Expanding West

Why did Westward Expansion occur? Opportunities for land ownership (Homestead Act) Technological advances, including the Transcontinental Railroad Possibility of wealth created by the discovery of gold and silver A new beginning for former slaves Adventure

How did people’s perceptions and use of the Great Plains change after the Civil War? 1850-1890 - Before 1860, those who crossed the Mississippi generally traveled all the way to the west coast. Few settled in the Great Plains. Bitter cold winters Low rainfall: drought and dust storms Fierce winds: eroded soil Treeless wasteland Great American Desert

Free Land READ THE HOMESTEAD ACT Encouraged by the Homestead Act of 1862 Gave free public land in the western territories to settlers who would live on and farm the land. African Americans and Southerners moved west to seek new opportunities after the war. farmers and immigrants flocked to the Great Plains during the decades after the Civil War People began to see the Great Plains not as a "treeless wasteland" but as a vast area to be settled. READ THE HOMESTEAD ACT

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New Technology Opened new lands in the West for settlement and made farming prosperous The Great Plains region was becoming a region of farms, ranches, and towns

New Technology Railroads: Beef Cattle Raising: Barbed Wire: 1860-1890 RR grew fast Transcontinental Railroad (1869) Linked the Atlantic and Pacific Coast Encouraging industrial and economic growth Beef Cattle Raising: Cattle Ranching appeared throughout the Great Plains: Texas Demand for beef was high; ranchers would “drive” their cattle north to the railroad lines Barbed Wire: Allowed farmers to keep cattle from their crops

New Technology Wheat Farming: Steel Plow/Dry Farming: Farmers adopted an improved form of Russian wheat which required less water and grew well in dryer soil of the Great Plains Steel Plow/Dry Farming: With improved steel plows, farmers could break up the tough soil Sod Houses/Windmills Lacking trees and other materials, settlers on the Great Plains built their homes from sod; a sort of packed dirt held together by roots and cut into squares. New models of windmills were used throughout the Great Plains to pump water from the ground and to provide power.

Regions Associated with Westward Expansion Southeast Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas   Midwest Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota Southwest Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona Rocky Mountains Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho

Cities Associated with Westward Expansion Midwest Chicago, St. Louis Southwest San Antonio, Santa Fe Western (Rocky Mountains) Denver, Salt Lake City Pacific Seattle

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