

Westward Expansion


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S: Westward Expansion

BC: Citations Continued... | "What Was Sectionalism in America Before The Civil War?" Cliff Notes. Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2010. Web. 25 Apr 2010. . "Who Were the Mormon Pioneers?." Latter-Day Saints. 2009. Web. 25 Apr 2010. .

FC: Westward Expansion | By Megan McNeil

1: The Use Of Rivers To Power Machines | Water powered mills were the first and one of the most common forms of power. They were the beginning of the road for the United States’ success in manufacturing. The development of mills provided an alternative from living in rural areas. Colonial farmers sometimes traveled up to 50 miles to get grain ground into flour because it saved them the labor of grinding by hand. Mills helped to attract settlers to a town and increased land value. Mills were often built before schools and churches when a town became established. There are four major types of waterwheels: the tub wheel, the undershot wheel, the overshot wheel, and the breast wheel. | Idea:

2: Idea: | Factory System | Factories were beginning to replace shops and handicraft production in the 1800s. A census official found that factory production methods had overhauled “the manufacture of boots and shoes, of watches, musical instruments, clothing, agricultural implements, metallic goods generally, fire-arms, carriages and wagons, wooden goods, rubber goods, and even the slaughtering of hogs.” These factories did not yet operate on the scale of modern, national, and or multinational industrial complexes.

3: Idea: | An interchangeable part is the concept that instead of replacing an entire gun that broke, you can just buy a new part that corresponds with the broken part. Eli Whitney is best known for his contribution of the idea to manufacture with interchangeable parts into American industry. The technique of using interchangeable parts based on standardized design patterns spread throughout American industry. By the end of the 19th century, American industry was already out-producing that of every other country. | Interchangeable Parts

4: Canals | Natural/Geographical: | In the 1800s people began to move farther away from rivers because river towns were becoming to crowded. This meant that people were forced to use the dirt roads that cut through forests to move goods to markets. The answer to that was canals. Barges moved along canals pulled by mules or horses which walked along the edge of the water. The barges carried goods such as furniture and clothing to the west.

5: Natural/Geographic: | Oregon Trail | The Oregon Trail was one of the main migration routes on the North American continent, leading from locations on the Missouri River to the Oregon Country. The Oregon Trail was used by settlers, ranchers, farmers, miners, and business men migrating to the Pacific Northwest. To meet the constant needs for water, grass, and fuel for campfires the trail followed various rivers and streams across the continent. People using the trail traveled in wagons, pack trains, on horseback, on foot, by raft, and by boat to establish new farms, lives, and businesses in the Oregon Country.

6: Social: | Sectionalism is when our nation divided itself according to interests, attitudes, and overall lifestyles. Northerners focused on fast-paced business and industry. In contrast, the Southern economy relied on slow and steady agricultural growth. Slavery was the big issue between the North and the South and a large part of sectionalism. Southern states depended on slavery to continue production of cotton, and they wouldn't give up their "rights" to slaves without a fight. | Sectionalism

7: Social: | Trail Of Tears | In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up their land east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion on the forced march. Over 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokees died.

8: Politcal: | Missouri Compromise | In 1818 Missouri petitioned for admission to the Union as a slave state. The institution of slavery had been a divisive issue in the United States for decades before that and this caused great debate because of the balance of free and slave states. Before this the U.S. had managed maintain its balance with 11 free and 11 slave states. A compromise was reached on March 3, 1820, after Maine petitioned Congress for statehood. Both states were admitted, a free Maine and a slave Missouri, and the balance of power in Congress was maintained as before.

9: Politcal: | Mudslinging In The Election of 1828 | Mudslinging is the practice of making malicious attacks against an opponent. One of the best examples of this is the presidential election between Andrew Jackson and John Quincy-Adams in 1828. Democrats attacked Adams for his “corrupt bargain” of the previous election, owning a billiard table and an ivory chess set, traveling on Sunday, having premarital sex with his wife, and claimed that he had arranged for an American girl to satisfy the lust of Czar Alexander I.Adams's supporters launched their own assaults against Jackson and many of the charges had some basis in fact. Jackson, they said, was merely a hot-tempered "military chieftain" who had executed, without justification, six soldiers. The (accurately) complained that he was a slaver, a gambler, a brawler, and a duelist.

10: Economic: | Capitalism | Capitalism is a system in which all property is privately owned. In the early years of America's history, the settlers’ ravenous appetite for land was born of European deprivation confronting New World opportunity. Demand, which had been pent up for centuries, suddenly encountered plentiful supply. The settlers' hunger for more and more territory thrust them relentlessly westward, where they could establish farms and ranches that they themselves could own. Vast, apparently unlimited tracts of land were given away by the government or sold at irresistibly low prices.

11: Economic: | Panic of 1837 | When Andrew Jackson removed the government deposits from the national bank, the state banks took advantage and expanded. To check these operations, a “specie circular” was issued. The species expected in payment for public lands failed to appear. The banks refused discount and called in their loans. Property was everywhere sacrificed, and prices generally declined. The business crash and panic of 1837 followed this. Bankruptcy everywhere prevailed, even the general government could not pay its debts.

