1. Westward Migration
Let me get this straight. You want me to face Indians, wild animals, harsh winters, and starvation? Are you Crazy???

2. Reasons for westward expansion
Opportunities for land ownership
Technological advances, including the Transcontinental Railroad
Possibility of wealth created by the discovery of gold and silver
Adventure
A new beginning for former slaves

3. The Great Plains
Explorer Major Stephen H. Long said that this treeless, eroded by wind and rain wasteland was, “unfit for farming or cultivation.”
Most people kept going farther west because of scarce water and many dust storms on the plains.

4. What is the Great Plains?
Flatlands that rise gradually from east to west.
Land eroded by wind and water.
Low rainfall
Frequent dust storms

5. Can I get rich doing this?
What? Gold, silver, cattle, and other natural resources meant some people got wealthy.
New technology; barbed wire, windmills, and the steel plow made it possible.
Methods of farming; Dry farming, wheat farming and cattle ranching became economical.

6. Technology
Barbed wire-no wood for fencing but needed to keep cattle and cowboys out of fields.
Windmills-pumped water out of the ground
Steel plows-able to cut hard sod and roots without breaking, to reach the good soil below.

7. Methods of Farming
Dry farming-plowing deep and letting the soil sit for a year to catch rain and hold the moisture.
Wheat farming-wheat is a hardy crop for harsh climates.
Cattle ranching-cattle do well on large open grasslands.

8. Sod Houses (what a mansion!!!)
Limited trees made the pioneers look toward other materials in which to build shelter.
“Sodbusters” built homes made of sod (thick bricks of dirt and roots).

10. What was the Homestead Act?
What? The govt. gave 160 acres of farmland to ANYBODY who would live there for five (5) years.
Why? The govt. wanted to encourage people to move west and inhabit the whole country (remember Manifest Destiny?)
Who? Former slaves, immigrants, and the poor who had nothing.

11. The Ultimate Rush Railroads given free land to cross the country.
Towns established along the routes for water and stopping places.
Trains could move people and goods west and beef and grains east.
Soon the plains frontier began to disappear.

12. Industry Western natural resources sent to the factories in the east.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-steel
New England-textiles
Detroit, Michigan-automobiles
Finished products are shipped to all markets across the country.
Many Americans and new immigrants begin moving to the U.S. and from the farm to the city to work in factories for a new life and better wages.

13. 7 Regions States becoming 7 different political regions
Pacific
Southwest
Midwest
Southeast
Northeast
Rocky mountain
Noncontiguous
Cities become centers of trade with political, economic and cultural significance.