Early settlement of the west

• pull factors of moving west

  freedom and independence

  fertile land

  space

  gold
• push factors of moving west

  financial issues in the east

  over population

  unemployment
• what happened in 1837

  there was a financial crisis in the east and there was a farming crisis
• what happened in the financial crisis

  banks ran out of money which causes

  unemployment to rise to 25%

  people lost savings

  businesses closed
• farming crisis


  corn prices collapsed due to overcrowding on all of the land as it was very fertile
• manifest destiny


  white Americans believed that it was gods will for whites to populate all of america
• what were the problems on the plains

  lack of timber

  bad environment

  insects
• why was a lack of timber a problem

  settlers needed to live in caves and sod houses which were unhygienic and importing timber was expensive
• why was the environment a problem

  tough weather conditions= thunderstorms, very hot summers, very cold winters

  there was a lack of water so crops could not thrive

  farming ploughs wouldn't work which causes difficulty
• when was the gold rush

  1849
• what did the gold rush cause

  a huge migration west

  the total number increased from 5000- 20000

  lots of these migrants came from china but did not find gold
• consequences of the gold rush

  migration- population increased to 300000

  lawlessness in mining camps

  railroad developments

  tension with the natives
• Mormon migration 1846-1847
• why did the mormons begin to migrate

  there were religious persecution because other groups believed they were blasphemous---> they freed slaves, were polygamous, lots of them
• who was Joseph smith

  founded the mormons

  was a good political speaker

  but was murdered in 1844
• the migration


  migrated to salt lake

  brigham young was there leader

  1500 people migrated to salt lake

  everyone was given a role to make the migration sucsessful
• success in utah


  faith encouraged them to work through hard ships

  the church owned everything= land, water, timber

  because it was church owned it was allocated fairly

  perpetual emigration fund helped them
• indians removal act


  1830

  forced plains Indians to move west of the Mississippi river
• indian trade and intercourse act

  1834

  frontier between the usa and indian territory
• the oregon trail


  allowed people to move west

  it was 3200km

  it was a difficult journey
• why was moving west a difficult journey

  cold winters

  risks of getting stuck

  standstorms

  once in plains it was difficult to survive
• donner party


  was led by jacob and george donner

  began in 1846

  they took 60 wagons and 300 people
• what happened at fort bridger

  a group of 80 people tried to take a shot cut

  FAILED

  wagons broke

  300 cattle died

  ate dead
• when were the donner party rescued

  jan 1847
• when was the fort Laramie treaty


  1851
• what were the conditions in the fort laramie treaty

  the indians were given territories for both living and hunting this eventually led to reservations

  the natives were paid $50000 yearly for abiding however did not fully understand the conditions leading to gov control

  the gov also gave the indians resources meaning they became less independent
• when was the indians appropriations act

  1851
• what were the conditions of the indians appropriations act

  offered money for tribes to move onto reservations

  hunting land was allocated = was an issue as they hunted bison which were nomadic
• what did the indians appropriations act mean

  they government could control the natives
• what were the issues of lawlessness

  gambling

  prostitution

  claim jumping

  racism
• what was claim jumping

  taking land that had already been promised to someone else
• what were vigilantes


  a group of normal people who decide to punish lawbreakers and not rely on the justice system
• what were miners courts

  miners set up their own courts to settle any claim disputes
• San Francisco gangs


  people went to get gold so the population grew to 25000 however there was little gold and people were disappointed and unemployed

  this led to gangs- by 1851 gangs led the town
• why was lawlessness a problem

  men came back from the civil war= traumatised not fitting into society and angry at the government

  railroads = led to cowboys involving in drinking, gambling, prostitution
• solving lawlessness


  cow towns passed laws meaning no firearms

  sheriffs and marshals employed

  pinkertons= private detectives that were employed