Westward Expansion

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Westward Expansion
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The Louisiana Purchase

• Land bought by Thomas Jefferson
• Doubled the size of the US
• Great deal-only 15 million
• Purchased from France in 1803

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Lewis and Clark Expedition

• Hired by Thomas Jefferson in 1804
• 4 goals for trip
• map the rivers
• make friends with native people
• open the West to trade
• find a Northwest Passage

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William Clark
Meriwether Lewis
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Sacagawea

• Lewis and Clark hired her husband and she went to
  help translate
• Shoshone Indian
• Traveled from home in North Dakota to Pacific
  Ocean
• Let people know the group was coming in peace

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Remember the Alamo!
"Remember the Alamo" became a rallying cry for
early Texans in their fight for independence from
Mexico. One of the most famous battles in history
took place at this abandoned 18th century mission.
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• In the spring of 1836, 182 Texian soldiers were
  besieged there by the Mexican army, which
  numbered close to 2,000. Among the men inside the
  mission were Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, who
  were legends in their own time. The outnumbered
  group of revolutionaries fought valiantly, but
  the Alamo finally fell 13 days after the fighting
  began.
• Mexican General Santa Anna didnt harm the women
  or children.
• Texas became a republic (a country) in 1836. In
  1846, it became part of the US.

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Santa Anna Surrenders
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Oregon Trail
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Wagons, ho!

• Group of trails west from the Missouri River to
  the Columbia River area (all of which was known
  as Oregon)
• Jumping off places where in Independence and
  Westport, MO
• People traveled in wagons, usually pulled by oxen
• People traveled on trail from 1859-1869
• About 2,000 miles long-took 4-6 months
• Steam locomotive ended need for trails

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Theres Gold in Them Thar Hills!The California
Gold Rush

• Gold discovered at Sutters Mill-a sawmill
• Sutter asked workers not to tell
• Word spread causing people from all over the
  world to rush to CA to seek their fortunes

Sutters Mill-1848
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• People got gold fever
• People arrived thinking the rivers were
  overflowing with gold-it was overflowing with
  other miners!
• The people who came brought experience as
  farmers, shopkeepers, etc.
• They stayed, started businesses, and made money
  another way
• By mid 1850s gold played out-in 1859 silver was
  discovered in Nevada and miners headed there

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A 49er

• After 1852 most surface gold was gone
• Panning for gold wasnt profitable
• Thousands of miners died on the way or in the
  diggings
• Many died of disease or drowning in the rivers!
• It was a tough life!

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San Francisco-Boom Town
San Francisco after the gold rush Population-1853
over 300,000
San Francisco before gold rush Population
-1848-15, 000
With the arrival of so many people, California
grew and prospered economically. All sorts of
businesses developed.
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New Technology

• Steamboat
• Improved ability to move goods from place to
  place on the water
• First used on Hudson River
• Robert Fulton built the Clermont-one of first
• Later traveled on Mississippi River and other
  major rivers

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Steam locomotive

• Transcontinental railroad in 1869 decreased
  travel on the western trails
• People and goods could travel more quickly
• Helped the economy!

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Telegraph

• Developed in US by Samuel Morse (Morse code??)
• First signals sent in US in 1844
• Works by sending signals over wires
• Greatly improved communication and connected
  parts of our country that hadnt been before