american west gcse

• The Gold Rush of 1849 led hundreds of thousands of people to move to California in search of gold.
• buffalo were the main food source for native americans
• The Gold Rush helped open up the West to further exploration and settlement.
• By the late 1800s, there were only a few thousand buffalo left.
• The Homestead Act encouraged settlers by offering free land, but it also forced Native Americans off their lands.
• 1834 trade and intercourse act

  due to the victory of the american mexico war the us had land in the west it wanted to populate so they encouraged migration but to migrate they had to go along the natives lands

  the us army forced pa away from the trails in case of them attacking travellers so whites could now travel into pa lands
• the indian appropraitions act, 1851,

  gov to buy up land they had given to the pa

  pa moved onto reservations,

  gov hoped pa would learn to live like whites
• 1830 indian removal act

  forced 46000 na to move west of misisipi river
• 1834 set out the permenant indian frontier

  forts guarded the land so whites couldnt go in
• 1848

  us victory in mexico war gives usa land in the west
• 1851 allocated money to build reservations
• 1837 finacial crisis in the east

  collapse in price of cotoon

  unemployment reached 25%

  corn prices collapsed leaving farmers in ruin

  there was overcorwding of fertile land in missispi
• us gov needed to populate west to defend from foreign powers, manifest destiny
• 1836-1846, 5000 migrants used oregan trail

  1848 gold dicovered in california

  from 1849 thousands used oregan trail in hopes of finding gold
• a famine in chila led 20,000 migrating to california 1852
• most didnt find gold and the proffesional miners who mined underground took over in 1850s
• pull factors of west

  freedom

  independence

  fertile land lots of space

  oregan trail

  gold
• push factors of the west

  collapse of wheat prices, overpopulation, persecution of mormons, unemployment
• oregan trail 3200km
• donner party left missouri may 1846,

  60 wagons 300 people

  fort bridger 80 people decided to take a short cut along hastings cutoff
• the donner party

  4 wagons broke, 300 cattle died,

  they arrived late in the sierra nevada

  by september they had ran out of food

  they were trapped by heavy snow in october

  a help party was sent and took 32 days to find them at johnsons ranch

  to survive they ate their dead

  resuce partys found survivers in january 1847
• mormon migration

  joseph smith killed in illinois

  brigham young

  1846 left for great salt lake

  young split the 1500 into smaller groups

  everyone had a specific role

  formed wagons into circle for saftey

  he insisted on regular rest and disipline

  1847-1869 70,000 mormons followed the mormon trail
• 1847 young led a advance party along the route, he ha carefully researched the route, had enough food for a year, the advance party was spefically chosen to pick out the best route, improve trail, mark out water sources and plant vegetables along the path
• the donner party trusted a short cut

  ran out of food

  lots of young and old people
• problems of farming in the plains

  climate, hot dry summer, cold winter

  grasshopper plauges

  weather of thunderstorms

  lack of trees timber for building

  lack of water
• increase in settlers along the trails put pressure on na food supplies bc whites spooked buffalo
• less food led to more conflict between tribes,
• terms of fort laramie treaty 1851

  • territories set out for pa
  • white settlers are aloud onto pa land
  • railroad surveyors and military posts in na land
  • tribes to receive resources from gov
• significance of fort laramie treaty

  • pa agreed to the treay and got $50,000 a year
  • they were dependent of gov for food
  • gov prioritised white over na and their needs set out in the trade and intercourse act
  • white settlenemnt increased, bc the treaty allowed them safe passage of the oregan trail,
  • there was no longer a permenant indian frontier, between easter usa and pa , so there could be reservations in the future
• rapid popualtion growth the the west meant law enforcement was stretched thin anf many crimes could go unpunished
• lawlessness in the west

  claim jumping, isolated communities, racism tensions from migrations, mining camps were a target for criminals, not enough law enforcement, social factors like alchohol gambling and prostitution, mass settlement so rapid population increase
• mining camps were isolate away from law enforcement
• san fran population grow rapidly from gold rush

  by 1849, went from 1000 to 25000

  not many found gold, so it became filled with unemployed disappointed migrants
• racial tensions increase due to chinese
• 1851 there were gangs and out of control
• san fran vigilance commkitee to control gang violence in 1851

  they punished suspected law breakers and it spread to other mining comunitees
• federal gov didnt spend much on law enforcement and sheffifs were poorly paid so bribes were often
• 10 to file a claim
• homestead act consequences

  • by 1876 6 million acres was homesteaded
  • 80 million by the end of the act
  • the promise of free land was an important pull factor for immigration into the usa
  • significant in encouraging settlement on the plains especially nebraska
  • high dropour rate, 60% claims were never proven up often becuase of difficulty farming
  • 300 million acres were given to railroad companies who sold it onto settlers , which was more influential than the homestead act
  • rich landowners always found ways to buy land using the act
• due to the confederacy the gov was able to pass the homestead act