What Are The Effects Of Moving West

Imagine traveling across the country with little to no supplies, a horse-drawn buggy, and people who hate you; would you struggle? The answer is probably yes. But that’s ok because so did everyone else. With evidence gathered from the movie “The West” by Steven Ives, I will be examining the struggles great plains settlers endured while pioneering to the west, as well as, the effects these settlers had on various other ethnic and religious groups. No one thought moving west would be easy, but no one really realized how uneasy the process would actually be. Many knew of the agricultural challenges in the west but like many other things, settlers underestimated it. Upon arriving on the plains after a gut-wrenching journey many things were quite

One group affected by the westward expansion was Native Americans. As whites flooded into this “new” land there were about forty Americans to every one Native American. This became problematic because as the majority, the white population wished for control over all indigenous land. Whites worked to assimilate native tribes resulting in little space for Native Americans who refused to assimilate and a common hatred toward white people. The Native people yearned for the children to read and write but did not want their kids to be assimilated into European American culture. By the time Whites realized not all Natives would be willing to assimilate they confined them to reservations (which would later be opened to white settlement) where they lost all rights to be free. They were forced to live on rations which starved many Native Americans. They were forced to give up their religion and their language. They were forced to give up their lives all because white people wanted more

During this time African American workers were confined to the strict regimes of a captive labor system which kept them in debt and made them eternal workers. Because of this many northern and southern African Americans made the decision to move west. Like their white counterparts, many African Americans viewed the west as a representation of hope, new beginnings, and dreams. This, however, was more real for the black population. The west was a possibility to escape the prejudices and abuse they had endured for their entire lives. By the 1880s the majority of blacks had moved west. The majority were coaxed into moving west with the promise of Freeland and five-hundred dollars when they go there. This, of course, was not true but still convinced many African Americans to make the trip. The journey to the west was not just about new land for many blacks, it was also a journey filled of pride and hope. Because of this many African Americans called themselves Exodusters to display their pride and strengthen the grueling journey west.

The last major ethnic groups to be affected by the westward expansion and settlement of the whites were Mexican Americans and Chinese Americans. Both ethnic groups were told that they did not belong in the United States, and Mexican Americans were brutally forced out of cities they had lived in for centuries. Due to the constant abuse of their rights by white westward settlers