Why did people migrate West?

• Push Factors- Migration

  -1837-Economic crisis in the East whicg lasted until the mid 1840s. Many banks failed, people lost their jobs and savings were also lost, in some areas unemployment was as high as 25%

  -Because of the econ crisis, wages for those who kept their jobs were cut up to 40%
• Pull factors-Migration


  -Traders and fur trappers, travelled to Oregon for many years and reported that the land was rich and fertile.

  -Temptation in early years, less people means more land for those who migrate.

  -Oregon Trail was established

  -April 1849- thousands of people migrated, gold was found in Californi, pop reached 300000 by 1855

  -Reports published.

  -Manifest Destiny

  -Farming exportations, earn money
• Gold was discovered in California in 1848. 100000 people travelled to California in 1849

  Financial crisis in the USA in 1837, desperate for a new start in the West

  First migrants reached Oregon in 1836. Positive report about how easy the journey had been, encouraged others
• Groups that migrated West

  Early migration (up to 1862)

  Migration using Oregon Trail (1843+)

  Donner Party (1846)

  Mormon Migration (1846)

  California Gold Rush (1849)
• 1862-1895


  Increase in migration due to the Pacific Railroad Act (1862), The Homestead Act (1862), Timber Culture Act (1872), The Exoduster Movement (1879), Oklahoma Land Rush (1893)