The Frontier Passes into History Americans had lived with the reality of a frontier since the first colonies at Jamestown and Plymouth in the 17th century, and that means something to them. At that time these new settlers wanted new opportunities, freedom, money and the most significant one for them is to start over. They moved west from The Atlantic Ocean side to states such as California, Oregon, Texas and other states to find their necessities. Of course, a big land like the US must fulfill their desire because it was a new place for them, every footstep west was a new land and a new frontier. They were forced to adapt to this new environment, live with different climates, and fight against the Native Americans to be independent and …show more content…
They had the passion to find new homes and work where they could experience new life. The westward expansion offered people many opportunities to find gold or silver and to become rich; In other words, they were enabled to live the American Dream as they were inspired by the belief that the destiny of the frontier was God's will. Thomas Jefferson believed that their future mostly depends on the westward expansion, and then they purchased Louisiana to double the US size. The gold rush It began on May 12, 1848, when a merchant waved a bottle of gold flakes in San Francisco and shouted “Gold! Gold! Gold! From the American River (California)”. It was heard all around the US. And in just four years, the population swelled from 14,000 to 250,000 in California. People from around the world came to extract gold willing to be rich enough. From 1850 to 1859 they extracted about 1.75 million pounds of gold, which worth today about $10 Billion. California suddenly becomes one of the major states in the US. Because of the gold, new settlers moved from other places to The Golden State to make money and work. The land