1. America’s “Manifest Destiny”
Westward Expansion
America’s “Manifest Destiny”

2. Do Now
Why do people move?
List at least 5 reasons in your binder.

3. Push and Pull Why do people move?
There are both push factors and pull factors:
Push factors = conditions that force people to leave a certain area
Pull factors = conditions that draw people to a certain area

4. African American Migration
After the Civil War, many African Americans moved:
to towns and cities
to the North
to the West
What factors may have “pushed” African Americans to leave the South?
What might factors may have “pulled” African Americans to the city? To the North? To the West?

5. “Expansion” can have many meanings:
Expansion of territory (purchase of land, treaties, conquest).
Expansion of settler population (through migration).

6. “Manifest Destiny”
A phrase coined in the 1840s by an American journalist
First used to justify American expansion into western territories.
Later used to justify American economic and cultural domination around the world
John L. O'Sullivan

7. Manifest Destiny Refers to the widely held belief that
The anglo-American way of life is better than any other (best type of government, economy, culture, etc.)
Therefore, the U.S. had both a right and a duty to spread out across the entire continent.
American expansion was inevitable, necessary, and had been ordained by God!

8. Manifest Destiny Although the phrase was new, the idea was not:
even as British colonists, settlers pushed farther and farther west.
thousands of colonists, for example, ignored the Proclamation of 1763, which forbid settlement of the Ohio River Valley.
Famous frontiersman Daniel Boone Escorts settlers through the Cumberland Gap

9. The Argument
Fulfilling this “destiny,” many argued, would benefit everyone involved:
American settlers would gain access to much needed land (U.S. population was growing very quickly at this time)
others would have the opportunity to learn the (superior) American way of life.

10. Underlying Assumptions
Through farming and construction, it was believed that American settlers actually improved the land (made it more productive).
Anyone who did not build permanent homes and who did not farm on a large scale were simply wasting the land.
Ethnocentrism?

11. Ethnocentrism
the belief that your own group or culture is better or more important than others.

12. Spirit of the Frontier (American Progress), 1872 by John Gast
How does this painting explain the attitude of Americans in the mid-1800s?
This painting (circa 1872) by John Gast called American Progress, is an allegorical representation of the modernization of the new west. Here Columbia, a personification of the United States, leads civilization westward with American settlers, stringing telegraph wire as she sweeps west; she holds a school book. The different stages of economic activity of the pioneers are highlighted and, especially, the changing forms of transportation.
In 1872 artist John Gast painted a popular scene of people moving west that captured the view of Americans at the time. Called "Spirit of the Frontier" and widely distributed as an engraving portrayed settlers moving west, guided and protected by a goddess-like figure of Columbia and aided by technology (railways, telegraphs), driving Native Americans and bison into obscurity. It is also important to note that angel is bringing the "light" as witnessed on the eastern side of the painting as she travels towards the "darkened" west.
Spirit of the Frontier (American Progress), 1872 by John Gast

13. Events and Inventions that helped America fulfill its “Manifest Destiny”
Northwest Ordinance – establishes a procedure for dividing land into territories and encourages settlement of the Ohio River Valley.
Louisiana Purchase - doubles the size of the U.S.

14. Events and Inventions that helped America fulfill its “Manifest Destiny”
Lewis and Clark Expedition – to gather information about plants, animals, and Native American tribes of the West (pg. 200)
The Whitman family reaches the Oregon Territory – proves that wooden-wheeled wagons can travel the Oregon Trail; thousands of American pioneers would follow their lead (pgs. 283 and )
Lewis and Clark, pages 200 – 201; the Whitmans, page 284; Oregon Trail 283,

15. Events and Inventions that helped America fulfill its “Manifest Destiny”
John Deere Invents the Steel Plow – slices through heavy soil much more easily than existing plows.
Texas Joins the Union – Mexican government is furious
U.S. War with Mexico Begins

