Growth & Prosperity After the American Revolution Chapter 9 – Westward Expansion

Colonies  States You know how the 13 original colonies were established. Americans fought the British for Freedom and became the United States of America. The 13 original states. Where did the rest come from?

Proclamation of 1763 King George III restricts settlement past the Appalachian Mountains to preserve peace with the Native Americans. Once American won her independence, this was no longer recognized and settlers wanted to travel West on Wagon trails.

Settlers Move West Wagons could not be pulled over the Mountains. Settlers had to use wagon roads; Philadelphia Wagon Train. Settlers discover Cumberland Gap, an old Indian Passage through the Appalachian mountains. Settlement to the West continued.

Louisiana Purchase Most of the USA was obtained through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Purchased from France for $15,000,000. 828,000 square miles. Largest real estate deal in US History.

State Encourages Population Growth A growing population means more representation in the Congress = giving GA a greater influence in National government. New Settlers would turn forests into farms helping GA’s agricultural economy to grow.

Georgia’s Capital Moves To stay in the center of the State’s population, GA’s capital city moves five times!

Summarize Explain WHY did Georgia State officials encourage new settlement after the Revolutionary War; what did they want the population growth for?

Yazoo Land Fraud Largest political scandal in GA History. Georgia Legislators were bribed to illegally sell millions of acres to land speculators. Many people purchased land from speculators and never received the land because the whole land deal was illegal.

Georgia After Yazoo Land Fraud Georgia had land claims to the Mississippi River. Native Americans lived on this land. After the Yazoo Land Fraud, GA gave up this land to the US Government in exchange for the Government promising to remove all remaining Native Americans from Georgia.

Georgia’s Land Lottery After the Yazoo Land Fraud, GA was desperate to get settlers to come to GA. The State held a Land Lottery in it’s capital of Milledgeville. Georgia’s capital had moved twice by this time.

Georgia’s Land Lottery Georgia gave land away to: White Males; 21 years of age; lived in GA for a year; and was a US Citizen. Men who had a wife & child got 2 chances to draw for land. Widows and Orphans had a chance to draw as well.

New Technologies Steamboats and railroads brought faster and cheaper transportation. New machines helped create the factory system. Cotton gin, corn harvester and mechanical reaper increased agricultural production.

Importance of Waterways Waterways were the first North -> South transportation routes. Important waterways were inland “highways” for transportation to and from the frontier. These waterways also served as trading paths; thus creating towns.

Importance of Waterways Factories were powered by water (hydro electric power) so factories were built along rivers. Towns developed around those factories.

Growth and Transportation Steamboats ROADS Provided a fast and efficient way to transport large quantities of cotton downstream and could return upstream with supplies for the frontier. Georgia’s first Road Law of 1775 – All males between 16 – 60 had to work on the roads for 12 days a year

Railroads come to GA Cotton marketing towns, such as Athens and Forsyth, were far from navigable river – shipping cotton by wagon over rough dirt roads was slow and expensive. Also sometimes rivers became too shallow for riverboats.

Atlanta – “The Gate City” By 1860, Atlanta was a major rail center of the Deep South. It was the main link between the Atlantic seaboard and the Mid-West; therefore, the name Gate City

Planned Cities & University The State waned orderly growth. They wanted attractive, healthy places to live as well as attractive commercial cities. Cities such as Milledgeville, Athens, Macon and Columbus were all planned cities. The University of Georgia, in Athens, was the first state-charted university in the country!