” into a

“vast new area” to be settled

Inventions: Barbed Wire

• Barbed Wire

– Became commercially

available in the 1880’s

– Solved the problem of

lack of wood for fences

– Protected Farmer’s Land

and Kept Cattle Enclosed

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/b/ba/250px-BarbedWirePatentGlidden.jpg

• Steel Plows

– Enabled farmers to cut

through the thick,

tangled roots of the

tough prairie sod

– The Steel Plow allowed

farmers to cultivate the

land

Inventions: Steel Plows

http://www.retiredtractors.com/Plows/RepoPlow.jpg

• Windmills

– Farmers used windmills to mine groundwater for crop irrigation, livestock, & personal use.

– Acted as water pumps to bring water to the arid territory

Inventions: Windmills

http://telosnet.com/wind/images/fanmill.jpg

Adapting to the Land: Sod Houses

• “Soddies”

– Due to the lack of trees in the

Great Plains, there was no

wood for houses

– There was plenty of Prairie

Grass & Prairie Sod, so

settlers learned to construct

houses from bricks of Prairie

Sod

www.sdhistory.org

Adapting to the Land: Sod Houses

Inside a Sod House

http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndirs/exhibitions/pioneer/images/79.jpg

Adapting to the Land: Sod Houses

Homesteaders and their Sod House

http://www.vw.vccs.edu/vwhansd/his122/Images/SodHouse.jpg

Adapting to the Land: Dry Farming

• Dry Farming– Technique developed to

cultivate the drier lands of the Great Plains

– The soil is plowed deeply to allow for slow evaporation of ground moisture

www.solpass.org

Adapting to the Land: Beef Cattle Raising

• Beef Cattle Raising

• Cattle ranching originated

in Spanish colonies

(Mexico) and spread to

the Great Plains via Texas

• Cattle were raised on

large areas of open

grassland unsuitable for

growing crops

Kansas Cattle Market

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-kansas/Caldwell,%20Kansas,%201880s-500.jpg

Adapting to the Land: Beef Cattle Raising

• Longhorns: hardy breed of cattle,

herded north to breed and stock new

ranges (think of the college football

team…the Longhorns!)

• Cowboys herded thousands of cattle

across the Great Plains during the

“Open Range” period

• Railways provided transportation of

goods between the Ranches in the

Great Plains and cities such as

Chicago and New York.http://www.old-picture.com/old-west/pictures/Cowboy.jpg

• Wheat Farming– Russian Wheat was a

hardy crop that adapted

to dry growing

conditions

– The settlers grew it

because it was one of

the only crops that

could survive the harsh

conditions on the

Great Plains.

Adapting to the Land: Wheat Farming

www.cowboyup.com/farming

Adapting to the Land:

Wheat Farming

http://www.winesnw.com/images/horseheaven_early_wheat_farming.jpg

• Due to problems with overplanting, it was a direct cause of the Dustbowl, 1934-1939.

Adapting to the Land:

Wheat Farming

Additional Dust Bowl Pictures

http://www.buffalocommons.org/docs/smenu2/images2/dustbowl.jpg

Impact on Native Americans

• The white settlers took over the Native American land and moved them to reservations, which were tracts of land that were set aside for Indian use; many reservations were on the poorest land, which was hard to farm.

Native American Conflict

• The Sioux under Sitting Bull killed Colonel George Custer at Little Big Horn.

• Geronimo also led raids on settlers until he finally surrendered in 1866. Native American resistance was short, however, since the U.S. Army was too strong.

Conflict

• Chief Joseph surrendered with his Nez Perce tribe after attempting to escape the reservation and flee to Canada.

• The last armed battle between the white settlers and Native Americans was at Wounded Knee where many Indians were massacred. After this battle, the Native Americans lived on reservations. They were not even considered to be US citizens until 1924.

Buffalo

• White settlers realized that the way to control the Native Americans was to kill the Buffalobecause it provided them with everything they needed (clothes, food, shelter, religion and tools).