The First Settlers
- Created by: sydn3y_14
- Created on: 17-04-17 01:39
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- The First Settlers
- Mountain Men and Trappers
- These were the first adventurers and explorers - they relayed information about the Plains back to the East - they made a good living out of selling the Beaver skins back in the East
- They helped set up the first trails - for example what would later become the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon Trail
- The US government believed in Manifest Destiny - the idea that whites shoud own the entire country and so regularly helped out the trailblazers
- Farmers in California and Oregon 1830s - 1840s
- Theses crossed the Plains and the Rocky Mountains in wagons drawn along by horses or cattle The journey was difficult and very dangerous. Some got lost due to poor weather of the Rocky Mountains and froze to death
- The Gold Rush
- In 1848 gold was discovered in California - by the end of the year 10 000 people were crossing the Plains to dig for gold
- Within a year, over 100 000 people had crossed the Plains - the forty niners
- As the West develoeped there were many problems
- Racism: Many different cultures and races clashed over land rights and taxation's placed on foreign miners
- Poor living conditions: So many people rushed to the area so quickly that conditions were very poor with many living in dirty tents. Disease spread quickly
- Law and order: There was no proper system of law. Miners turned rapidly to heavy drinking and gambling. Murders and clai-jumping was very common
- Vigilantes: Gangs developed that took the law into their own hands - many were as bad as the criminals they were attacking
- The Gold Rush did help to 'open up' the West - more and more industries were set up in the West, San Francisco became a financial centre that rivalled New York and it also paved the way for the increased development of the railroads
- Mountain Men and Trappers
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