Manifest Destiny: The Dangers Of The Oregon Trail

The largest single construction project ever undertaken within the country left approximately eighty thousand people dead, weighing in as the fifth deadliest construction project in the world. The Transcontinental Railroad shortened the distance traveled from the east coast to the west coast from months in a horse drawn wagon to only eight days by train. On July 1,1862 President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the Pacific Railroad Act.

Many Native American tribes, including the Sioux, had been hunting and living off of the land long before the white man had arrived. Through the years, these tribes had claimed ownership over the land and were enraged when the settlers began to invade and demolish their land, killing their main source of food and clothing, the buffalo. To make matters worse, President Andrew Jackson enacted the Indian Removal Act which authorized the forcing of these tribes onto reservations in Oklahoma and elsewhere. But, some tribes, the Sioux in particular, fiercely resisted. Hostilities between the Native Americans and the white man were now more apparent than ever. Raids carried out by both sides took place often. These raids resulted in the destruction and burning of housing and supplies and often led to a loss of numerouos lives. These happenings occurred around the same time that Jules Verne’s novel, Around The World In 80 Days, took place. An excellent example within the novel that correctly portrays the Native American’s hostility towards the people that they see as invaders takes place while the group is traveling by rail to Omaha.” They then perceived that the train was attacked by a band of Sioux. This was not the first attempt of these daring Indians, for more than once they had waylaid trains on the road.” The white man treated the Indians very poorly taking their land and their main food source. In result, the Indians fought back, and when they did so, the whites did too with just as much force. This controversy’s source was the very same railroad that impacted the West in many beneficial ways. There are always negatives and positives when a transformation occurs. The westward expansion of the transcontinental railroad is a prime example. It has impacted the land in multiple ways, and helped to form the thriving economy that makes up the area

The reason why I am for the movement to the West in the 1850’s and 1860’s is because moving to the West changed a lot of people’s lives for the better. Samuel Thurston had a so what part in this movement. Samuel wanted to make a big change so he moved to Oregon and then later on he wanted Congress to give away land to that people would settle the West. Then the Donation Land Claim was passed which gave settlers up to six hundred forty acers of land for free. When the Donation Land Claim was passed he wrote an article outlining many exciting reasons to move West and he even provided directions for how to get there. Moving to Oregon was one of the famous trails for the pioneers. The reason why people moved out of the East and towards the West

Approximately 20,000 people died while traveling on the Oregon Trail, this fact alone is nearly enough to support the idea that American western expansion, due to the manifest destiny, was not justified. However, some other reasons why America was not justified in its expansion were that the settlers treated the natives harshly and inhumanely for no discernible reasoning, also the traveling was too much of a gamble, and finally that modern-day America is against imperialistic expansion.

Traveling hundreds of thousands of miles through dangerous paths American pioneers took on hardships as they sought westward in hopes of a better life. The journey westward began in the early 1800s when the US exploded with new territory’s nearly tripling the US’s size. It all started in 1803 when the US bought the Louisiana Territory from France. Quickly, many farmers picked up their belongings and headed out west to the rich, fertile land for a fresh start. Next, Andrew Jackson invaded Florida claiming it for the US which was also another opportunity for settlers to begin a new life. The last major territory the US gained was the Pioneer Paradise, Oregon County. Many people of all different backgrounds headed there for all different reason

The establishment and growth of the railroad had many influences on the Westward Expansion of America in the later half of the 1800’s. The railroad fueled the conflict with the Native Americans of the Plains, induced growth in population and economy in previously established urban areas, and lastly expanded the lands that were used for agriculture. The railroad affected various aspects of America’s West and the Great Plains.

In the mid 18th century settlers moved to the west. Their move brought them more opportunities and a better lifestyle on the frontier. Such as the transcontinental Railroad. The railroad was spread out all over the U.S. in order to build this railroad they had to clear all of the buffalo out of the way of the path, so the white people started to kill the buffalo. Without the buffalo the indians would die.

As the traffic on the oregon trail increased a bustling it was good for the trading posts on the way and it was a good way to get supply like food and equipment for the five-month journey.Only of an estimated of emigrants 80,000 of 400,000 that took the oregon trail that ended their journey in oregon’s Willamette Valley.The oregon trail took some people to the california trail.About half settled in oregon and the other hail moved more south california.they proved that the journey could be

One challenge people would face during the California Gold Rush was the travel to get there. On land, traveling to California is about 2,000 miles and 123 days if you’re coming from missouri(The California Gold Rush, paragraph 1). In some years only half the people who were traveling to the gold rush would actually live all the way there. Traveling isn’t as easy as it looks and you have to bring all your supplies with you and it would be impossible to make it up a hill with too much weight from supplies. The trails weren’t the easiest to travel through either. A lot of people would travel by sea which was about 17,000 miles and a four to nine month journey depending on weather. The trip was in both hot where you would broil it was so hot and so cold you

During the late 1800’s, many settlers were expanding to the West and the Transcontinental Railroad helped them move from the East to the West. Some wanted to gain 160 free acres of land known as the Homestead Act. The Transcontinental Railroad connected the East and the West. The Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad were the companies that built the Transcontinental Railroad; however, the companies were run by greedy men and felt no guilt as they asked the government to pass special bills for them. The railroad cut through many lands and affected the Native Americans in a perilously way. Furthermore, many resources, such as buffalo were slaughtered and were almost made extinct, and Native Americans lost their land to American settlers, as well as these resources.Therefore, the Transcontinental

Technology may not seem like it made a huge impact on Western Expansion, but it in fact did. Without the creation and development of railroads, canals and bridges, expansion would have progressed a lot slower and not nearly as efficiently. Railroads allowed farmers to trade crops into the valley and passed the Appalachian’s which were previously off limits due to distance and terrain. Canals are water pathways connecting two bodies of water through a large piece of land. They allowed trade ships to have a shortcut for easier travel on trade voyages. Bridges did the exact opposite of canals, allowing land travel over two bodies of water. This gave traders the opportunity to cross over lakes and large bodies of water, instead of taking the extra

The building of roads, canals and railroads played a large role in the United States during the 1800s. They served the purpose of connecting towns and settlements so that goods could be transported quickly and more efficiently. These goods could be transported fast, cheap and in safe way through the Erie Canal that was built to connect the Great Lakes to New York. Railroads were important during Civil War as well, because it helped in the transportation of goods, supplies and weapons when necessary. These new forms of transportation shaped the United States into the place that it is today.

The emigrants on the trail looked for a new life in America. Some emigrants went looking for religious freedom, others went for land and power. They were not prepared for the dangers and difficulties that the trail presented. The emigrants on the oregon trail faced the most difficulty trying to survive and thrive in the west because of disease, accidents, and weather.

Native Americans experienced a dramatic change in the 1830s. Nearly 125,000 Native Americans who lived on inherited land from ancestors of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida were all cast out by the end of the decade. The federal government forced the natives to leave because white settlers wanted an area to grow their cotton. Andrew Jackson (President of the U.S. during this time) signed into law, the Indian Removal Act, authorizing him to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi River in return for native lands within state borders. As a result of Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act during the years of 1838 and 1839, the Cherokee nation was enforced to give up land east of the Mississippi River

The Donner Party shows the next generation of Americans that cutting corners never leads to beneficial outcomes. The Donner Party wanted a shorter route to where they were going and thought it would be a lot easier, but it turned out many of them died and even had to end up eating each other's corps because they were lost, stuck and starving. If they would've took the the long way, those things would've never happened.