16. Events and Inventions that helped America fulfill its “Manifest Destiny”
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – ends war with Mexico
Gold is Discovered at Sutter’s Mill – migration to California skyrockets
Railroads Open the West – the federal government begins making huge land grants to railroad companies.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, page 297; Land Grants to railroad companies, 420

17. Events and Inventions that helped America fulfill its “Manifest Destiny”
President Lincoln signs the Homestead Act, the Pacific Railways Act, and the Morrill Act into law.
Transcontinental Railroad Completed – Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads meet at Promontory Point, Utah.
Homestead Act, page 421

18. Why might the information gathered by Lewis and Clarke be valuable to future settlers?

19. What were some of the obstacles settlers faced on western trails?

20. Trails West

21. What lands did the US gain as a result of the war with Mexico (pg. 297)?

22. Promontory Point, Utah
In what ways did the US government encourage the construction of railroads?

23. Homestead Document Analysis

24. Do Now, 4/28/14
Use the Excerpt provided to answer Homestead Act Do Now question #1

25. Do Now, 4/28/14
According to section 2 of the Homestead Act, what did settlers have to DO before they could receive a patent (deed of ownership) for the land they were claiming?
Submit an application;
Pay a $10 application fee;
Live on the land for 5 years;
Cultivate (farm) a portion of the land (1/4 or less of the 160 acres);
Document A

26. Do Now, 4/28/14
According to section 2 of the Homestead Act, what did settlers have to DO before they could receive a patent (deed of ownership) for the land they were claiming?
Swear in writing that they met all of the qualifications (head of household, citizenship, etc.) and that they were not claiming the property for someone else;
Make other “improvements” such as building a home, barn, etc.;
Document B
Provide proof: Two “credible” witnesses had to swear in writing that the applicant had met all of the requirements.

27. Homestead Document Analysis
Document A: The Application
Document B: The Proof
Submitted 1863
Submitted 1868

28. Settling the Great Plains
Film Clip

29. Settling the Great Plains: Part A
Directions: Read pages 420 – 423 and note how each of the factors listed below (Causes) helped to settle the West and turned the eastern Great Plains into the nation’s “breadbasket” (Effects).
Land grants given to railroads.
The Homestead Act and related laws passed in the 1870s.
Inventions and improvements in farm technology.
Morrill Act and Hatch Act.

30. Settling the Great Plains: Model
Cause
Effect
The Homestead Act and related laws passed in the 1870s
Homestead Act offered 160 acres of free land to anyone who would farm it for 5 years; similar acts offering cheap (or free) land in states such as Kansas and Oklahoma were later passed .

31. Settling the Great Plains: Part A
Cause
Effect
Railroad companies sold frontier land to farmers at low prices; recruited Europeans to buy and farm frontier land.
Homestead Act offered 160 acres of free land to anyone who would farm it for 5 years; similar acts offering cheap (or free) land in states such as Kansas and Oklahoma were later passed.
Land Grants given to the railroads.
The Homestead Act and related laws passed in the 1870s

32. Settling the Great Plains: Part A
Cause
Effect
Inventions and improvements in farm technology
Increased farm productivity by decreasing the amount of effort and time required to produce farm goods;
led to profitable industry – manufacturers of farm equipment multiply

33. Settling the Great Plains: Part A
Cause
Effect
Morrill Act and Hatch Act
Supported farmers by financing agricultural education and research in farm technology and methodology

34. Exit Slip
Explain at least two ways in which the government encouraged the settlement of the Great Plains.
Homework: Answer questions 5 – 10 in complete sentences on a sheet of lined paper.

35. Themes in History Human-Environment Interaction:
Throughout history, humans have changed and have been changed by their environment. As you learn about our continuous interaction with the environment, keep these questions in mind:
How do humans adjust to the climate and terrain where they live?
What positive and negative changes have people made to their environment?

36. Human-Environment Interaction on the Plains
Use information from your completed “Settling the Great Plains” chart and guided reading questions to respond to the following:
How did settlers adjust to the climate and terrain of the Great Plains?
What positive and negative changes did settlers make to the environment of the Great Plains?