Chapter 10 The Early Republic

Lesson 1: People on the move Exploring the Frontier Pioneers explored land west of the Appalachian Mountains in the 1700’s.

Colonists began filling up the east coast with towns and farms. Under the Proclamation of 1763, it was against the law for colonist to settle American Indian lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. This land was set aside for the Native Americans. Colonists continued to travel and settle west across the mountains. They traveled in large wagons filled with food and supplies. Early roads were rocky, dirt paths with no bridges over rivers.

Settlers also traveled in flatboats on rivers which was faster and more comfortable than on the roads. A flatboat was a large rectangular boat partly covered by a roof. Settlers also traveled on canals such as the Erie Canal. A canal is a waterway built to connect bodies of water for boat travel.

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone was a hunter and pioneer. A pioneer is one of a group of people to enter or settle a region. In 1769, Boone and some other men cleared a narrow road through the Cumberland Gap. This route through the mountains was called the Wilderness Road. Boone guided his family and others across the mountains to settle in the west. They started towns such as Harrodsburg and Boonesborough in Kentucky.

Watch Daniel Boone video

Life on the Frontier By the late 1700’s thousands of settlers crossed the Appalachian Mountains looking for good, inexpensive farmland and new opportunities in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys. Settlers moved into the frontier. A frontier is the edge of a country or settled area. American Indians were already living and farming on this frontier land. While Indians and settlers fought over the land, they also borrowed customs and ideas.

Frontier life was hard. Pioneers had to cut down trees to make homes. They had a small amount of furniture, a table, bed, spinning wheel, and a few dishes. Settlers had to grow their own food and raise farm animals. They lived far from other people especially their family members. The frontier men and women had to live like the American Indian men and women. Although life was difficult, many settlers thought their life was better off than before.

Chief Logan American Indians signed a treaty to allow settlers to hunt on the land—not to own the land. Settlers wanted to own the land. In 1774, some settlers murdered Chief Logan’s family over a land dispute. Chief Logan led many attacks against settlers after his family was killed. This was the beginning of many years of fighting between the settlers and American Indians.