3. TO CROSS THE COUNTRY…
What affected the settlement of the
west?
Physical Obstacles:
Mountains
Plains (“The Great American Desert”)
Weather Conditions
Rivers
4. THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD
How did the railroad affect Americans?
It Became Faster, Easier, and Cheaper to
Travel Across the US
Farmers Could Now Trade in More Markets
How did the railroad affect the environment?
Cities Created→ Factories Built → Air and Water
Pollution
6. WITH THE HELP OF IMMIGRANTS…
How did immigrants impact westward
expansion?
Transcontinental Railroad
Chinese Helped Build the Central Pacific
They Faced Discrimination Because of Their Culture
Paid Less Money
Treated Poorly
7. WITH THE HELP OF IMMIGRANTS…
How did immigrants impact westward
expansion?
Life on the Plains
European Immigrants Settled on the Great Plains
They Brought New Techniques for Farming and New Seed
Varieties
Many Would Settle with Others from the Same Country and
Help One Another
8. MEANWHILE, THOSE MINERS…
What was up with miners?
While looking for gold, there was A LOT of
competition… Everyone wanted to strike it rich!
Because of this, mining companies and miners
would get into conflict over who claimed the richest
gold sites.
9. NATIVE AMERICANS AND WESTWARD EXPANSION
How did Westward Expansion affect
Native Americans?
Forced to Leave Their Homelands
Moved on to Reservations – a US Government Decision
Many of The Farms on the Reservations Failed Because This
New Way of Life was Against Their Beliefs and Traditions
European Immigrants Settled on the Great Plains
They Brought New Techniques for Farming and New Seed
Varieties
10. NATIVE AMERICANS AND WESTWARD EXPANSION
How did Westward Expansion affect
Native Americans?
Native American Children and Schools
Many Reformers (people who worked to change laws)
Wanted Native American Children to Learn to be Like
White Children
11. This is the Battle of
Little Bighorn, or
“Custer’s Last
Stand.”
This was the last
major victory for
Native Americans in
the Plains Wars.
After this battle, people feared what Native
Americans could do, which allowed the
government to enforce strict laws on the
Native Americans.
12. The bison (buffalo) were a problem for the
railroad, so they hired riflemen to kill them so
the trains and the tracks wouldn’t be slowed
down or destroyed.
13. CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
1. Do you think the actions taken against the
Native Americans by our government during
Westward Expansion was appropriate?
2. Do you think the Asian immigrants who
worked to complete the transcontinental
railroad were treated fairly by the railroad
companies and the United States
government?
14. CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
3. Using a map, can you identify three of the
different obstacles that pioneers faced as
they traveled West and explain why they
were an obstacle?