Transcontinental railroad, which they did in 1869. More than 100-million acres in order to complete a In 1862, in the midst of the Civil War, Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act, which granted railroad companies The expansion of the railroad was one way that the Federal Governmentįacilitated westward migration. And, as the railroad expanded, so did opportunities for Like hardware stores, boarding houses, and restaurants. Many people found work in the industries that served the miners, Only economic opportunities available in the west. Increased exponentially, but only a few minersĪctually struck it rich, mainly those who were already in the area before gold was discovered. After the discovery of gold in California, and later in Montana, westward migration Valley of Oregon, through the Oregon Trail. As land became scarcer in the East, a trickle of farming families headed to the fertile Willamette Before there were gold minersįlooding San Francisco, most people who went to First and foremost, they were drawn by economic opportunities available in the West. So let's start by talkingĪbout what drew immigrants to the West in this era. Not only from the East Coast, but from all over the world in the second half of the 19th Century, would have enormous effects But despite the prevailing idea that the American West was an empty land full of limitless resources, there were in fact a lot of Native people already living in the West. God had provided the continent for the United States to expand, and it was obviously the destiny of the United States to do so. Of our manifest destiny "to overspread the continentĪllotted by Providence "for the free development "of our yearly multiplying millions." The word 'manifest,' in this sense, means clear, or obvious, and 'Providence' is another This drive to expand the United States West to the Pacific is oftenĬalled manifest destiny, based on a phrase that was coined by New York journalist John O'Sullivan, who wrote in 1845 that westward expansion would be "The fulfillment Illustration of the causes and effects of westward migration in the years surrounding the Civil War. Impact on California, is one very dramatic And, in the same time period, the Native-American populationĭecreased from 150-thousand to only 30 thousand. The non-Indian population of the State of California Miners from the East Coast, Europe, South America, and Asia. The nearest harbor where ships could land with prospective gold In January 1848, gold wasĭiscovered in California, near the Sierra Nevada mountains, right about here. What happened? The short answer is, gold. Most culturally-diverse place on earth at that time period. Less than two years later, San Francisco had 30-thousand residents, mainly young men who hadĬome from all over the world, making the city perhaps the The water is crowded with ships, and the land is crowded with houses. territory at the close of the Mexican-American War. San Francisco only hadĪbout a thousand residents, and California had only There's a little smattering of houses, and a few boats in the water. This is a print showing the San Francisco Harbor in 1848.
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