Westward Expansion Essay

Accompanying the turn into the 19th century was a significant need for expansion across the North American continent. Some of the largest migrations in U.S history spanned the period starting in the early 1800s and ending with the eventual closure of the American frontier in the early 1890s (National Geographic). There are a variety of reasons why people expanded westward, however the most influential and impactful ones to people of the time were: starting a new life and finding a home, acquiring wealth quickly, and because of the influence of beliefs such as Manifest Destiny.

One of the major and most common reasons for why people expanded westward was to start a new life and find a home. In the 1830s and ‘40s unemployment and spurts of illness

Increasing immigration rates put pressure on cities and little land was available in the East for these new settlers. Dissatisfaction with the enlarging urban population led many Americans to move West” (University of North Texas). Among the opportunities for discovering a new place to live was the idea of traveling on The Oregon Trail. The Oregon Trail was about 2000 miles long, from Missouri to Oregon County, and led thousands of people from their former homes to a place where they could start their new lives (Postlethwait). On the Oregon Trail, some people chose to travel with only one wagon which would have carried themselves, their family, and some of their belongings while others chose to move in large groups alongside many other people and wagons. One of the greatest examples of a major wagon migration occurring on the trail took place in the spring of 1843. According to Gibson, “Every time people heard of someone who had successfully made the trek over the Oregon Trail, it ignited the dreams of others looking for land and opportunities. Americans had caught "Oregon fever." Nearly 1,000 people gathered at Independence, Missouri, in the spring of 1843 to travel

During the winter of 1848 in California a significant discovery was made. Real gold was located at Sutter’s Mill. Word spread quickly across the American continent and thousands of people began their journey to California in search of riches. "The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill on January 24, 1848 unleashed the largest migration in United States history and drew people from a dozen countries to form a multi-ethnic society on America's fringe. The promise of wealth forever altered the life expectations of the hundreds of thousands of people who flooded California in 1849 and the decade that followed" (PBS). Alongside the massive influx of people entering the region of California was a massive increase in infrastructure to aid with the housing of the people and economic growth. This allowed California to become a state very quickly after it was ceded by Mexico (Norwich University Online). Another way some people attempted to accumulate wealth was by cattle ranching. Many saw the vast amount of cattle roaming around the frontier as an opportunity to make a profit. So people, named “cowboys,” rounded up the cattle and herded them over to railroad terminals. Rice University stated that, “Between 1865 and 1885, as many as forty thousand cowboys roamed the Great Plains, hoping to work for local ranchers.” With the amount of people rushing towards California in search of gold and cowboys