American Expansion
This political cartoon clearly displays the ambition of Americans and the "empire" they hoped to create in the western part of the country. Uncle Sam, a historic symbol in America, is taking large strides toward the Pacific Ocean, similarly to how immigrants first arrived on the East coast. Innovations in technology and transportation made it possible for Americans to spread the entrepreneurial spirit to the West coast in search of new opportunities. (1)
This photo was recovered from the original journals of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, two of the first explorers to uncover the details of the unknown West. This drawing displays some of their first encounters with ferocious beasts in the West. People that had never gone West were completely unaware of the realities of the West and relied on Lewis and Clark's discoveries to inform them of what laid West. Soon after the famed westward expedition, Americans began flooding into western states like never before. The West, once considered an unknown terrain, was now the land of opportunity. (2)
Railroads
As pictured here, the construction of railroads in America was a major piece to the development of the nation, especially with its businesses and corporations. The expansion of America to the West had been going on long before the Industrial Revolution, but with the invention of modern-day railroads, the first big American business was born. Railroad companies flourished and dominated the country, specifically in the West where their manufacturing of railroads was the most common. (3)
This link will take you to our page on industrialization, where there is an image of steel, one of the most influential industries in the construction of railroads.
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This photograph of trackwalkers located in Pennsylvania shows the manpower and labor required to support railroads and westward transportation throughout American history. Though most considered them a necessary innovation allowing convenient transportation, others understood the dangers and expenses associated with the massive projects. (4)
While some citizens supported the growth of railroads, which in turn aided in the development of railroad companies, others disputed their creation. As shown through this anti-railroad propaganda poster, some protested them, claiming that they destroyed the natural beauty of the Earth, took over trade, and focused on prosperity rather than community. Some even claimed they were deadly and the danger involved in building them wasn't worth it. (5)
Mining
Lumber
This photo, taken at a lumber mill in Oregon in 1927, shows that mining was not the only industry in the West. Though mining was the most publicized and seemed to be the most profitable, many of the settlers worked as lumberers instead of flocking to the deep underground regions of California. People did not become miners because they thought it was an especially lucrative market, but because they hoped that if they were dedicated enough, they would eventually make enough money to improve their lives. (8)
Works Cited (Westward Expansion)
#1: Poole Brothers. "Westward the Star of Expansion Takes Its Way via the Atchison,
Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad." Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard University, www.library.hbs.edu/hc/railroads/mergers-syndicates.html. Accessed 30 Oct. 2017. Cartoon. #2: Lewis, Meriwether, and William Clark. Lewis and Clark, Original Journals. 1804-6. American Journeys, Wisconsin Historical Society, 2003, www.americanjourneys.org/aj-100b/. Accessed 14 Dec. 2017. #3: Hussey, Walter J. Group of Men with Railroad Bridge and Tunnel Construction-- Long Run. 1903. Smithsonian Collections, www.si.edu/object/nmah_1404821. Accessed 2 Jan. 2018. #4: African American Track Workers Somewhere in Pennsylvania. 1950. ExplorePA History.com, explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-384. Accessed 28 Oct. 2017. |
#5: Kelly, Kerry C. "Anti-railroad Propaganda Poster: The Growth of Regionalism,
1800 - 1860." 2016. Education Resources, New Jersey. National Archives, www.archives.gov/education/lessons/anti-rail. Accessed 24 Oct. 2017. #6: Breaker Boys, Woodward Coal Mines, Kingston, Pa. 1900. Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2016801353/. Accessed 31 Oct. 2017. #7: The shrimp-picker. Feb. 1911. Virginia Commonwealth University, socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/child-welfare child-labor/child-labor/. Accessed 18 Oct. 2017. #8: Ladd Photo of Solid-tired Moreland Logging Trucks of Biles Coleman Lumber Co. on the Moses Mountain Logging Unit. 1927. WikimediaCommons,commons. wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Ladd_photo_of_solid tired_Moreland_logging_ trucks_of_Biles_ Coleman_Lumber_Co._on_the_Moses_Mountain_logging_ unit...._-_NARA__298699.jpg. Accessed 18 Oct. 2017. |