White settlement in the West

Question 1

Manifest Destiny

Answer 1

Belief it was white Americans’ duty to expand westward and bring civilisation to the continent

Question 2

Oregon Trail

Answer 2

The 3,200km trail from Missouri to Oregon along which settlers would travel in groups.

Question 3

49ers

Answer 3

Name given to the gold miners who travelled to California when Gold was discovered. 100,000 people made the journey in the first year, in 1849.

Question 4

Mormons

Answer 4

Christian denomination founded by Joseph Smith in 1827. Their views meant they clashed with different communities.

Question 5

Pacific Railroad Act 1862

Answer 5

• This act was signed to encourage the building the railroad to link the east and west coasts of the U.S.A
• The government gave them 6400 acres of land and 16,000 for each mile of track laid.
• To sell the land the companies launched a massive sales campaign, offering a settlement package, which included a safe, cheap and speedy journey west temporary accommodation in ‘hotels’ until the families had built their own home and other attractions such as schools, churches and no taxes for five years

Question 6

Homestead Act 1862

Answer 6

Homestead Act divided plots of land of 160 acre homesteads (big enough to support a family.) It cost $10 to “file a claim” to a homestead. If you could live there for 5 years, build a house and plant 5 acres of crops you could “prove up” by paying $30 and own the land.
- Success: by 1876 +80million acres of land had been settled. Lots of the Great Plains settled encouraged migration from abroad.
- Limitations: only 13m acres “proved up”. 80m acres of land homesteaded with 45m acres given to railroad companies to sell. +100m acres sold to cattle ranchers. Only rich land owners managed to buy most of the land. Challenges for homesteaders as it became expensive to start out and difficult land / climate to farm as it was very isolated (distant from other homesteaders)

Question 7

Changes in Farming

Answer 7

By 1880s metal wind pumps could pump water from +100m underground for use farming or raising cattle. Solved the biggest problem on the Plains. Barbed wire (1874) cheap, easy way to protect crops and stop cattle escaping/ coming onto pasture. Dry Farming. New method trapped water under the surface of soil, particularly good for growing wheat.

Question 8

Donner Party

Answer 8

-300 migrants set off in May 1846 led by the Donner brothers.
- After falling behind schedule, 80 of the migrants decided to take a shortcut (written about by the traveller Lansford Hastings) which would take off 550km from the trip.
- This group got stuck in the Sierra Nevada during the Winter.
- The group starved and some were even driven to cannibalism - only half of the original 80 survived.

Question 9

Mormon Migration

Answer 9

Due to their beliefs in freeing enslaved people and their practice of polygamy the mormons faced prejudice and discrimination. With the murder of their leader Joseph Smith in 1845 they decided to travel West to seek a new start in Salt Lake City. They left in 1846 and were led by their new leader Brigham Young who was able to overcome some of the challenges.