Migration and early settlement Flashcards

All 8 cards in this deck

What was Manifest Destiny?

The belief that White Americans had a God-given right to settle and populate the whole of America.

Why was the Oregon Trail, opened from 1836, important for migration West?

It gave covered wagons a practical route across the Rocky Mountains; Christian missionaries crossed this way in 1836, showing that families could make the journey.

What pull factor drew over 40,000 people across the Great Plains in 1849?

The California Gold Rush — the desire to get rich quickly after gold was discovered.

Give one consequence of the California Gold Rush (1849) for settlement in the West.

San Francisco grew from a small settlement into a city as miners arrived and settled.

What happened to the Donner Party (1846–47)?

They left the Oregon Trail for Hastings' shortcut, were trapped by blizzards in the Sierra Nevada and starved, eating the dead; only about half survived the rescues of February–April 1847.

Who led the Mormon migration of 1846–47, and when did his advance party reach the Great Salt Lake?

Brigham Young; his advance party of about 150 reached the Great Salt Lake in July 1847, and the main body of Mormons followed along the trail it had marked.

True or false? The Mormons left Illinois in 1846 because the land around them had become too crowded.

False. They left because of anti-Mormon hostility, including mob attacks, which led Brigham Young to take them out of the United States.

Give two problems that made farming the Great Plains difficult for early settlers.

Any two: very little rain or surface water; almost no trees for building houses or fences; thick, root-matted sod that broke the ploughs used in the East.