1. Manifest Destiny and the Transcontinental Railroad
Westward Expansion
Manifest Destiny and the Transcontinental Railroad

2. America in the 1820s

3. America in 1865
No major Railroads went West
Travel West was extremely long and dangerous – 2-3 Months by land (Native American Resistance)
4-6 Months by boat, All the way around South America

4. Factors That Contributed to the Settlement of the West
Manifest Destiny
Gold Discovered in California
Homestead Act of 1862
Transcontinental Railroad
The American Dream

5. Manifest Destiny: Go West Young Man
The west was viewed as the great untapped Frontier
Manifest Destiny – The belief that it was America’s mission to expand from ocean to ocean, spreading democracy and freedom
Americans believed it was their God-given duty to conquer the Western territories and unify the Nation
Video Clip

7. Territorial Expansion of U.S.
1803 Louisiana Purchase
1845 Texas
1848 Mexican-American War: Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, California, Nevada, and Utah
By 1850, America gains the Oregon Territory

9. The Louisiana Purchase
New territories added to the United States after 1801
Louisiana Purchase
Jefferson bought land from France (the Louisiana Purchase), which doubled the size of the United States.
In the Lewis and Clark expedition, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explored the Louisiana Purchase from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.

10. Lousiana Purchase

11. Other Territories Florida Texas Oregon California
Spain gave Florida to the United States through a treaty.
Texas
Texas was added after it became an independent republic.
Oregon
The Oregon Territory was divided by the United States and Great Britain.
California
War with Mexico resulted in California and the southwest territory becoming part of the United States.

12. Florida, Texas, Oregon, California

13. Factors affecting westward expansion
Geographic and economic factors that influenced westward movement
Population growth in the eastern states
Availability of cheap, fertile land
Economic opportunity, e.g., gold (California Gold Rush), logging, farming, freedom (for runaway slaves)
Cheaper and faster transportation, e.g., rivers and canals (Erie Canal), steamboats
Knowledge of overland trails (Oregon and Santa Fe)
Belief in the right of “Manifest Destiny”—The idea that expansion was for the good of the country and was the right of the country

14. Important Inventions
The cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney. It increased the production of cotton and thus increased the need for slave labor to cultivate and pick the cotton.

15. Important Inventions
Jo Anderson (a slave) and Cyrus McCormick worked to invent the reaper. The reaper increased the productivity of the American farmer.

16. Famous Inventions
The steamboat was improved by Robert Fulton. It eventually provided faster river transportation that connected Southern plantations and farms to Northern industries and Western territories.
The steam locomotive provided faster land transportation.

17. Great Plains Conditions
Farmers Adapted to the Conditions of the Great Plains… Match the condition with the innovation
Innovations
Great Plains Conditions
Open plains used by competing ranchers
Fewer trees
Hard soil
Droughts
Sod Homes
Windmills
Steel plow
Barbed wire

18. 1848-49 Gold Rush 1848 Gold Discovered in California
Thousands of Americans head West lured by the idea of becoming instant millionaires
West becomes the land of opportunity
Americans were on the move

19. African Americans Moved West.

20. African Americans were called Exodusters.
Many African Americans moved to the West from the 1840s to late 1890s.
They were escaping the difficult life in the South where Whites practiced Jim Crow Laws and denied African Americans their new Constitutional Rights.
African Americans were called Exodusters after the book from the Bible called the Exodus.
This book described how the Jews escaped from slavery in Egypt.

21. Exodusters waiting for a steamship.

22. The Homestead Act of 1862.

23. Homestead Act of 1862
The U.S. Government encouraged the settlement of the West
1862 Homestead Act – Millions of acres were given away free in the West to anyone that would claim land and live on it for 5 years
First come first serve basis
Other Public land was sold for $2.50 an acre

24. An application for land.
People staked their claim by finding a section of land that was marked.
Then they registered the piece of land with the government.
After cultivating the land for five years, it was theirs for free.

25. Other Acts
Morrill Land-Grant Acts – Gave states federal land to finance agricultural colleges.
Pacific Railway Act – 1862 legislation to encourage the construction of a transcontinental railroad, connecting the West to industries in the Northeast (Union Pacific and Central Pacific RR)

26. The Oregon Trail The only way West by land was via the Oregon Trail
2,170 Mile route
Dangerous and Difficult/Donner Party

28. The Other way
West was
by Boat

29. The Railroad Boom
In 1865, America had 50,000 miles of railroad, primarily in the Northern states
No railroads went West
America experienced a tremendous railroad boom after the Civil War
Over 150,000 miles of track was built between

30. Man of Steel: Henry Bessemer
Before 1850, railroads and trains were made of iron
Iron is brittle, and railroads were unreliable and under constant repair
1850 Henry Bessemer (England) invents a way to turn iron ore into steel

31. Transcontinental Railroad
The 1st Transcontinental Railroad was started in 1869
Gov. granted over 200 million acres of land for the project and offered low interest rate loans
It ran from Sacramento, California to Omaha, Nebraska
Union Pacific RR began laying track Westward out of Omaha
Central Pacific RR began laying track Eastward out a Sacramento

40. The Golden Spike
On May 10th, 1869, at Promontory Point, Utah, the “Golden Spike’ was driven into the ground uniting both the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads
1st railroad line connecting the East to the West
Travel time about 4-5 days from NY to California
Considered one of the greatest architectural achievements in American History
Nothing could stop Manifest Destiny
Video Clip

45. Technological Improvements
RR track was standardized – width of steel rail, and width from rail to rail
National signals are established
George Westinghouse developed air brakes
1883, A National time and Time Zones are established
For scheduling, everyone was on the same time

47. The Railroad’s Impact
Transportation of people and goods was quicker and cheaper
New era of interstate trade and commerce
1865 – it cost $3.45 to ship a barrel of flour from NY to Chicago
1890 it costs .68 cents
New jobs – Irish/Chinese
Westward Expansion – Safer/Quicker/Cheaper
Native American wars and removal

48. Impact of the Railroads.
Railroads brought growth and new settlement all across the West.
The railroads enabled people, supplies, and mail to move quickly and cheaply and safer across the plains and the mountains.
The largest cities and towns developed where major railroad lines met.
Because of their rapid growth, western territories began to apply for statehood. Nevada, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington all became states from 1864 – 1890.

49. The Railroad spurs the growth of other industries.
The lumber industry grows, because wood is needed to build the train tracks.
The steel industry grows because steel is needed to build the tracks.
The coal industry grows because coal is needed to fuel the train.
The growth of these industries opens thousands of new jobs for workers.

50. Native American Land Native Americans lived here first.
Native Americans and Whites came into bloody conflicts over the land.
They tried to protect their lands, but finally, the United States government forced them onto reservations.

51. BROKEN PROMISES!
The United States government made many treaties with the Native Americans not to fight and not to touch certain areas of their land.
For example, The Fort Laramie Treaty was a treaty made with the Cheyenne tribe, where Americans said an area of land belonged to the Cheyenne forever!
However, when gold was discovered there, the Americans forced them to sign a new treaty giving up the land.
The United States government broke many treaties with the Native Americans.

52. Indians defend their lands, but are defeated in the end.

53. Native Americans are forced onto reservations.

54. The Dawes Act divided Indian land and gave some to the Indians in hopes they would become farmers. But they sold it to Whites for low prices.

55. Laws today protect Native American Reservations.

56. Native Americans Today
Today, many Native Americans are a part of our society.
However, many still live on reservations and try to maintain their cultures.
New laws returned some Native American lands back to the rightful owners.
How would you feel about your history if you were a Native American?