12: Economic: | The spark that ignited the gold rush occurred in May 1848 when a storekeeper brandished a bottle filled with gold dust around San Francisco shouting 'Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!' Workers abandoned their jobs. The populations of many of the coastal towns were depleted as hopefull settlers headed to the gold fields. Gold seekers traveled overland across the mountains to California. | California Gold Rush of 1849

13: Cultural: | The First Mormons | The first Mormon pioneer was Joseph Smith in 1820. Mormons and believers were chased by angry mobs from town to town. Some were killed by mobs while others were tar and feathered. Later they gathered in Nauvoo, Illinois where they built a city and a temple. Eventually Joseph Smith, along with three other men, were caught & held prisoner in a jail under false charges and then martyred by a mob. In 1847, the Mormon pioneers headed west.

14: Cultural: | By today's standard, in the 1800's people had a lot less free time than we have today. In rural areas people fished, told stories, read out of the bible, read newspapers. Rural areas had periodic gatherings such as barn raisings, taffy pulls, church, and “singings”. Towns tended to have more social opportunities, like seeing a progress program put on by local school-children, spelling bees, singing schools, and many of the rural pursuits as well. Everyone in the town would go and visit any show, concert, or play that came to town. | Activities

15: Steam Engine | It wasn't until Scotsman James Watt improved the steam engine even further in the second half of the 18th century that it became a truly viable piece of machinery that helped start the Industrial Revolution. The steam engine was central to the industrial revolution. Only through providing a convenient source of energy could major forms of transportation grow and prosper. Steamships and steam locomotives allowed for the quicker transportation of raw materials that could be used to produce finished goods. | Technological:

16: Technological: | Cotton Gin | The cotton gin is a machine designed to remove cotton from its seeds. It was invented by Eli Whitney in 1794 and is one of the many inventions that occurred during the Industrial Revolution. The cotton gin made the cotton industry of the South explode. Previous to its invention, separating cotton fibers from its seeds was a labor intensive and unprofitable venture. Cotton as a cash crop became so important that it was known as King Cotton.

17: Technological: | In 1764, James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny, a hand-powered multiple spinning machine that was the first machine to improve upon the spinning wheel.The original spinning jenny used eight spindles instead of the one found on the spinning wheel. A single wheel on the spinning jenny controlled eight spindles which created a weave using eight threads.James Hargreaves made a number of Spinning Jennies and started to sell them in the area. However, since each machine was capable of doing the work of eight people, other spinners were angry about the competition. | Spinning Jenny

18: Cause and Effect: | What were the causes of past events (Westward Expansion)? | Westward expansion and all events caused by Westward Expansion were initially caused by the Louisiana Purchase and the President's desire to explore the land.

19: Change and Continuity: | Who has benefited from change? Why? | Europeans who lived in poverty benefited from Westward Expansion because they were presented the option to move to the Americas with the choice to buy large quantities of inexpensive land.

20: Change and Continuity: | The American Indians did not benefit because their land was taken and they were forced to migrate to unfamiliar land with unfamiliar resources. | Who has not benefited? Why?

21: Using the Past: | How is the past different from the present? | The past is different from present time because American Indians are accepted in society and can live where they desire. Also, we have easier transportation so, for instance, moving to Oregon from New York would not take 3 months.

22: Turning Points: | How did decisions or actions significantly transform people's lives? | Every decision completely changed their lives. For instance, leaving your family to move to California for gold mining would either mean becoming rich or becoming flat broke. Big decisions carried a lot more weight because of the possibility of death and disease.

23: Citations: | Through Their Eyes: | What values, skills, and forms of knowledge did people need to succeed? | People needed a lot of skills to succeed in the 1800s. They'd need to know at least the basics of many different skills. For instance: medicine, sewing, carpentry, cooking, hunting. Without these skills people in the colonies would die.

24: Citations | Bellis, Mary. "Spinning Jenny" Inventors. The New York Times Company. 2008. Web. 25 Apr 2010. . "Colonial America's Pre-Industrial Age." Medieval and American History. Pennsylvania State University, 2007. Web. 22 Apr 2010. . "Culture and Government." University of Vermont, 2008. Web. 25 Apr 2010. . Eisert, Kevin. "A Balance of Power." THe War For States' Rights. 2007. Web. 25 Apr 2010. .

25: Citations Continued... | Grimshaw, David. "From Interchangeable Parts to Visual Basic." David Grimshaw. Ryerson University, 2000. Web. 24 Apr 2010. . "Industrialization: The Spread of the Factory System." American Eras. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 24 Apr. 2010 . "Invention of the Steam Engine." American History. 2006. Web. 25 Apr 2010. . "Lesson 11 Canals." Mountain City Schools. 2010. Web. 25 Apr 2010. .

26: Citations Continued... | McCraw, Thomas K. "Capitalism in America." Working Knowledge. Harvard Business School, 1999. Web. 25 Apr 2010. . Stevens, Ken M.D. "A Historical Perspective on Presidential Campaigns." History Department. 2003. Web. 25 Apr 2010. . "The California Gold Rush, 1849." Eyewitness to History. 2001. Web. 25 Apr 2010. . "The Cotton Gin in American History." American History. The New York Times Company., 2008. Web. 25 Apr 2010. .

27: Citations Continued... | "The Financial Panic of 1837." The Public Bookshelf. 2002. Web. 25 Apr 2010. . "The Trail Of Tears." PBS Online. WGBH, 2010. Web. 25 Apr 2010. . Trinklein, Mike. "The Oregon Trail." History of America. Idaho State University, 2010. Web. 25 Apr 2010. .

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