Wagons Roll
- Created by: alicemae1407
- Created on: 08-02-17 20:42
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- Wagons Roll
- Great American Desert
- The Great Plains - between settlers in the East and the fertile land in Oregon and California
- Extreme climate, sparse rainfall and hard ground
- meant it was unsuitable for agriculture
- Why people went to the West
- 10% would die on the journey
- Pull Factors
- A new start
- Tell tales and newspaper reports
- Fertile and cheap land
- Gold and silver
- Government encouragement
- Push Factors
- Poverty
- Disease
- Religious or social persecution
- Taxation
- Eastern overpopulation
- Journey westwards
- The Oregon and California trails stretched about 2000 miles and took about 5 months by loaded wagon
- Lack of discipline and experience caused dangerous delays
- it was vital to beat the winter deadline
- In 1846 the Donner party, heading for California, tried a short cut known as the 'Hastings Cut-Offf'
- It was meant to shorten their route by hundreds of miles, but they ended up trapped in deep snow
- Of the 87 emigrants, less than 50 survived till next spring-by eating those who died
- Crossing the continent wasn't cheap- those who could have outfit a wagon must had money
- Many were farmers who had sold their farms at a profit
- Others included; lawyers, teachers, clergy and craftsmen
- However, young men without funds could hire themselves out of helpers on the wagon trains
- Many were farmers who had sold their farms at a profit
- Many settlers believed in 'Manifest Destiny'
- Many white Americans believed that they were destined to occupy and govern all of North America
- They saw it as a God-given right. They thought it was their 'Manifest Destiny' to do so
- The white settlers saw their religion and culture as superior to those of the Native Americans
- They saw themselves as civilising the continent
- The term 'Manifest Destiny' was actually coined by John L. O'Sullivan in 1845 over American relations with Mexico
- Many white Americans believed that they were destined to occupy and govern all of North America
- Great American Desert
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