American West: Going West

American West: Going West

1. Mountain Men

   • Trapped animals for their fur
     • Made a living by trading furs at forts
   • Explored the Plains extensively
     • First explorers to go to the West
       • Fertile and rich lands
       • Freedom and Independence
       • Space
       • Furs & Fish
       • In the East...
         • Overpopulation
           • Unemployment
         • Collapse of banking
         • Persecution
   • Gave advice to travellers and Government explorers
   • They worked with Indians, often marrying Indian women

2. Manifest Destiny

   • The belief that God wished white men would control the entire continent
   • Originated from a newspaper article by John O'Sullivan in 1845
   • Now considered a racist viewpoint
     • Indians were 'inferior' to whites
       • Indians were not Christians
       • Indians had not discovered writing, or the wheel

3. Wagon Trails

   • Early Settlers 1843
     • Disturbed the buffalo
     • Crossed land that Indians claimed to own
     • Only intended on moving West
       • California
       • Oregon
   • Problems
     • 3, 800km to travel
     • Tough terrain including the Rocky Mountains
     • No maps or landmarks
     • Dangers
       • Lots of disease (e.g. cholera)
       • Buffalo stampedes
       • 34,000 died
   • The Wagons
     • FOOD: Had to carry enough for the entire journey, and 18 months after, before crops could be harvested
     • WEAPONS: Some carried guns to defend against buffalo and Indian attacks
     • MONEY: A short supply for trading at forts along the way
     • TOOLS: For fixing the wagon and setting up housing on arrival in the West

4. The Gold Rush

   • Gold was discovered in California in 1848
   • Forty-niners
     • Planned to return home (East USA or Europe) after making their fortune
     • Panned for gold in rivers, digging down a few metres
     • Set up shanty towns of tents and small cabins
     • Violence and crime was very high, rivals
     • Few succeeded in dreams of wealth
     • Few could even afford to go home
   • Proffessional miners
     • Mined deep underground
     • Took their whole family with them
     • Were backed by businessmen in the East