Western Migration Research Paper

The progression of people into and within the United States has had an essential impact on the nation, both intentionally and unintentionally. Progressions such as The Great Migration and the Second Great Migration are examples of movements that impacted the United States greatly. During these movements, African Americans migrated to flee racism and prejudice in the South, as well as to inquire jobs in industrial cities. They were unable to escape racism, but they were able to infuse their culture into American society. During the twentieth century, economic and political problems led to movements such as The Great Migration and The Second Great Migration which impacted the United States significantly.

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.

Without The Great Migration, or the migration of African Americans from 1915 to 1970 from the south to the north, the north would have suffered economically (Wilkerson 8). Specifically, without the Great Migration, the north would have faced extensive job shortages, that would have eventually led to economic turmoil. One cause of The Great Migration was the need for southern African Americans to take industrial jobs in the north. Furthermore, during times of war, many men were removed from the workforce, meaning that the north needed additional workers to fill the now vacated spots. (The Great) The north needed the southern African Americans in order to fill these slots, and without them, the north’s economy would have suffered

Most of the people in the West considered themselves mainly as Americans, and they preferred to have a stable government with expansive powers for good developments of transportation and advocating everyday welfare. The fact that the colonist took the most important foundations of their civilization with them was a huge factor of the Westward Expansion. With this in mind, we should must look at the Westward Expansion as one of the main factors in the construction of the American

The continuities of the migration from the south to the north. At this time about 500,000 african american southerners migrated to the north for better opportunities including better rights and industrial jobs,but there was some components that were negatively the same as the south side. As african americans they still faced oppression. This form of oppression consisted of discrimination and racial profiling. Sooner or later the neighborhoods the increased with african american population became known as the ghetto. One overall component that continued to happen was the lynching of african americans. Although this was illegal in the north,many people of the caucasian ethnicity did not like the fact that many african americans were overpopulating

Anyways, during the war I saw the increase of many African-Americans moving to north. It was due to the plethora of jobs opening in the north. They called this move “The Great Migration.” After the war about twenty-five percent of African-Americans from the South moved to the North. I also noticed that more women were employed during and after the war. Many American women made a huge impact during the war. That was when finally, Americans believed that a woman around the country were fit to work. During the war I saw many of teachers and classmates leaving school. Some of my teachers left to go overseas to fight in the war. So, some of the schools were shut down due to lack of funding and teachers. Not only some of the teachers gone, but some of my classmates. There were forced to not attend school because they're needed there to support their family. Some left to watch their siblings, cook, and work on their family farms. Unfortunately, I was one of the thousands of students who had to leave school just to support my family.

As said in our book the United States became a transcontinental nations between the years of 1845 and 1848, increasing the size of the Americas by 50 percent. How was this done? Through things like annexation, negotiation and wars the U.S gained more than one million square miles. With the new territory up to the Mississippi River claimed and settled and the Louisiana Purchase explored, Americans everywhere headed west to explore this new land of opportunities. This Western migration and settlement, coined "manifest destiny" in 1845 by a newspaper editor to describe the essence of this mindset, played a major role in this rapid expansion of the United States in 1845 to 1848. During these years of this extraordinary growth we would see farm

Jefferson's views of westward expansion and Native Americans were that of trying to rid the Indians of their old ways, and to get the Indians to exchange land to the US. Jefferson wanted the Indians to stop using the lands to hunt, and to develop the Indians lifestyle towards an more agricultural way of life. This action would negate the Indians need to use forests for food(hunting). Jefferson believed that a change in lifestyle will make the Indians less entitled to owning the land.

In 1843, farmers from Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio, who were not satisfied by the future their homes could offer them, decided to leave on a 2000-mile journey to Oregon in hope of finding better lives . In 1845, a few years after "The Great Migration of 1843", fur trapper and guide Stephen Meek, mislead a group of emigrants following the Oregon trail from Missouri to the Willamette Valley, to a shortcut that put many of their lives at stake. Based on this true story, Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff (2010) uses its mise-en-scène, cinematography and other formal properties to generate meaning about themes represented in this event such as trust, survival, and women’s role in a patriarchal society. The demonstration of this type of society is shown in the film by the use of the women’s point of view, which will be analysed using a simple chosen excerpt. In the selected scene, the women’s muteness and passiveness can be clearly identified by multiple elements of formal features such as the point of view shot and edit of sound.

Immigrants who were poor and unskilled traveled to America for a better way of life. Many came from countries such as Italy and Germany to flee persecution, pursue religious freedom and the economic opportunities that the United States offered. During the wave of new immigrants arriving in America leading up to the turn of the 20th Century, most settled in large cities where they hoped to find employment and a better life compared to their native lands. However, due to a number of factors, this new life in America was not very pleasant. Many found that simply working hard to better the lives of their families was not enough. When they came to America, they arrived without much money, property or friends. They first had to find a place

The “great migration” is a historical movement of approximately 1.3 million African Americans from the Southern to the Northern United States from 1910 to 1930, settling primarily in large industrialized cities such as New York, Cleveland and Chicago. A second wave of northward migration occurred from 1940 to 1970 and involved approximately 5 million African Americans. This historical movement provides an opportunity to explore differences in cognitive test performance in old age among the African-American community related to early life environment.

One major cause of western migration in the nineteenth century was the California Gold Rush. Many poorer families decided to move their entire family by carriage to California in order to make a better living. Families fought through many hardships to achieve this dream, however, as family members died from illnesses such as Camp Fever. While most families looked at the beneficial opportunities of acquiring this gold, many families walked away from this endeavor penniless.

A black women by the name of Isabel Wilkerson, once stated some very influential words of wisdom to express her feelings toward the Great Migration. She stated,

The wave of immigrants from all over the world were coming to the United States. They wanted freedom that they did not have from their different countries. They also moved for freedom of religion. Some countries came to the west because of years of famine. So they moved west into the new land that was used by Native Americans.

The western frontier fostered values of American democracy as well as individualism. Moving westward forced the settlers to have to somewhat govern themselves since most of the East Coast had no idea what was out there. Settlers had to form companies and decide what land was theirs almost on their own until the president sent troops out to manage it all. There was so much unexplored land to cover and as more companies, farms, and ranches formed, the more the government had to regulate and keep track of.