The Donner Party In The 1800's

There are countless reasons why many settlers moved westward. For example, one of the reasons why settlers moved to the west is because of the recently discovered gold in California. According to Document 2: Crossing over the Great Plains by ox-wagons, “..there was much talk and excitement over the news of the great gold discoveries in California..” In addition to that, gold was a way for people to become wealthy, and start a new life. Moreover, a second reason why is that the Government was offering a large amount of land for a fair price. Document 3: Homestead, specifically states that the settlers will receive 160 acres of land for $10.00, if they are able to maintain and farm on it for 5 years. In addition to that, giving away all this land made people much more eager to populate the west. Furthermore, a third reason why is that the land being sold was described as very resourceful. Document 6: Grand Rush for the Indian Territory!, specifically states that the western lands were

Year by year the farmers who lived on soil, whose returns were diminished by unrotated crops were offered the virgin soil of the frontier at nominal prices. Their growing families demanded more lands, and these were dear. The competition of the unexhausted, cheap, and easily tilled prairie lands compelled the farmer either to go west and continue the exhaustion of the soil on a new frontier, or to adopt intensive culture.

In the mid-1800s, many Americans began to move westward, with a variety of motivations. Farmers were drawn west by all of the fertile, open land in the west, offered to them cheap by the Homestead Act. The California Gold Rush was another reason many moved west. Gold was discovered in California, and miners flocked there, hoping to strike it rich. Additionally, cattle ranchers were attracted to the west because their beef cattle thrived on the abundant grasses and open range of the Great Plains. Later on, newly built railroads, including the first transcontinental railroad, made transportation of people and goods west much more feasible, and opened the West to rapid settlement (History Alive). Although Westward Expansion was a time of full

The 19th century was a time where the idea of manifest destiny swept through the American nation. Filling the minds of men and women of the united states, fueling the ideas of moving west for land and prosperity. Americans sought to extend the United States territory from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast, seeing it as their god given right to obtain the land. Nearly seven million Americans embarked on that long and treacherous journey west. On this excursion, the travelers would face rugged terrain, harsh weather conditions, savage Indians, and robbers. Although millions of the travelers made it to their destinations unscathed, not all were so fortunate. One of the most tragic recorded incidences during this western expansion was that of the Donner Party. This group of pioneers, due to false information and bad judgment, became stranded on the Sierra Nevada mountain during the winter of 1846 and were forced to turn to cannibalism to survive.

The landscape of the West was one without trees and other natural markings, water was scarce, and unpredictable weather changes often made life on the frontier difficult. Emigrants were often ignorant of the climate and made the voyage anyway, as seen in document C. The journey west was made by wagon. Food shortages and disease often plagued the emigrants. Also the unpredictable climate cause more hardships. The emigrants chose areas that they thought had the best land. The settlements were concentrated mostly along the coast because the middle was dessertious, as seen in document a. As a result of this picking and choosing of lands, families were often isolated, where the nearest family was often miles away. The natural environment determined what type of people settled in which places. Families looking to settle permanently and plant roots settled on the land best fit for farming. Young and adventurous emigrants looking to make a quick profit from speculating the land or mining it settled and developed quick cities.

2.Route danger&poorly supplied(mt&river),worst in way toward CA-(Sierra Nevada-Donner party- cannibalism)-wagons endangered by illness&accident-Indian attack-few, but white

In the early 1900s, the United States had an increase of settlers leaving their hometowns to the west in the faith of being able to live in a more catholic freedom world, others also joined by the inspiration of Manifest Destiny, a thought in which the Americans thought that everything between the Atlantic and the Pacific ocean is theirs and should therefore settled by them. A group, that was on the way to the western U.S., for those reasons in 1846, had a tragic loss of 34 settlers due to many tragic events. This group was led by George Donner, which was elected the leader of this group on 19 July 1846, this group inherited his name, called the Donner Party. The Donner Party consisted of the families of George Donner, his brother Jacob

