Transcript Westward Expansion

Westward Expansion
United States Land Acquisition
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Throughout the early and mid-1800’s the
United States under the banner of Manifest
Destiny gained tremendous amounts of
territory.
 Texas
 Mexican Cession
 Oregon
 Gadsden Purchase
Settlement of the West:
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Homestead Act of 1862: The Homestead Act
was a United States Federal law that gave an
applicant freehold title to 160 acres of
undeveloped land outside of the original 13
colonies. The new law required three steps: file
an application, improve the land, and file for
deed of title. Anyone who had never taken up
arms against the U.S. Government, including
freed slaves, could file an application and
improvements to a local land office.
Settlement of the West…Cont.
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With Manifest Destiny and new open land in
the west came millions of new settlers from
immigrants to freed slaves. These lands opened
tremendous markets for goods as well as large
ranches and farms. Imagine Texas without the
Longhorn Cattle, or Kansas, Nebraska, and the
Dakota’s without corn and grain.
Settlement of the West…Cont.
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In the west new lands gave many people new
opportunities in new occupations.
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Cowboys were needed to drive their cattle from
Texas and Oklahoma to the trains in Kansas City
which led to the slaughterhouses in the Midwest…
Chicago
A way of connecting both coasts was needed as
well, as the trip from New York to San Francisco
could take months to go around the tip of South
America.
The Transcontinental Railroad
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The need to connect the coasts was met by the
creation of the Transcontinental Railroad.
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Trans- Across
The Railroad was created by the Union Pacific
(UP) and the Central Pacific (CP) Railroads. The
UP started laying track in Nebraska and worked
their way west. The CP started at Sacramento,
California and worked east through the Cascade
Range of the Rocky Mountains.
The Transcontinental Railroad… Cont
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The Railroad was begun on January 8, 1863
and Completed on May 8, 1869 at
Promontory Point, Utah. It first opened for
traffic on May 10, 1869.
The workers on the railroad made up a diverse
mix of people. Chinese, Irish, former slaves,
blacks all worked together to create this
massive engineering marvel.