westward migration of settlers
Open land, additional benefits and other existing problems encouraged Americans to expand westward. The American people began to realize that the future of the country lay in the development of its own western resources (Nash 533; 1). There were many reasons that made the people face the grueling and dangerous movement west, but the Regardless of the fact that thousands of Indian nations with rich and distinct cultures had populated the land for thousands of years, Americans considered the west to be an empty wilderness. And in less than fifty years, from the 1803 purchase of Louisiana Territory to the California gold rush of 1849, the nation would expand and conquer the West. The great migration began in 1841 and was stimulated by the depression of 1837 with people with some capital hoping to make a fresh start (Nash 534; 2). By 1845, there were 6,000 Americans in Oregon, and the United States government tried to make the 49t
The wilderness opened a gate to escape the poor, the discontented and the oppressed. The invention of the cotton gin at a very fitting time made people of the south push west. So why did the people move west? Economics, land, and opportunity to profit were primary factors. The open land gave people a chance to start over. Farmers of the north decide to move west because farming was not profitable anymore. In the middle region, it was a lack of transportation and market that brought along the Erie Canal. A canal across Panama was planned but this didn't materialize for many years. When open lands sold for two dollars an acre, and indeed, could be occupied by squatters almost without molestation, it was certain that settlers would seek them instead of paying twenty to fifty dollars and acre for farms that lay not much farther to the east-especially when the western lands were more fertile. It was because of the sudden shift of labor from farms to towns that started the westward movement up north. h parallel as the boundary without success. Farming out west could be even more profitable. And so the owners of small farms sold their farms and moved west. The Industrial Revolution, which made textile manufacturing a large-scale operation, increased the demand for raw cotton. With textile being a booming industry, people went west seeking available land to plant cotton. After its completion, NY and the rest of the middle region would be connected with the rest of the interior of the country.
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