The Importance Of The Westward Journey

The idea of moving West started in the mid-nineteenth century. Editor Horace Greely said “Go west, young man” which encouraged many people to move west. The Journey Westward was hard on many families. They were being uprooted and leaving their homes. They sold their farms and homes in the east and packed wagons with enough supplies to travel for about 6 months. In 1869 alone, an estimated 50,000 people migrated to the new territory. Many women felt that their husbands were on “a wild goose chase” and could not understand why they were being moved to this land.

The Journey of moving west was a big deal back then do to transportation and technology. But have you ever wondered why people wanted to move west? Or why people were leaving the land they grew up on? A majority of people going west started in Missouri, other starting points included Nebraska and Iowa. The people that decided to go on this journey wanted to escape one of the many problems that was going on in the east. Some of the problems were economic and religious problems. Some of the people on this trip were runaway slaves looking to start fresh or a criminal that was running away from their crimes. Another reason people went to Oregon was to get there riches in gold by mining.

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 native population declined and their well being was not a priority. The US settlers became obsessed with this notion of westward expansion even if it meant that natives were going to be mistreated and oppressed. The creation of the railroad was the final nail in the coffin to the natives’ fate. The railroad allowed easy access and transportation to the new land. As stated in the text, “… Between 1790-1840, some 4.5 million people crossed the Appalachian Mountains – more than the entire U.S population at the time of Washington’s first inauguration.” (Pg. 336) This shows the dramatic increase in population and demand for westward expansion. Since natives occupied the land that was needed for building such infrastructure, the European settlers

Westward expansion was a time of successes and failures, a time celebrations and grief, a time full of life and death but in the end it shaped how America is the way is today. Westward expansion was put in action because of the belief of Manifest Destiny, the belief that it is America fate to expand from the Atlantic to Pacific ocean. The economical, political and humanitarians impacts were necessary to achieve the goal of manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion.

The Trails out West, was trails guided to different areas like California and Oregon. It's a group of immigrants seeking to find freedom of religion. The immigrants set out to find a new home and become rich. There was gold in the west and land to be settled. This was an opportunity to those that had nothing but were ambitious and crafty. According to records about 250,000 gold-seekers and farmers were also in search of gold. The trails became famous because more than 500,000 people made the journey out West most were in covered wagons pulled by mule and oxen. They had no gps .. all they had was in their wagon guided by a sense of fate and freedom. MARGARET A. FINK, Oregon Trail Pioneer, 1850 sums up the feelings of a Oregon trail traveler stating: “I think none of us have realized until now the perils of this undertaking”. Despite the difficult task of traveling by covered wagons..shows the spirit and persistence of the American settlers. The Trails out West, was trails guided

Trains can offer an efficient way to transport goods over very long distances, it's not a surprising fact in the 1850’s T’was a time of westward expansions for the united states, as the gold rush’s of both california and nevada pushed Americans further right into the heart of the west to have them prosper into a super power.

The Westward Expansion was the nation's future as depended on by Thomas Jefferson. In 1803 the Louisiana purchase took place, doubling the size of the country. The Westward Expansion allowed the emigrants of the Oregon trail to expand out west, making the people a new start to a better future. The emigrant’s on the Oregon trail faced the most difficulty trying to survive and thrive in the west due to life threatening diseases, harsh weather patterns, and supply deprivation.

The United States began its life as a small nation consisting of only thirteen states. Over time the leaders of this county recognized that in order to prosper the nation would need to expand beyond the current set borders. Westward Expansion was the only solution, to adopt such a large endeavor meant that the population had to have a reason to migrate west. Expansion had appeal to the Southern land owners for the fact that the Missouri Compromise did not affect territories that were not part of the Louisiana Purchase, while those who did not have land moved west with the promises of land of their own to farm and own, yet congress continued to battle over “slave states” and “free states” to keep the balance. Westward expansion had many contributions to make to the Unites States.

     The west was rich in natural minerals such as gold, silver, and coal. These natural resources and the prospect of making a quick profit brought many young men to the west. These emigrants were not looking to settle, but to make a quick profit and return home. Cities like Portland, San Antonio, and Denver practically grew overnight as people flocked to get their share of the gold, as seen in Document D and G. News of

1.Overland Trail from Missouri R. To Oregon&CA long,dangerous,tedious&exhausting-separated from family&homeland-still streamed to W.(5千to O,3千CA in 1845&48)-bc provided economic opportunities& healthy surrounding(appeal to panic of 1837&malaria stroke farmers), also bc men seeking for sense of adventure&women seeking for ideal home-travel in group bc fear of natives&need help passing river&mt- often elected a leader of the “train”-democratic but not accepted unanimously- everyone had to accept benefit/bad of new community.

In the early to mid 1800s, Americans began to want to expand the country again. Some Americans did not agree with the idea of expansion, and wanted to remain complacent with the amount of territory that they currently owned. The nation was torn. There were supporters and opponents of the idea of expansion. Each side presented their points but we eventually ended up expanding.

“Evolution is a process of constant branching and expansion.” That quote, once said by Stephen Jay Gould, can represent the Westward Expansion of the United States. In the early 1800s, the United States started trying to expand west. The U.S. acquired Florida, Texas, the Gadsden Territory, the Mexican Cession, the Oregon Territory, and the Louisiana Territory. All of those acquisitions helped evolve the United States into what it is today. Almost all of the land we own is from the Westward Expansion. Unfortunately, the United States were greedy and had to keep branching and expanding out west in order to become a more powerful country. The actions that the U.S. chose to expand were not just to harm others. In fact, none of the acquisitions in the Westward Expansion were through war. The reason for the United States’ actions was to acquire more land, and some of the time, the opposing country would refuse a treaty, and the U.S. showed their greed by attacking those pieces of land, trying to force the opposing country to cede the land. Therefore, the U.S. was greedy and would use any way that it could to acquire land from other countries

Some historians may construe westward expansion as beneficial to the United States, arguing that it reduced tensions within the nascent nation. Westward migration was glorified in the early 19th century as the way in which to achieve true freedom. The West was associated with economic opportunity and basic Republican ideals. Streams of individuals seeking prosperity and liberty flooded into the west after the Louisiana Purchase. With the rapid peopling of the west, new transportation systems arose in an effort to connect the new western territories to the southern and northern regions. Roads, steamboats, and canals such as the Cumberland Road and Erie canal were created to transport people and goods from one end of the United States to the other. The railroad was another invention that promoted unity.

Women went on the Oregon trail to follow their husbands. Land to the west was a new opportunity for families to have financial freedom and a new start. The west meant new opportunities and a way to get out of debt. Catherine Haun and her husband, middle class and educated, fell into financial hard times. They wanted to go on the journey to get out of their debt. They felt as if heading west would be a firmer way to make money than the ways they tried in the past: “It was a period of National hard times and we being financially involved in our business interest near Clinton, Iowa, longed to go to the new El Dorado and ‘pick up’ gold enough with which to return and pay off our debts” (Haun 166) (Sic). As well as the financial benefit, the Haun’s also saw the journey as romantic. They saw it as a romantic wedding tour, or honeymoon, as they had only been married for a few months (Haun 166). Women also