Westward Expansion SEs: 13A, 12A, 3A, 3B, 15A, 26B, Analyze the causes and effects of changing demographic patterns resulting from migration within the US, including western expansion, Analyze the impact of physical and human geographic factors on the settlement of the Great Plains, the Klondike Gold Rush, the California Gold Rush; Analyze economic issues such as the cattle industry boom, the rise of entrepreneurship, free enterprise; describe economic impact of Transcontinental Railroad and the Homestead Act contributed to the closure of the Frontier in the late 19th century. Discuss the Americanization movement to assimilate immigrants and American Indians into American Culture.

Westward Expansion: People, events, and things that caused expansion to the Western part of the United States. Migration = the reason for migration was to try to create a better life for American Settlers. However, the motivation for expansion is often fueled by profit and at times leads to cultural conflict and denial of individual rights.

Westward Expansion: People, events, and things that caused expansion to the Western part of the United States. Manifest Destiny = This is the belief that the United States had the God given right to own all of the lands from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

American Progress by John Gast, 1872

Westward Expansion: People, events, and things that caused expansion to the Western part of the United States. Transcontinental Railroad = completed in 1869. Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads were joined to create a single line from Omaha Nebraska to the Pacific Ocean. “Trunk lines” established. Used to develop the Great Plains. Trains led to growth and development of railway stations that led to towns, cities, and commercial industry. They not only transported people but manufactured goods and raw materials.

The Klondike Gold Rush = Westward Expansion: People, events, and things that caused expansion to the Western part of the United States. The Klondike Gold Rush = sometimes referred to as the Yukon Gold Rush, drew people from all over the world to the Klondike region of northwestern Canada after gold was discovered there in 1896. The gold rush lasted only a few years.

Westward Expansion: People, events, and things that caused expansion to the Western part of the United States. California Gold Rush = This event led thousands to migrate to California to seek their fortune. In 1849. Miners came to seek their fortune in hopes to make it rich. This started the expansion of saloons, hotels, and cities, like San Francisco.

Westward Expansion: People, events, and things that caused expansion to the Western part of the United States. Settlement of the West was encouraged by lure of cheap land mineral discoveries, farming and ranching

Westward Expansion: People, events, and things that caused expansion to the Western part of the United States. Open range ranching and later farmers = plains area was expanded with the Transcontinental railroad, miners, ranchers, and later farmers. Mining towns developed, ranchers got lands who were interested in open range ranching, and farmers got land to farm so that they could feed the country. All of these actions began to break up reservations into individual pieces of land.

Westward Expansion: Impact on Native Americans The Dawes Act = (Also known as the Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887) required that Indian lands be surveyed and that American Indian families receive an allotment of 160 acres of reservation land for farming. Any land that remained would be sold. This had a great impact on Navajo. They didn’t like farming and led to the decline of their people. This opened the Plains to white settlements.

Westward Expansion: Impact on Native Americans The Homestead Act = permitted any citizen or intended citizen to select any surveyed land up to 160 acres and to gain title to it after 5 years residence if the person cultivated the land. These sales resulted from lands that were confiscated from the Native Americans.

Westward Expansion: Impact on Native Americans Assimilation of Native Americans = Even after we took all of the Native American’s land. We tried to make them like us. Many were converted to Christianity, many went to school, many started to dress like settlers, and learn the “white man’s values.” There was resistance but, it lead to the destruction of their culture as they once knew it.

Westward Expansion: Impact of American philosophy Horatio Alger Jr. = published a series of novels that promoted the ideas of self reliant individualism. Based on Rags to Riches stories. Ideas eventually led to Lassiez-faire capitalism and free enterprise. Pull yourself up from your bootstraps, you control your own destiny, work hard to succeed, determination is half the battle. All slogans that deal with the idea of Self reliant. This ideas have come to be characterized with being an American.

Checking for Understanding You will have 10 minutes to practice with the content information that you have just learned through the use of manipulatives. Teacher will walk around and monitor students as they use manipulatives to demonstrate understanding. Manipulatives promote peer tutoring and teaching while giving the teacher an opportunity to check for mastery.