THE WESTERN PIONEERS

Chapter 9 Section 1

Americans Head West In 1800, 387,000 white settlers lived west of

Appalachian Mountainsby 1820= 2.4 million

Reasons for heading west:1) Religious reasons

2) Chance to own their own land

3) New opportunities for wealth John Louis O’Sullivan

○ Magazine editor-> declare it was “manifest destiny” of Americans to settle all of the continent (West)

Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny

Americans Head West Farming New Lands

Farmers marked out the most fertile soil for their own○ Squatters- settled on land that didn’t belong to them

Congressed passed the Preemption Act of 1830- Gave squatters opportunity to claim and buy their land

- Up to 160 acres, $1.25 per acre

Plows and ReapersJethro Wood-> patented iron blade plow (1819)John Deere-> created a plow with sharp-edged

steel blades (1837)Cyrus McCormick-> mechanical reaper (1834)

Jethro Wood

John Deere

Cyrus McCormick

Settling the Pacific Coast Latecomers to the Midwest headed to California

and Oregon Dividing Oregon

Oregon was shared by G.B. and the U.S.○ Missionaries who were reaching out to N.A. in Oregon -> helped spread the word about settling Oregon

Populating California○ California-> belonged to Spain

Gov. of California gave land to German immigrant John Sutter- Built a trading post and cattle ranch

- 1845-> over 200 Americans settled their

Settling the Pacific Coast Trails West

Kit Carson and Jim Bridger-> gained knowledge of Pacific frontier from natives○ Carved out several east-to-west passages-> played a vital role in

settling the west Most popular-> Oregon Trail

Wagon Train Life Made the journey in covered wagons

○ at 1st Hired mountain men to help guide them As trails became worn overlanders found their own way

- Also used guidebooks

Read about the Donner Party on pg.296. Typical trip took 5 to 6 months-> traveling roughly 15 miles per day

○ Roles of men:○ Roles of women:

John Sutter

Oregon Trail

Oregon Trail

Settling the Pacific Coast

Native AmericansFeared attacks by NA’s-> from 1840 to

1860, 362 travelers were killed by NA’s-> 426 NA’s were killed by travelers○ NA’s were very helpful for most part

Gave food, info about routes, edible pants, and water sources

As travelers increased, NA’s feared they would loose their livelihood (Buffalo)○ Led to Treaty of Fort Laramie

Promised NA’s land

Mormon Migration

Read Mormon Migration on pg. 297Why did the Mormons head west?What happened to Joseph Smith?Who emerged as the new leader of the

Mormons?Describe the Mormon Trail.