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COLFLICT & TENSION - Expansion - Coggle Diagram
COLFLICT & TENSION - Expansion
Geography of North America
Great Plains/Great American Desert
Empty grassland
Considered uninhabitable and called the Great American Desert on early maps.
Rocky Mountains
Where the mountain men lived
Natural Boundries
Missisipi River
Appalachian Mountains
NATURAL OBSTACLES
Uneven Terrain
Mountains
Rivers
Great plains
Dramatic change in temperature (hot during the day, below freezing at night.)
Deemed unfit for farming
It was super flat with no shade or trees
Early Settlers
Types of early settlers
Mountain Men
First Farmers
The 49ers (Gold miners)
Mormons
Why did they move west?
49ers
To mine for gold during the gold rush in the hope to get rich
Mountain Men
Moving around to find and trade fur for money and clothing.
First Farmers
Make a living, land was cheap, there was lots of land to choose from and there was a good climate to grow crops/rear animals.
Mormons
To escape persecution from the government and people in the villages they stayed (for their practice of polygamy etc.)
About them
Mountain Men
Lived in dangerous conditions
Nomadic and lived with the Native Americans
They hunted and trapped animals in the rocky mountains and traded them in NYC.
When the fur trade ended, they helped people cross the rocky mountains for settlers moving West.
49ers
Opened up the West
People did not make money from mining & Mining towns were a huge source of crime and racism.
Many believed they would make their fortune, but didn't which lead to high unemployment
First farmers
They were forced West because they were coming from places with high unemployment, expensive land and an economic depression.
Issues they came across: Harsh weather, rocky mountains, rivers, lack of resources - cannibalism and disease.
What made the move?: Jobs, a new life, fertile land, the Government's propaganda and manifest destiny.
Mormons
Founded in 1831 by Joseph Smith (after he claimed to see an angel).
Said that only Mormons would get to heaven
Joseph wanted political power - ran for president
FORCED TO MOVE WEST: Hated by Christians because they tried to convert them. They practised polygamy and they preached that Mormons were God's "chosen ones".
Manifest Destiny
American Government exaggerated what the West was like.
belief that God wanted white Americans to spread across and populate the whole of America - it was their ‘right’.
Americans saw it as their ‘duty’ to spread over the whole continent and anyone opposing this was a traitor to the USA and God.
Issues Early Settlers faced
Wagon difficulties
They were slow moving, so getting places took a long time.
They were attacked by Native Americans.
The road wasn't flat, so it was super bumpy (e.g on the great plains).
There was little room in the wagon for people when Americans put their stuff in them. They would struggle to go up rocky mountains and to go through rivers.
Lack of resources
Lack of food
Lack of water
Lack of wood/other building materials
Issues in Mining Towns
Fights were a frequent occurrence
weren't any police or law enforcement so the people in the town weren’t safe, especially as the miners had weapons.
Gangs formed and Claim jumping was a frequent occurrence (when one man took over another man’s claim to land caused big problems)
Infertile land for farming
Extreme weather conditions
It took a long time to get there.