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Expansion westward in the united states 1860-1900
The influence of the westward movement on America
Expansion westward in the united states 1860-1900
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The Westward Expansion was an important and essential part of the United States growth during the nineteen centuries. The main contributor to this phenomenon was the settlers, agriculture and the construction of the railroad networks. Using this perspective, and through research the author of this paper will analyze the expansion during different decades in the 1800’s. All America benefited from the massive agri-business that has its roots in the West as well as the settling and the construction of the railroad during the 19th century. When we think of the western expansion of the United States, we are conditioned to imagine the loner. The self-reliant, unattached roaming the prairie in search of lost calves, or the half-addled …show more content…
prospector who was broken from reality thanks to the solitude of his single-minded quest for gold dust. Many of the pioneers who settled the west were family groups, immigrants and major corporations. The big losers in the westward expansion were Native Americans, who were killed or moved onto reservations. Hunter (1950) states “The internal migrations associated with the growth of cities, with the rise of a complex industrial economy and the attendant seasonal and secular fluctuations in employment, and with regional shifts of population have much in common with the Westward Movement” (p.665). The Westward Expansion could be compared to the immigration to the United States as a whole. The way international immigrants came to the States was replicated when settlers started expanding to the West. During the 1860’s the West was mostly unorganized territories inhabited by Native Americans. A railroad system did not exist at the time making horse riding the only means of transportation during that decade. Agriculture was only a potential thought since land improvement could not be achieved due to the lack of crops, materials, and people to work it. According to Vandenbroucke (2008) “The territorial expansion of the United States during the 19th century was mostly a political and military process” (p.84). The Louisiana purchase, as an example, was a great transaction that doubled the size of the country. As the years progressed, the majority of the western land was still desolated and it had never been used for agricultural or any kind of productive purposes. It was not until settlers began moving to the West that this changed. One of the disadvantages was that they had to start from zero. They had to prepare and sometimes fence the land before it could be used to produce goods (Vandenbroucke, 2008). Before 1860 railroads were only available in the Midwest and the East, this meant that towns in the West had to move their crops using different means of transportation and if they did not have that capacity they would simply not be able to contribute to the economy or provide for their families. Between 1860 and 1870 the Railroad Network between major cities and the West increased making it easier to deliver everything necessary for the settlers to improve the land for agricultural purposes as well as moving the produce along the country.
The addition of the railroad was tremendously important for the introduction of a stronger economy to Americans due to the faster trade in the West as well as the increase of agriculture. The author believes the railroad to be the direct responsible for the existence of a major city in the West since the railroad extended as far as San Francisco making trade easier with the rest of the country. As the decades kept moving on so did the trade allowing for the creation of new jobs and new technology increasing major cities growth. In 1880 some of the territories became states and now the railroad extended to Texas improving more land and increasing agriculture in said state. The East also experimented and increase in railroads and agriculture. At that point in history the Westward Expansion was nothing short of a domino effect. The more the railroad extended the more the cities and economy grew. Settlers kept moving into territories subsequently making them states. Cities such as Denver, Omaha, and Kansas began to appear shaping not only the economy but the country as a whole. The railroad revolution had two effects on the Westward Expansion. First, settlers moving cost decreased. Second, the monetary cost of shipping goods to and
from the West decreased (Vandenbroucke, 2008). When 1890 rolled around, the railroad network already extended to every major city in the country, the vast majority of territories were now states and the economy kept effervescently rising up.
To urban middle-class Americans of the late 19th century, nothing symbolized the progress of the American civilization quite as much as the railroad. Not only had the great surge in railroad construction after the Civil War helped to create a modern market economy, but the iron horse itself seemed to embody the energy, force, and technology of the new order. In fact, the fanning out of railroads from urban centers was an integral part of the modernizing process, tying the natural and human resources of rural areas to the industrializing core.
In Henry George’s article, What the Railroad Will Bring Us, it discusses the main social, political, and economic transformations that the trans-continental railroad would bring to the state of California. More importantly, he discusses not only the benefits, but also discusses the major drawbacks with the arrival of the railroad. Henry George stated the railroad would be the “greatest work of the age” (297). With a railroad stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, multiple benefits would be brought to the state of California. First, the railroad will not only create a new means of transportation across the United States, it additionally would also become “one of the greatest material prosperity” of its time (298). This means more people, more houses,
Through the period of 1865-1900, America’s agriculture underwent a series of changes .Changes that were a product of influential role that technology, government policy and economic conditions played. To extend on this idea, changes included the increase on exported goods, do the availability of products as well as the improved traveling system of rail roads. In the primate stages of these developing changes, farmers were able to benefit from the product, yet as time passed by, dissatisfaction grew within them. They no longer benefited from the changes (economy went bad), and therefore they no longer supported railroads. Moreover they were discontented with the approach that the government had taken towards the situation.
