1. Western Expansion, the California Gold Rush and the Transcontinental Railroad
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2. 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.

3. 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 people on covered wagons

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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Transparency: Mining for Gold

8. 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.

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

10. 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.

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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.

15. Transcontinental Railroad Video
Transcontinental Railroad Video Clip

16. 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.