Westward Expansion Research Paper
Westward Expansion Research Paper
Westward Expansion From 1860 to 1890
This paper is a “think piece,” which is an essay that requires you to interact with a subject and develop your own interpretation based on that experience. After your initial analysis of a specific topic, you should synthesize that with other outside research to support your ideas. You should use a minimum of two other scholarly, peer-reviewed resources.Westward Expansion Research Paper
Specifically for this paper we will use an interactive map of westward expansion from 1860 to 1890. You can access it at this URL:
https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/akh10.socst.ush.now.westexpans/westward-expansion-18601890/#.Wcs4r9Fx3IU
Once you have the map open (click “launch”), click on the boxes for Major Cities, Railroad Networks, Improved Agricultural Land, and States and Territories. At the bottom of the map, you will notice the decades 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1890. Click on each of these decades in succession and you will see the ways in which the country changed. Map Analysis of Westward Expansion From 1860 to 1890 Sample Essay
TASK
The goal of this assignment is for you to interpret, synthesize, and analyze what you are seeing on the map. You will make a well-organized argument, support that through research, and then write a conclusion for your findings.
The Territorial Occupation Effects on Agriculture and Rail Network
Introduction
The westward expansion of 1860-1890 remains one of the most remarkable periods of the united states transformation more specifically on the rail and agricultural sectors. As such, most of the western states with the exception of California and Oregon were under the territorial government with each territory exercising its independence including the major sectors such as agriculture and rail development. Furthermore, the three states of Oklahoma and parts of North and south Dakota comprised of the unorganized territories by 1860. Its evidence that the states under the territorial rule as well as the unorganized states had little or no activities of agriculture by 1860. Moreover, the rail network was only connected to the Eastern states and some Northern counterparts where the early influence of western settlers had already taken place, with intensive agricultural activities and a well-established rail network. This essay will focus on the territorial occupation effects on agriculture and rail network between 1860 and 1890.
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The Territorial Occupation Overview
By 1860, most of the Western states were under the territorial government rule which formed a total of 14 states that would later join the Union. As such, there was a common observation that the regions under the territorial rule recorded minimal activities in terms of agriculture, as well as railroad network (McNally, 2004). This can be attributed to the much control of the authorities whom most of the decisions emanated from them and also due to the delay in the formation/Joining of the Union which had an organized funding of both agricultural activities as well as railroad expansion to the West (Morser, 2009). As such, these regions were left far much behind even in terms of development as territorial governments continued their independent control as the rest of the states realized growth in terms of agriculture, rail network, population density and emergency and development of major cities (Hall, 2017).Westward Expansion Research Paper
The Territorial Occupation Effects on Agriculture and Rail Network
The period between 1860 and 1890 saw a remarkable growth and development in the US, mainly due to the intensified agriculture which also contributed a lot in the expansion of the rail network to facilitate the transportation of the farm produce from the interior regions (Fisher, 2018). As such, the states which had intensified agricultural activities at the same time realized the need and development of rail road. The Eastern states which comprised most of the confederation states were the first beneficiary of these two elements (Agriculture and rail expansion) as they were strategically positioned with the trading coastal route that was largely used to export the produce to Europe and the far east. This was also as a result of the confederation unity and closer to the coastal line, which was different from the territorial states which operated independently and most of them were interior. To facilitate the transport to the coastline, there was increased need for the rail network, a fact which saw a major project led by the Chinese constructors under the congressional support expand the rail from the far East through the Western territories all the way to the West side California where it had reached San Francisco by 1870 (Hall, 2017). Although the rail passed across the independent territories to the West, no much activities in terms of agriculture would be realized except by 1870 in the territories of Utah and Kansas. The other independent territories hardly got the chance for the rail network.
As the time went by, more territories joined the Union and by 1880, the territories of Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska were admitted to the Union and this saw expansion in agriculture and rail network to the three states compared to what they were before their admission, and in comparison with the rest of the territories (Hall, 2017). By 1890, nearly all the territories had joined the Union and hardly any territory or state did not have a rail network. The agricultural activities would also intensify to the West with states of Oregon and Nevada recording significant growth in agricultural activities. By 1890, the territories of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico were yet to be admitted to the union, A fact which also coincided with minimal agricultural activities as well as decreased rail network (Morser, 2009). Oklahoma remained an organized territory, a fact that saw its minimal development in terms of agriculture and rail network.
The Unionism played a great role in the development of the railroad network as well as the coordination of agriculture between 1860-1890 (Fisher, 2018). The territories which were late in the admission to the union also saw a delayed development in these two sectors. It can be evidenced that the territorial occupation delayed the agricultural activities and also influenced a lot in the rail expansion which was mostly determined by the agricultural activities, as well as the emergency of the small industries which relied on the agricultural-related raw materials such as wheat and cotton (Cochrane, 1993).Westward Expansion Research Paper
Conclusion
The territorial occupation during the period between 1860 and 1890 had much contribution on the agriculture and rail network expansion to the West. The states who were late to join the union mostly came from the west side of the US and the effects of the intensified agriculture in the South and east parts took a bit longer to reach the territories in the west. Independence, the late joining of the union, the civil war as well as geographical position are some of the major factors that contributed to the delayed agriculture and rail development to the western territories from 1860-1890.
References
Cochrane, W. W. (1993). The development of American agriculture: A historical analysis.
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Fred A. Shannon, The farmer’s last frontier: agriculture, 1860–1897 (1945)
Fisher, C. (2018). Towards a dialogue of sustainable agriculture and end-times theology in the
united states: Insights from the historical ecology of nineteenth century millennial communes. Agriculture and Human Values, 35(4), 791-807.
Hall, G. (2017). The filth of progress: Immigrants, Americans, and the building of canals and
railroads in the west. Labour, (80), 331-333.
McNally, C. A. (2004). Sichuan: Driving capitalist development westward. The China Quarterly,
(178), 426-447. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0305741004000244
Morser, E. J. (2009). Hinterland dreams and midwestern rails: Public power and railroading in
nineteenth-century la crosse, Wisconsin. Enterprise & Society, 10(2), 376-410.Westward Expansion Research Paper
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