1. Do Now: What were some of the lures that drew antebellum settlers westward? What were some of the hazards?

2. Westward Expansion During and After the Civil War

3. Turner Thesis ● Published in 1893 by Fredrick Jackson Turner ● - Official closing of the frontier in 1890 ● Claimed that the possibilities of the frontier and drive for expansion had shaped the way Americans thought ● - Tension between established civilization and wild frontier ● “America begins west of the Alleghenies”- Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. Homestead Act (1862) ● Meant to encourage westward expansion and individual ownership/working of farms ● People could get grant for 160 acres of unclaimed government land ● Qualifications to apply for grant: ● - Must live on land for 5 years ● - Must improve the land in some way ● - Must be at least 21 years old or head of household ● - Must not have “taken up arms” against U.S.

5. Exodusters ● Many African Americans left the South when Reconstruction ended ● - Tens of thousands ● - Refused to return to virtual slavery of sharecropping ● Hoped to find greater opportunity in Kansas ● - Public of Kansas was not welcoming ● Many African Americans did eventually find some opportunity in the west

7. Manifest Destiny ● What do the words “manifest” and “destiny” mean?

8. Manifest Destiny ● “clear and undeniable” and “meant to happen”

10. Manifest Destiny ● America is destined to expand westward ● - America should rightfully control all that land ● - Bring the benefits of democracy and civilization ● - God wants it to happen ● Shapes treatment of Native Americans ● Overwhelming political and popular support for western development

11. Western Settlement Through Pictures

12. Homesteaders

16. Boomtown

17. Do Now: What is a boomtown? How did they often form?

18. Transcontinental Railroad ● Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 ● - Modified by later acts ● - Granted U.S. bonds to fund construction - Granted land on either side of track to RR companies - The more you build the more land you get

20. Transcontinental Railroad ● Pacific railroad build from 1863-1869 ● - Two halves met at Promontory Summit, UT ● Instantly made travel across the United States far faster and easier ● - Greatly aided westward expansion ● Important for expanding trade between different parts of the U.S. ● - Particularly for crops, livestock, and mineral resources ● Led to development of timezones

21. Do Now: Finish reading the document about the Chinese railroad workers and answering the questions from yesterday