Westward migration

Cards (31)

  • What are the pull factors for moving west?
    Freedom and independence, fertile land, space, Oregon Trail, gold
  • What are the push factors for moving west?
    Collapse of wheat prices, overpopulation, persecution, unemployment
  • What was the financial panic in east USA?
    Boom years in the 1830s came to an end in 1837 with a financial crisis and a collapse in the price of cotton. Banks ran out of money, people lost their savings, businesses closed and many people lost their jobs. Unemployment reached 25% in some areas
  • What was the farming crisis in the mid-west of the USA?
    In 1837, corn prices collapsed, leaving farmers facing ruin. This was not helped by overcrowding in this fertile farming region, in particular across the Mississippi valley. These were push factors for farmers to travel west
  • What is manifest destiny?
    The US government needed to populate their territory in the West to defend it from foreign powers. This aim was reflected in the concept of Manifest Destiny: that it was God's will that white Americans should settle over all of America. White Americans at the time simply accepted that Manifest Destiny was right and natural
  • What is the timeline for moving west?
    1825- Explorer Jedediah Smith shares discovery of the South Pass through the Rocky Mountains 1836- the first migrants to travel the Oregon Trail by wagon reach their destination 1837- financial crisis causes economic depression 1841- government funded expedition maps the Oregon Trail and publishes guide book for migrants 1846- Governor of Illinois tells Mormons to leave the state 1848- gold is discovered in California 1858-59 gold is discovered in the Rocky Mountains 1874 gold is discovered in the Black Hills, Dakota
  • What were prospectors?
    People who looked for gold on the surface, especially in streams and river beds
  • Who were the Gold Rush migrants?
    From 1849, tens of thousands used the California Trail hoping to find gold in the West, 1836-46 5000 migrants used the California Trail, thousands more came by ship from all over the world to San Francisco, a famine in China led to 20,000 Chinese people migrating to California in 1852, most migrants didn't find gold, professional miners with the equipment and expertise to mine underground where most of the gold was took over through the 1850s
  • What is genocide?
    The deliberate killing of large numbers of people usually because of their ethnicity. This definition fits the treatment of Californian Native Americans by white migrants
  • What are the consequences of the Gold Rush of 1849?

