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Explain Why Did Horace Greeley Want More Young People To Go West

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Horace Greeley sole reason for his quote” Go west, young man go west, was to get more young people to not only travel to the west but stay and make a better life for themselves. It says that the western part of the United States had a lot more opportunities for employment and a lot more opportunities to change your social status. The reasons why I believe Horace wanted more young people to travel west were to be given the opportunity to find employment and take better care of their families. The farmland in the west was more fertile and could create more opportunities for farmers to grow and sale their produce, which could contribute to the economy. Also in 1851 the railroads were beginning to expand which made way for more trade and more organizations to trade their supplies all over the country instead of just within one state. Another reason Horace Greeley wanted more young people to travel west was because sometimes young people stay in one place for the rest of their life, and many times their hometowns may not have a lot of opportunities to offer them, so that leaves those young people poor and with no jobs. If these young people were able to travel west then …show more content…

This leaves those young people poor and with no jobs and no way to take care of their families. If these young people were able to travel west then that could create a better situation for not only themselves but for the economy. If there are more people working then that could create more jobs in the future. The Homestead Act played a major part in white Americans migrating to the west also because it promised individuals that stayed public land. The Homestead Act gave those people in poverty in the bigger cities the opportunity to change their social class by farming if they migrated

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