KEY WORDS- WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU KNOW… Push Factor Pull Factor Immigrant Emmigrant Reservation Inflation Deflation Exodus Cowboy Open Range Economic Panic Economic Recession Economic Depression Bimetallism

WHAT IS “THE WEST”? Anything beyond: the Mississippi River The “Great Plains”: the nickname given to the area between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains because it was so flat and good for farming When did we get there  Louisiana Purchase: 1803 from France  California Coast: 1848 from Mexican War

CAUSES OF THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT REASON ONE: CHEAP LAND OPPORTUNITIES Homestead Act: American males had the chance to receive up to 160 acres of land FOR FREE Requirements: Had to be 21 Live on it for 6 months/year Build a permanent structure Farm it 5 years in a row The Government wanted to POPULATE THE WEST

CAUSES OF THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT REASON ONE: CHEAP LAND OPPORTUNITIES Morrill Land Grant Act: states in American given land out west. They were to sell that land. They were supposed to use the profits from the sale of the land to build colleges in their state that specialized in mechanical and agricultural sciences. Those colleges developed products (like the steel plow and mechanical reaper) that made life out west easier….therefore making more people willing to move.

Examples of these colleges: Virginia Tech (seen below), NC State, Clemson, Texas A&M, NC A&T, Georgia Tech…..

CAUSES OF THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT REASON ONE: CHEAP LAND OPPORTUNTIES Pacific Railway Acts: Railroad companies were now given 10 miles of land wherever they laid tracks down. 5 miles **Meant to encourage the building of a transcontinental railroad…which would encourage more settlement!

CAUSES OF THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT REASON TWO: OPPORTUNITY TO GET RICH California Gold Rush Discovered in Sutter’s Mill, CA in 1848 James Marshall discover gold in a stream at a saw mill Led to the mass movement of Americans out west in they become known as the 49ers (over 100,000) Led to the boom town of San Francisco, CA

CAUSES OF THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT REASON TWO: OPPORTUNITY TO GET RICH Comstock Lode First major silver deposit found in America- Nevada Led to the boom town of Virginia City, NV Led mining innovations- safety standards, Levi Strauss invented the “blue jean” as a cheap uniform for miners

Pull Factor Reason Number Three: Escape!  Example: Criminals CAUSES OF THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT

Pull Factor Reason Number Three: Escape!  Example: Exodusters: Former slaves who flee the South after the Civil War because they are afraid that slavery will come back and that the violence in the South will only get worse  Example: Criminals: many people accused of crimes on the East Coast fled out west looking to avoid being put in jail. Led to the image of the “Wild West” CAUSES OF THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT

Push Factor: Religious Persecution  Example: Mormons: are a group who called themselves Christians but changed some of the key beliefs of the Christian faith. Led to many Christians being angry and wanting Mormons to go away. The leader, Joseph Smith, ends up being killed by a Christian mob while in jail. The rest of followers, led by Brigham Young, flee out west to avoid being killed themselves…end up in Salt Lake City, Utah CAUSES OF THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT

LIFE OUT WEST Life out was known to be: incredibly difficult  Some of the problems  Weather: tornados and lightning storms  Resources: definitely different for food, shelter, and clothing  Soddies:were homes made from sod due to a lack of wood  Native Americans: are going to cause more of a problem for Americans in the west than in the east

LIFE OUT WEST Women  Because life was known to be: harder in the west, they had responsibilities. Because they had more responsibilities, they had more rights than women in the east.  Voting: women in the west could vote in local and state elections

LIFE OUT WEST Available jobs:  Farming: most common  Mechanical Reaper  Steel Plow  Mining: 2 nd most common  Sutter’s Mill  Comstock Lode  Army tied for 3 rd most common  Buffalo Soldiers: African American soldiers in the military out west  Cowboys: tied for 3 rd most common

LIFE OUT WEST Cowboys  Their job: move (or herd) cattle from Texas up to northern railroads (mainly Kansas) in order to make more money per cow.  Myth about cowboys: they were all white; many were minorities (African American, Mexican, or Native American)

LIFE OUT WEST Transportation  Transcontinental Railroad: railroad that runs the entire length of the country  Necessary because: it would connect American through trade and improve our economy  Finally completed: in 1869 at Promontary Point, Utah  Oregon Trail: most commonly traveled trail in the U.S. head west.

LIFE OUT WEST Biggest Problem for the U.S. government: Native Americans Biggest Conflicts included: Sand Creek Massacre, Battle Little Big Horn, Nez Perce War, and Battle of Wounded Knee

YEAR REVIEW- KEY PEOPLE John SmithGeorge CusterPocahontasAbraham LincolnWilliam Sherman John RolfeThomas JeffersonGeorge WashingtonSamuel AdamsJames K. Polk Andrew JohnsonTecumsehJohn WinthropAndrew JacksonDorothea Dix James MadisonAlexander HamiltonBenjamin FranklinStonewall JacksonJohn Quincy Adams John AdamsRobert E. LeeJames MonroeJames OglethorpeBaron von Steuben William Jennings BryanNat TurnerJefferson DavisJohn ChivingtonUlysses S. Grant

YEAR REVIEW- KEY EVENTS XYZ AffairHamilton’s Financial Plan Albany Plan of UnionProclamation of 1763“Mr. Madison’s War” The AlamoMorrill Land Grant ActPinckney’s TreatyTreaty of Ghent54 40 or Fight Homestead ActHayes-Tilden Compromise Black CodesComstock LodeBattle of Gettysburg Battle of SaratogaBattle of YorktownThe 49ersArticles of Confederation Shay’s Rebellion Mayflower CompactNullification CrisisIndian Removal ActDawes ActFort Sumter Compromise of 1850Dred Scott v. Sandford“Bleeding Kansas”Cross of Gold SpeechTranscendentalism