What Are The Impacts Of The Westward Movement?

The devastating impacts of the Civil War included drastic population decline, diminished cities and towns, unemployment, and severe poverty. These impacts forced many people to distract themselves from their hardships by continuing to attain Manifest Destiny. The land of the West was considered as the area beyond the Mississippi River to the Californian coast. The primary motivations for Western migrants to rapidly relocate included the desire to attain natural resources, farmland, and ranch property. New transportation devices and government assistance provided various opportunities for migrants to travel West. The rapid settlement of the West from 1865 to 1895 had various beneficial consequences; however, it also severely impacted the American

economy, Western migrants and especially, the Native Americans.
People of the late nineteenth century had many “pull” and “push” factors that motivated them to migrate West. “Pull” factors were defined as motivations that attracted people of the East to migrate West; such as, advanced job opportunities in farming, ranching, mining, and business. In contrast, “push” factors consisted of motivations that compelled migrants to depart rapidly; such as, escaping overpopulation and seeking political, economic, and religious freedom. These motivations, however, were very minor and were not the primary reasons for people of the East to relocate. The three principal incentives that Western migrants attempted to attain in the West included natural resources, farmland, and ranch property. In addition, new and available transportation as well as government assistance provided Western migrants with opportunities and the encouragement to travel West. After the abrupt discovery of gold in 1849, many immigrants traveled from distant locations to be a part of the California Gold Rush of 1849. Most migrants of the East traveled west in the hopes of discovering natural resources such as gold, silver, iron, and copper. Mining for natural resources attracted many migrants because mining represented an accessible and easy way to obtain a profitable source of income. A majority of Western migrants sought fortune in mining and this influenced other people to migrate West, as they desired to be rich as well. In the East, most farmland was either overused and exhausted or was not available as all the farm land was taken already. Since there were not many habitants of the West, farmland was pristine, immaculate and consisted of fertile soil. These aspects of Western farmland undoubtedly attracted people to rapidly settle down in the West. In addition to farmland, many migrants wanted to own ranch property. The increase of established cattle trails in the West allowed migrants to develop ranches surrounding the trails. Since land was not readily available in the East, the opportunity to develop a ranch of any size captivated many migrants to travel West. People of the East primarily were concerned about how to travel to the West. However, this concern was put to rest once they discovered that the trails that mountain men blazed to the West in the 1820’s provided a way for migrants to travel in their wagons. Wagons, carriages, and trains were soon considered the major forms of transportation in the late 1800’s. The Big Four Railroad was developed in San Francisco by four powerful business men: Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins. Leland Stanford was the governor of California in the 1820’s and initiated the construction of Stanford University in honor of his son. Collis Huntington was prominently known for advocating art and tourism in Southern California and developing several railroads across the state. Charles Crocker was an acclaimed banker while Mark Hopkins was known as a remarkable real estate magnate. Most established railroads in California were constructed by Chinese and Irish immigrants. The various forms of transportation established in the West motivated migrants to relocate as it diminished their primary concern of not knowing how to travel to the West. Not only did new forms of transportation encourage Western migrants to travel West, the United States government also advocated Western migration. The government offered several acres of Western land for migrants to purchase and develop homes, cities, and factories. In addition, they shamefully promised to remove the Native Americans from the West so that the migrants felt more safe while traveling.
The mining industry, the discovery of raw materials, and inexpensive food and living prices were all major impacts of the Westward movement on the United States economy. Following the Gold Rush in 1849, gold and silver excelled in popularity and value. Miners deposited their compilations of gold and silver to bank reserves. The banks then had more money in circulation to loan to other businesses and companies, further stimulating business expansion. Although raw materials such as copper, coal, oil, and iron are not valuable commodities today, they represented the building blocks of the Industrial Revolution in the late nineteenth century. Copper was used to produce electrical wires for buildings, homes, towns, and cities. Lumber and coal were used as sources to generate steam power for ships and industrial machines in factories. Oil was utilized as a lubricant and fuel for machines while iron was the primary source of material for constructing machines, railroads, automobile and train engines, and skyscrapers. The implementation of these various raw materials stimulated economic growth and business expansion. Cities and towns were being constructed while new forms of transportation were being developed due to abundant amount of material. Since a proliferating number of people, specifically farmers, were migrating West, it caused an overproduction of crops. Overproduction led to plummeting food prices which drastically decreased the income of farmers. Since income was low for a majority of the migrants, living prices reduced. Inexpensive food and living prices attracted more people to migrate and settle down in the west which in result, stimulated the economy.
The land of the West did not just consist of California.

