Introduction

Central Question: What factors encouraged people to move west during the late 1800s?

In the years following the Civil War, much change occurred in the United States; African-Americans were granted new freedoms, the South experienced reconstruction, and immigration significantly increased. In the midst of these changes, the western United States experienced a tremendous boom in activity. Americans and immigrants alike moved westward to a land that seemed to offer great promise and opportunity. Mining, farming, and the prospect of land ownership lured many to fulfill the nation's Manifest Destiny of controlling the land from "sea to shining sea."

 

Following successful completion of this lesson, students will be able to:

  • Evaluate the causes for western migration during the post-Civil War period.
  • Discuss Manifest Destiny and the impact it had on the development of the United States.
  • Discuss western development in mining, cattle ranching, and the construction of the transcontinental railroad.

The above objectives correspond with the Alabama Course of Study: US History 11 Objectives: 1 & 1.1.

This lesson incorporates the following Literacy Standards: R1, R2, R9, & W4.

Photograph Citations:

Cowboy on his horse Library of Congress - John Grabill collection. Image. Discovery Education. Web. 16 January 2014. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com/>.

A Homesteading Family With Covered Wagon IRC,  2005. Image. Discovery Education. Web. 2 February 2014. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com/>.

 

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