Because of westward expansion, America gained a significant amount of fertile land which contributed to the nation 's’ agrarian identity. The wilderness and landscape
United States expansionism in the late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century is both a continuation and a departure of past United States expansionism. Expansionism in the United States has occurred for many reasons. Power (from land), religion, economics, and the ideas of imperialism and manifest destiny are just a few reasons why the U.S. decided to expand time and again throughout the course of its 231 year history. Expansionism has evolved throughout the years as the inhabitants of the country have progressed both socially (the Second Great Awakening, the women's suffrage movement, the populist party and the early 19th and 20th century social reformers) and economically (factories, better farms, more jobs, etc.) Expansion changed from non-interference policies to the democratic control of the government as the United States grew in both size and population. Through the use of the documents and events during two major-expansion time periods (1776-1880) and 1880-1914), I will display both the continuation and departure trends of United States expansionism.
The construction of railroads in California impacted the state physically, socially, and economically; and ultimately helped propel California into the state it is today. During a time when masses of people were migrating to California but were doing so in an inefficient, and sometimes dangerous way, the first transcontinental railroad provided a fast and easier alternative. During the 1850's and 60's California was booming as many people from across the country uprooted their lives and headed west to begin a new life and attempt to strike it rich. Covered wagons were not an ideal way of travel but were the only way to go until the railroads were constructed.
Westward movement is the populating of lands, by the Europeans, in what is now known as the United States. The chief resolution of the westward expansion is economic betterment. The United States story begins with westward expansion and even before the Revolutionary war, early settlers were migrating westward into what is now known as the states of Kentucky,Tennessee, parts of the Ohio Valley and the South. Westward Expansion was slowed down by the French and the Native Americans, however the Louisiana Purchase significantly improved the expansion efforts. Westward expansion was enabled because of wars, the displacement of Native American Indians, buying land, and treaties. This paper will discuss the effects of westward expansion on domestic politics and on American relations with other nations.
Railroads made a huge contribution to the growth of the United States, they led to many advances throughout American History. There were numerous matters the railroads effected in American development and the framework of the country. The railroad had positive and negative effects on America as a whole through the growth of the industry, such as; encouraged western expansion, enhanced the economy, recognized railroad monopolies, assisted the Union in Civil War, helped keep the country together, and created a high expense cost for the nation.
The economy would also blossom during this expansion. First, the Manifest Destiny included extremely inexpensive land for sale in the west. In some cases it was free since it was government land, and they passed things like the Homestead Act to encourage westward settlements. With so many people taking part in horizontal mobility by moving west, it gave the economy a chance to expand commerce. We would do this by building ports and increasing trade with countries in the Pacific. The economy also got a kick when there were gold or silver rushes in the west. These occurred in Denver, Colorado (1859), Virginia City, Nevada (1859), Last Chance Gulch (1861), and in the Black Hills of the Dakotas (1875). All of these sporadic improvements of the economy helped us grow into a big super power.New inspirations entered the art world at this time too. Many artists tried to capture the image of Manifest Destiny by illustrating families traveling west.
Throughout the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century, the United States economy changed dramatically as the country transformed from a rural agricultural nation to an urban industrial gian, becoming the leading manufacturing country in the world. The vast expansion of the railroads in the late 1800s’ changed the early American economy by tying the country together into one national market. The railroads provided tremendous economic growth because it provided a massive market for transporting goods such as steel, lumber, and oil. Although the first railroads were extremely successful, the attempt to finance new railroads originally failed. Perhaps the greatest physical feat late 19th century America was the creation of the transcontinental railroad. The Central Pacific Company, starting in San Francisco, and the new competitor, Union Pacific, starting in Omaha. The two companies slaved away crossing mountains, digging tunnels, and laying track the entire way. Both railroads met at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869, and drove one last golden spike into the completed railway. Of course the expansion of railroads wasn’t the only change being made. Another change in the economy was immigration.
The transcontinental railroad would eventually become a symbol of much-needed unity, repairing the sectionalism that had once divided the nation during the Civil War. The construction of the transcontinental railroad was also an extension of the transportation revolution. Once commodities such as gold were found in the western half of America, many individuals decided to move themselves and their families out west in search of opportunity. Not only did the railroad help to transport people, but it also it allowed for goods to be delivered from companies in the east. In the end, the American transcontinental railroad created a national market, enabling mass production, and stimulated industry, while greatly impacting American society through stimulated immigration and urbanization.
After the Revolutionary War, the developing U.S. economy was significantly affected by westward expansion. When settlers migrated west, new land was obtained and made available for farming. Additional land provided increase in production of good that could be sold in the economy. Advanced forms of transportation and improved communications helped spur economic growth and the advance westward.
The Transcontinental railroad could be defined as the most monumental change in America in the 19th century. The railroad played a significant role in westward expansion and on the growth and development of the American economy (Gillon p.653). However, the construction of the transcontinental railroad may not have occurred if not for the generous support of the federal government. The federal government provided land grants and financial subsidies to railroad companies to ensure the construction. The transcontinental railroad contributed to the formation of industry and the market economy in America and forever altered the American lifestyle.
The railroad created a more economic means of transporting the grains and produce from the breadbasket of America to the markets in the population centers of the coast.
Many causes fueling America's need to expand and acquire new lands existed. One of the reasons was Americans were experiencing "a large birthrate increase due to immigration. And because agriculture provided the primary economic structure, large f...