Western Expansion, the California Gold Rush and the Transcontinental Railroad PresentationExpress

A Painting by John Gast This picture is entitled ‘Manifest Destiny’. Look at the image and explain how the artist uses the objects and people in the picture to encourage people to fulfil their Manifest Destiny.

Mountain Men & Missionaries Young American trappers hunt beaver travel up the Missouri River and into the Rockies Missionaries and emigrant farmers traveled in covered wagons along the Oregon Trail to settle in Oregon to farm. Groups usually numbered in 50-1000 people on covered wagons

Focus on Geography: Trails to the West Oregon Trail Game Focus on Geography: Trails to the West

The Donner Party The journey west was not always easy 1846, the Donner Party got lost on the way to California When trying to cross the Sierra Nevada they got stuck in the snows They had to resort to cannibalism to survive. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/map-widget/donner-map/

The California Gold Rush In 1849 gold was discovered in California. People rushed to California to get rich quickly. They were referred to as 49ers It was a difficult trek but many tried Miners competed fiercely for mining rights. Chinese immigrants also came in large numbers but faced much discrimination A strong nativist attitude existed toward the Chinese immigrants.

Transparency: Mining for Gold

Impacts of the Gold Rush 250,000 people flooded into California Resulted in huge economic growth Many Californios (original settlers of Spanish descent) lost their land. Much of it was stolen by the settlers. Native Americans died from disease and were hunted down by miners. The population fell from 150,000 to ~58,000.

California Gold Rush Video Gold Rush Video Clip (Short) History of the Gold Rush Documentary (Long)

The Transcontinental Railroad As miners rushed west, the need for a railroad to transport goods increased as well. Developers dreamed of building a rail link between East and West. The U.S. promoted private industry and expected its railways to be built by private enterprises.

The Transcontinental Railroad Congress supported the transcontinental railroad project in two ways Provided loans Gave land grants, giving builders large stretches of land. Two companies were involved in the project Central Pacific Union Pacific

The Union and Central Pacific Companies Both companies started laying tracks simultaneously in 1863. The Central Pacific started eastward from Sacramento, California The CP hired mostly Chinese immigrants The Union Pacific headed westward from Omaha, Nebraska The UP hired Irish immigrants and newly freed African Americans Both groups worked under extremely dangerous conditions.

Promontory Summit The two companies competed to lay track. The more track they laid, the more land they would get from the government. In 1869, the two tracks finally met at Promontory Summit, Utah. A symbolic golden spike was driven to mark the completion of the transcontinental railroad.

Transcontinental Railroad Video Transcontinental Railroad Video Clip

Ranking the Railroad Some historians argue that the railroad was the greatest technological development in the United States in the nineteenth century. Write a paragraph or two agreeing or disagreeing with this position.