U.S History Post Civil War to Present Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

U.S History Post Civil War to Present - Essay Example Westward migration in America began when the first English colonists came to America seeking land for settlement and freedom of religion and social life. In Maryland and Virginia colonists began the process of migration when they moved to the interior of America in search for new land for tobacco cultivation. Although New England colonies also moved west in search for agricultural land, they also wanted to escape the strict religion of the Orthodox Church that was led by puritans. In Pennsylvania and New York migration and settlement patterns were different. Migration from southern parts of America to the west was due to long and violent Indian wars that ended in 1718. Keywords: Populous, Rich, West, East Coast, Agriculture, Mining, Railroad, World Wars, Pioneers, Frontiers, Colonists, Orthodox, Puritans, Religion Introduction The move by people in the United States from cities on the East Coast to the west was motivated by a number of factors. These factors include agriculture, mini ng, railroad, the World Wars and religion. The construction of railroads, discovery of gold in the southwest, agriculture and facilitation of transport for goods from the industrial centers to markets in the west through the railroad were the main factors that led to movement of people from the east coast to the west. By the end of the nineteenth century, Los Angeles and San Francisco located in the west began to grow as cities. However, almost half of the population lived on farms. The move by pioneers to the west was in three great waves. The first pioneers crossed the Appalachian Mountains and settled in the river valleys of Mississippi and Ohio between the 1770s and early 1880s. The second wave took place from the 1840s to the 1860s when pioneers moved from the East Coast to the West Coast settling in Oregon and California. The last movement to the west was in the 1860s when pioneers settled in the Great Plains. These movements ended in 1890 when the government of the United Sta tes decided that there were no more frontiers to be settled. Agriculture In early 1618, the head right system gave fifty acres of land to new immigrants in Maryland and Virginia provided that they cultivated tobacco. Sponsors who paid for passage of emigrants also got a share of the land; emigrants were required to help in cultivation and management of the vast tobacco farms. With time wealthy planters got to own the largest portions of the land forcing smaller farmers to move west in pursuit of land. In 1790, the United States had a population of approximately four million people. Farmers made up the largest population of the labor force. By 1850, the population had grown to over twenty three million people; farmers who had previously made up the largest population of the labor force had decreased. Original colonies had pushed away agriculture to the west and on the Great Plains. There was ample land in the west for agriculture and rearing of livestock. The quick growth of the farm equipment industry brought more land under cultivation fueling the demand for farming in the west. In the late 1870s and 1880s there was a huge demand for beef, all Native American reservations created a boom in the cattle industry. More ranchers focused on the prairies in the west where they grazed their cattle, cowboys who were mostly blacks were