    300,000 people migrated to California by 1855 so it became a state, farming boom in California, white americans see their destiny coming true ( manifest destiny ), genocide of Californian natives, tensions with natives due to huge increase in migration along Oregon Trail, gold from California boosts the US economy which helps fund railroads, racial tension due to immigration, problems of lawlessness in the mining camps
  • How long did it take to make the trip on the Oregon Trail?
    8 - 9 months
  • When did migrants begin the Oregon Trail?
    In April when there would be enough grass for their animals
  • Why did migrants need to complete their journey before winter?
    To avoid getting stuck Rocky Mountains or the Sierra Nevada / Blue Mountains
  • Why was crossing the Great Plains so dangerous?
    Sandstorms, quicksand, extreme heat, storms, disease, stampeding buffalo, hostile Native Americans and a lack of supplies
  • What food did migrants commonly take with them?
    Salt pork
  • How did migrants navigate on the Oregon Trail?
    Early migrants used explorers or Native Americans as guides and later ones relied on pamphlets
  • What mountain ranges did the trails cross?
    Each trail crossed 2 mountain ranges: the Rocky Mountains and either the Blue Mountains or the Sierra Nevada. They were steep, there was little to hunt and the weather could be bad. Wagons were hauled across using chains, ropes and pulleys and injuries were common
  • Why were there set processes for following the Oregon Trail?
    To help protect migrants. The disasters of the Donner Party migration show what could happen when those processes were not followed
  • What happened to the Donner Party?
    Led by Jacob and George Donner, left Missouri for California in May 1846 with 60 wagons and 300 people. The wagon train was well equipped but had more women, children and elderly than normal. At Fort Bridger a small group of about 80 people tried to take the Hastings Cutoff ( a shortcut ). 4 wagons broke, 300 cattle died, 1 man killed another. They arrived late in the Sierra Nevada, were trapped by heavy snow. A group that was sent for help took 32 days to reach Johnson's Ranch. To survive both groups ate their dead, rescue parties found them in January 1847
  • What does the Mormon migration show?
    How one group of migrants was able to deal with the challenges of migration through detailed organisation, religious motivation and hard work
  • What were the reasons for the Mormon persecution?
    Their success, their so-called blasphemy, their desire to free slaves and be friends with native americans, their police force ( the Danites ), their practice of polygamy
  • Who was Joseph Smith?
    Smith founded the Church of Latter-Day Saints whose followers are known as Mormons. His persuasive public speaking meant numbers grew to several hundred by 1830. He taught Mormons to obey him because he said his decisions were inspired by God. He was murdered in Illinois in 1844
  • What is the timeline of Mormon migration?
    1823- 1831 New York State, 1831- 1837 Ohio, 1837- 1838 Missouri, 1838- 1846 Illinois, 1847- present day Utah
  • How did the Mormons make the journey to the Great Salt Lake?
    When Smith died in 1845, Brigham Young became leader. The Mormons' persecution in Illinois forced him and 1500 others to find land that no one else wanted, near the Great Salt Lake. To make the journey he split everyone into groups each with a leader, gave everyone a specific role, taught them how to form their wagons into a circle for safety, insisted on discipline and regular rest. His was the first of many Mormon wagon trains to make the 2250 km journey
  • Comparing the Donner Party and the Mormon migration
    In 1847, Young led an advance party along the route taken by some of the Donner Party in 1846. The Donner Party had trusted in a pamphlet but Young had carefully researched the route in advance. The Donner Party ran out of food but Young's party had enough food for a year. The Donner Party had many older and younger people but Young's advance of group of 150 was specially chosen with the skills to pick out the best route, improve the trail and mark out water and grass sources which prepared the way for the wagon train of 1500 Mormons
  • How many people used the Mormon Trail between 1847 and 1869?

    70,000 Mormons
  • How long was the Oregon Trail?
    3200 km or 3800 km for those using it to go to California
  • Why were the Mormons successful in Utah?

    Their religious faith encouraged them to work very hard and prevented them giving up in the face of terrible hardship, Young was in control and made good decisions, the Mormon Church owned all land, water and timber which was allocated to families so towns ran efficiently, they dug irrigation ditches which meant farm land had enough water, a Perpetual Emigration Fund provided the resources to help thousands of Mormons emigrate to Utah, Young organised settlers so that each new town had the right mix of skills to survive and prosper
  • What were the problems of farming on the Plains?
    The climate- there were very hot and dry summers and very cold winters, there was very little surface water and very low rainfall, dry grass burned easily causing prairie fires, thick sod- the soil was a tangled mass of grass roots, there was very little timber for fencing or building, grasshopper plagues and other insect pests, weather- there were thunderstorms and violent winds
  • How did settlers deal with a lack of timber?
    Due to a lack of trees to build with, settlers had to live in caves and sod houses made from earth. The thick walls and roof were good insulation in winter, the earth walls and roof were fireproof giving protection from prairie fires however sod houses were impossible to keep clean and were full of insects. The lack of wood for fencing meant that settlers had to pay large amounts of money to import timber to fence their claims which made homesteading expensive until 1874 when barbed wire was introduced as a cheap alternative to wooden fences
  • How were farming conditions on the Great Plains different to the West and East?

    Crops that did well in the East shrivelled up and died from lack of water or were eaten by insect infestations such as grasshopper swarms, ploughs that worked in the East broken when farmers tried to use them to plough through the thick sod of the Plains, at first, settlers had to dig up the sod with spades which was backbreaking work. In California and Oregon ( on the West cast ), conditions for farming were much better. By the 1850s Californian farmers were growing so much wheat they began exporting it worldwide