ImmigrationPush Factors

– Population growth

• Land in Europe became scarce which led to overcrowding

– Agricultural Changes

• New ways of farming, pushed little farmers out

– Crop Failures

• Poor farming conditions =failed crops Like in Ireland

– Industrial Revolution

• Goods produced in mass in factories, rather than small shops

– Religious and Political differences

• Various religious groups clashed with their religious/political views

Pull Factors– Freedom

• Religious and political views can be expressed freely

– Economic Opportunity• Industrial explosion

helped immigrants support their family in America

– Abundant Land• Acquiring Louisiana

Purchase, Texas, the Oregon Territory and the Mexican Cession = millions of acres to be developed

• Germans – Move to Wisconsin and Texas – Farmers seeking climate to grow oats – Wisconsin– German settlements in Texas– Also successful businessman in cities• Bakers, butchers, carpenters, shoemakers

• Irish – Settled in Port cities, Boston, New York, Philadelphia & Baltimore– Fled due to the potato famine, which killed 1

million people– City-dwellers taking low level jobs=lack of

education/skills• Key workers on Transcontinental Railroad

Immigration groups

• 1862 – Congress passes the Pacific Railroad Act– Authorized the building of a

rail line that spanned the entire continent. • Linked Eastern economy with

Western Economy.

Pacific Railroad Act

• 1867 – the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroad companies begin a race to lay track– The Central Pacific start in Sacramento and moved

eastward• Both companies hire Civil War Vets, Irish and Chinese immigrants, and

African Americans to build the railroad

– The Union Pacific started in Omaha Nebraska and laid track moving westward

– Both companies had reached Utah by the summer of 1869• They met at Promontory Point• Laid the Golden Spike

The Race to Utah

1) The railroad companies established Standard Time

a) This created 4 time zones in the United States.

b) This allowed train companies to organize arrival and departure times in different parts of the country.

2) It encouraged more people to move West.

1) People could move west faster and hall their stuff easier.

2) Settlers could get necessities supplies like lumber, food, farm equipment and more by train.

Economic and Social Impact

3) It linked the economies of the West and the East

4) Weaken the native American hold on the West.

1) Hunters on the train killed thousands of Buffalo.

2) Railroad companies and the settlers the railroads brought west laid claim to Native American land.

Economic and Social Impact Cont.

• In the 1830s the grassy plains that were located between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains was designated as Indian Territory

• In the 1840 may trails, like the Oregon trail were opened and settlers began moving west, but bypassed (traveled through) the Indian Territory.

• When precious minerals are discovered in California, a mass migration of settlers move west in search on quick wealth.

Indian Territory

• 1848 – Discovery of gold in Californiao James Marshall discovers gold while building

Sutter’s Mill

• 1849 – Nearly 100,000 people migrate across the Great Plains seeking wealth in California – they are the 49er’s

• 1859 – Gold is discovered in Coloradoo Over 100,000 people migrate across

the Great Plains into Colorado• 1859 – Silver is discovered in Nevada

Discovery of Gold & Silver

• In 1854 congress passed the Kansas –Nebraska Act of 1854 o This law opened the Indian

Territory up for settlement by white farmers.

• In 1862 congress passed the Homestead Act of 1862 to encourage farmers and settlers to move into the Indian Territory (Midwest)

– Allows citizens to settle on 160 acres of unclaimed public land.

– Land was free– Settlers had to live on and

make improvements on the land for five year then they received the title• Homesteaders – the people who

settled on the free land, built houses out of Sod - blocks of dirt and prairie grass this type of home was known as a Soddy.

The Homestead Act

• Oklahoma Land Rush’s – 1885, 1889, and 1893– 2 million acres of land given away– On September 16, 1893 a cannon's

boom unleashed the largest land rush in American history

– Approximately 100,000 settlers raced to claim 42,000 parcels of land • Sooners – people who had snuck into

the land claim area before the race began

• Boomers - those who had waited for the cannon's boom before rushing into the land claim

The Homestead Act

2nd Great Awakening

• Industrialization and westward expansion also brings to light political and social issues.• Religious revival sparked many

reform movements in America, such as women’s rights and the abolitionist (anti-slavery) movements