The American West Topic Summaries

Factors encouraging westward expansion

GCSE > History > Eduqas > GCSE History: The American West (1835-1895) > Early settlement (1835–1861) > Factors encouraging westward expansion
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Key terms
Push Factors Pull Factors
  • Economic crisis (1837-1840s)
  • Bank collapses
  • Unemployment (up to 25% lost jobs)
  • Wage cuts (by 40%)
  • Overpopulation
  • Religious persecution in the east
  • Freedom
  • Independence
  • Fertile land
  • Space
  • The Oregon Trail
  • The discovery of gold
  • Early Americans believed the Great Plains were the ‘Great American Desert’ and unsuitable for farming. This belief delayed settlement but encouraged the idea of relocating Native Americans there.
  • Manifest Destiny was the belief that Americans were destined by God to expand westward and ‘civilise’ the whole continent. It combined nationalism, religious belief, and racial superiority to justify territorial expansion and the displacement of Native Americans.
  • The Oregon Trail was the only waggon route across the mountains to Oregon, California, and Utah.
    • In 1825, Jedediah Smith publicised the South Pass route, making it possible for waggons to cross the Rocky Mountains. The path was first cleared by missionary couples Narcissa and Marcus Whitman and Henry and Eliza Spalding, who travelled by waggon to convert Native Americans to Christianity.
    • In 1843, Marcus Whitman led 900 migrants along this route in what became known as the Great Migration.
    • The Transcontinental Railway (completed in 1869) made the journey much faster and safer than the four-month waggon trip.
  • The Gold Rush of 1849 drew thousands to California.
    • In 1848, news of gold discovered near the Sierra Nevada Mountains spread quickly. By 1849, thousands of migrants rushed to California seeking fortune and a new life. Some became wealthy, while others returned home after failing.
    • California’s population grew from 15,000 in 1848 to 300,000 by 1855.
    • The Gold Rush created demand for shopkeepers and tradesmen to provide essential goods and services. ◦ The US government had hoped for this type of settlement, and California became an ideal example.
    • Gold discoveries in Colorado encouraged further westward settlement in 1858, though this increased migration led to greater conflict with Plains Indians.

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