The “old west,” also known as the Southern states of America provided many dangers for most migrants traveling toward California. Southerners utilized their guns to rob and shoot many migrants who crossed their way. In addition to societal dangers, migrants also had to be precautious about natural disasters, such as, tornadoes and floods in the South and blizzards in the North. The Westward movement had an apparent negative impact upon farmers during the late nineteenth century. During this time, a large majority of farmers set westward seeking more land. This resulted in the number of farms tripling to 4 million farms in a matter of decades. This immense increase of farms had a consequent increase in produce; and from 1870 to 1900, produce production tripled. The sudden availability of food crops overwhelmed the American markets, and farmers began growing more crops than the American population could consume. This resulted in overproduction and a declination in crop prices. Although many people were not purchasing many goods, farmers still had to pay for fertilizers and shipping costs. Overproduction and declination in value of crop goods drastically affected farmers financially putting most in debt. In response, one of the various ways farmers reacted was through political organizations such as, The National Grange Organization. This organization was founded in 1867 and was used by farmers as a political weapon to fight for their financial protection. One of the organization’s most successful endeavors was helping to create the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1887. The governmental agency helped to regulate railroads and their costs. This helped farmers to regain their financial ground because they no longer had to pay high costs for crop transport. In addition to political organizations, farmers reacted by developing cartels. Cartels allowed producers to limit the amount of production of a certain

crop in order to maintain high prices. Today, cartels are illegal as it abuses the free market economy. The last way farmers reacted was through the populist party. As populism increased in popularity, farmers demanded for more money to be printed in order to increase inflation. By causing inflation, the farmers hoped its effects would counteract against the declining food and living prices and set it back to the normal state. Although Western migrants were severely affected by the Westward movement, the Native Americans had much more harsh consequences. Native Americans were heavily discriminated after the Civil War and as a result, they were slaughtered in multiple massacres, one of which being the Sand Creek Massacre, from 1864 to 1867. As the number of Americans headed west during the 19th century proliferated as a fulfillment of manifest destiny, dozens of Native American tribes were displaced from their original land. Most European-Americans believed that, since their race was superior, Native Americans belonged on a secluded reserve distant from any Americans. European-Americans also believed that by forcing the Native Americans to live on land reserves, their protection from the American civilization was ensured. Regardless of the Americans having conflicting views upon the Native Americans, they all agreed that land reserves were the best solution. In addition, many Americans hunted and killed buffalos in order to provide food for their railroad construction workers. Unfortunately, buffalo was the main source of food for the Native Americans and with the decline of buffalo, many Native Americans started dying. The Native Americans were obviously enraged by being forced to relocate to reserves and the loss of their primary source of food. The Native Americans rebelled against their relocation of reserves both actively and passively. Indian tribes resisted the American government by declaring war. Native Americans involved in The Great Sioux War of 1875 to 1876, approached their conflicts with the United States in a more active and violent way. However, Nez Perce approached the situation through a more passive way by leading a group of Native Americans on a flee to Canada.
Following the Civil War, American people grew interested in attaining Manifest Destiny. Most Western migrants relocated West in the hopes of seeking natural resources, farmland, and ranch property. New forms of transportation and government assistance provided simple and efficient ways for migrants to steadfastly settle down in the West. The Westward movement initiated the Industrial Revolution and stimulated economic growth and business expansion. Although the Westward movement provided many benefits for Western migrants, most farmers were financially unstable due to overproduction of crops and declination of prices. Native Americans were affected the most as they were forced by the Americans to relocate and leave their homeland. As a result, many violent uprisings caused by Native Americans transpired and it even led to the Great Sioux War. Ultimately, the Native Americans lost their battle of saving their homeland and the eradication of the Native Americans in the late nineteenth century is considered to this day, America’s national shame.