1. Westward Expansion

2. William Clark and Meriwether Lewis

3. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
Louisiana Purchase
Good Deal: Paid France $15 million
Doubled the size of the country
Gained control of the Mississippi River
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
Explored geography
Created maps (routes to the Pacific Ocean)
Studied how Indian tribes lived
Was helped by Sacagawea

4. Hmmmmmm..
Sounds interesting, but I am afraid of the journey and leaving what I know and where I feel safe.
Would you leave your home to explore and settle on a new land?

5. Homestead Act: To expand the west
May 20, 1862
Qualifications: Head of House
21 years or older
Citizen
Can not bear arms against the United States

6. Land Allotment:
¼ section or less
Approximate 160 acres
Filing Requirement:
Swear for personal use only
Application at land office
Ten dollars

7. If the head of the house dies: Spouse inherits the land
DEATH!
If the head of the house dies:
Spouse inherits the land
If they both die – oldest child

8. LOSS OF LAND:
If you have not worked on it for five years
Can’t lose land due to previous debt
If no one has lived there for more than 6 months

9. Reasons for Moving West

10. religious persecution adventure prospects of riches
: approximately 350,000 Americans traveled West for a variety of reasons:
a fresh start
fertile farmland
religious persecution
adventure
prospects of riches

11. Independence, Missouri
Four Jump-Off Points
St. Joseph, Missouri
Independence, Missouri
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Nauvoo, Illinois

12. The Cost of Traveling West:
$ $1,200.00
Most people who traveled west were fairly well off
According to a “Guide To California” published in 1849 necessary supplies for a party of four could cost near $

13. Item
Cost/1850
1 wagon $
2 oxen $
600 lbs. flour $
120 lbs. biscuit $
400 lbs. bacon $
200 lbs. Beans $
120 lbs.dried fruit $
1 keg whiskey $
1 rifle $
2 pistols
5 lbs. powder $
10 lbs. shot $
Cost/2004
$ 2,100.00
$ 9,360.00
$ 2,800.00 $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

14. Other items the travelers brought with them included:
Candles Soap
60 lbs. Coffee Bedding
100 lbs. Sugar Tools
200 lbs. Lard Clothing
40 lbs. Salt 8 lbs. Pepper

15. The Journey:
six (6) months to complete
Must start in the early Spring
Too early, could face flooded rivers, and late snows
Too late they faced possible of severe weather conditions while crossing the Rockies.

16. Oregon Trail Fur trappers -attracted to the plentiful animals.
Settlers/farmers -attracted by the fertile land in certain areas.
Used guidebooks to travel - often wrong
Donner Party – took a cut-off and was snowed in on the Sierra Nevada Mountain. Resorted to extremes to survive.

17. Westward Transportation
Walking: most people, except for the aged and ill, walked 2,000 miles in about 6 months
Disney World (Florida) is approximately 1,100 miles away!

19. “Prairie Schooners” would form Wagon Trains

21. Scores of wagons traveled over the same tracks
Scores of wagons traveled over the same tracks. Usually, wagons traveled several columns across, and several wagons deep. A view from the sky would reveal perhaps a dozen or so tracks parallel to these.

22. Canals
Rivers were easy for transporting both people and goods. (cheaper and quicker)
River “towns” became crowded like the cities – people moved farther away
Connecting rivers were also needed

23. Erie Canal (363 miles) – took 8 years and $7 million.
Canals were the answer – man-made “rivers” used to move goods and for quicker travel.
Barges moved along the canals, pulled by mules or horses which walked along the edge of the water.
Erie Canal (363 miles) – took 8 years and $7 million.
Erie Canal was 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep. Before Erie it costs $100 to transport goods form Buffalo to New York City. After it cost $8.

26. Canals were dug by men with shovels and horses
Carried goods, such as furniture and clothing to the west.
Brought back goods, such as grain and lumber to the east.
Cost to bring goods from Buffalo and New York was $100. When the canal was built it was lowered to $8. Canals made New York City one of the most used ports in the nation. Albany and Syracuse were formed.

27. Challenges:
Terrain, ranging from wide open prairie to the desert like Badlands, made travel difficult.
Mountains could be impassable, and they always feared the lack of fresh water and food.
Hardships along the trails were common, and varied. Weather could turn severe without notice.

29. Hardships:
Indians, although usually helpful, could always pose a threat.
Daily routines were exhausting. Food and water had to be obtained. Fires had to be started, meals cooked, pots cleaned, etc.
Accidents and disease was all to common, and unfortunately deadly.

30. Accidents were common
Children fell or jumped off, crushed to death by the wheels or oxen
Bison stampede smashed wagons
Adults and children drowned in river crossings.
Bitten by poisonous snakes (land and water)

32. Homes Log Cabins Sod Houses: No tress on the Great Plains
Used chunks of sod
Often built into a hill
Leaked, insects, dark, uncomfortable

37. Manifest Destiny – President James Polk believed in this doctrine
It is the idea that it was the will of God for the U.S. to extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

38. Mexico was opposed to Texas becoming a U.S. territory
The Mexican War (1846)
Causes
Mexico was opposed to Texas becoming a U.S. territory
The U.S. and Mexico disagreed where about the southern boundary of Texas.
US said the border was the Rio Grande River. Mexico claimed it was further north.

40. Did I “Polk” and provoke the war with Mexico? Maybe!
President Polk used this border dispute to justify moving U.S. troops into Mexican territory.
“Remember the Alamo”

41. The Alamo: About 200 Americans, including Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett, versus over 6,000 Mexican troops.
Americans held the mission for 12 days, but the Mexicans won. Most Americans eventually were killed.
Overall: U.S. Army was too strong for the Mexicans – won easily.

42. Results
Mexico agreed that the Rio Grande River was the southern boundary of Texas.
Mexico gave all of present-day California, Nevada, and Utah, as well as part of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming
The U.S. paid Mexico $15 million for this land – called Mexican Cession.

45. The Gadsden Purchase
5 years later – U.S. paid Mexico $10 million for more land in southern New Mexico and Arizona.
U.S. Railroad companies wanted to build train routes to California on this land
James Gadsden was the ambassador to Mexico negotiated the pruchase

46. Voting rules were eventually changed in the east.
Ideas Move EAST
Ideas about equality and democracy moved
Who was allowed to vote?
East – Only white males over 21 who owned property
West – ALL white males over 21
Voting rules were eventually changed in the east.