Before the Gold Rush of 1849, California was a sparsely populated, unimportant territory of the United States mostly inhabited by the people of Mexico. However, that all changed when on January 24, 1848; carpenter and small time sawmill operator James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget in the American River that would forever change the history of California and America1. Not only did the Gold Rush lead to California’s admittance into the Union in 1850, it also rekindled the idea of the American Dream. Hundred’s of thousands of people poured into the state by the lure of quick and infinite riches. As a result of the Gold Rush, California

This new abundance of land gave many poor white males the opportunity to obtain land. Many of the

Throughout the 1800’s there were more and more Americans that had moved onto the frontier of the West coast. The people of the United States believed they were destined to have their land stretched from the Pacific Ocean (the west) to the Atlantic Ocean (the east); from sea to shining sea. This settlement came from the fact that the west not only had an abundance of fertile land for farming, but it had such a great abundance of gold and mineral mining available. The Americans also believed that this was a way (and chance) to spread their beliefs! Many people saw the West as a new beginning, so they decided to head West and begin this journey. This is what the Americans believed they were destined to do… The rapid settlement of the West was caused by the great desire of the American

This gave the Americans more determination to gain the Texas, California and Mexican land because they wanted to prove they are stronger than Europe and can use this territory to increase their empire. Also, this scolding of America also illustrates the European countries not really concerned about America gaining this land because they still view America as a child, but America wants to change their view by gaining more land. The Americans did not just want to gain land to prove to their superiority or equality to their European relations, they also wanted the land for its resources. The Gold Rush of 1844 was one of the many reasons America needed California and many people moved to the state to become

People were forced to leave their wagons behind and had to walk the rest of the way to receive water and to head to the land known as California. During the middle of the journey to California party leaders, husbands, and young left their families to go fight against Mexico, in the war between the United States and Mexico. Women, children, and little amounts of men tried their best to make it as far as they could without their husbands and leaders. One of the largest problems the donner party faced was snow stopped many from traveling on. There was no way of getting food because everything was covered in snow. All you could do is kill cattle, but eventually they ran out. People were dying and causing much grief for others. Making it harder for the people to travel on and get more food. It was hard to continue without any help.They fixed this problem of starving by killing more cattle and all different types of animals they could find, after some time there stock ran out as animals moved away for the winter season. People were killed as sacrifices, some murdered. Fellow friends and enemies would eat their meat, desperate for

The Donners made a lot of poor decisions each one affected their outcome. For example, some of the biggest mistakes made in their journey was choosing poor guides, delaying their trip to stop and rest,and they did not pack enough supplies for their long journey. The Donner Party was a wagon party traveling westward. The Donner Party was a on a journey heading west in the spring of 1846 from Springfield, Illinois. The Party was led by Jacob and George Donner. The brothers decided to take the so called shortcut Hastings passage. The Party was forced to resort to cannibalism while they were trapped in the mountains snow all around them. They were forced to eat the dead bodies of their friends and family. The poor decisions made throughout the journey westward substantially contributed problems that occurred and what eventually led to the failure of the journey to the

The discovery of rich soil, grass, and minerals in the West led thousands of settlers including farmers, ranchers, and miners to settle there. The livelihood of these people depended entirely on the natural environment of the region, which caused them to adapt their lifestyles. For example, the amount of desert between other rich lands created an unbalanced spread of population throughout the West (Doc. A). There were some areas that people wanted and were favored such as San Antonio or San Francisco.

The Market Revolution from 1815 to 1840 is the transition of American production for subsistence to commercial sales. Thus, goods were no longer produced for the purpose of feeding families, paying taxes, and providing for other essentials, but they were then produced for monetary profits. Factors Contributing to the Market Revolution and the Industrial Revolution: The extension of a national road from Virginia to Illinois permitted both farmers to settle Westward and to transport their goods more easily to major cities in the East.