Wednesday, November 12, 2008

to the west we go

Towards the end of the civil war people started to move west. This was a long hard trip. They had many obstacles that they had to overcome. Some of the obstacles were weather, lack of water, lack of food, and mountains. There were many mountain ranges that they had to cross or go around. Most families chose to go around because it was safer.
There were many reasons people moved west. One of the reasons was money. This included land acts such as the Homestead Act and Merrill land grant act. Agribusiness was another big role in moving west. They would irrigate the hot dry land, they also made technical improvements. Gold and silver also played a big part. There were many gold rushes in the west. Some of them were in California, Colorado, and Alaska. But very few of them actually produced a good amount of useable gold.
Religion was another reason that people moved west. Most people that moved west were either Methodist or Mormons. The ones that were Methodist usually went to Oregon. The Mormons had other things that determined them. Mormons practiced prosecution in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. Mormons also liked to practice polygamy. (How they had more then one wife I will never know).
The biggest reason they moved west though was for personal and political freedoms. In the west women and African Americans got more freedom then in the east. African Americans didn’t get freedoms in all states in the west though. Some states that gave African Americans rights were Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and Colorado.
If you were to ask me I would say that I think people moved west were pretty smart. They got a lot more rights. And they had better opportunities for money. And better religious opportunities.

9 comments:

Ana-Alicia said...

I liked your blog. It had details but i think it should have had a little more though, but it was still good. I liked how you included that the women and african americans had more rights in the west than in the east, i did not know that. Good job. :]

Lizz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lizz said...

This blog was decently imformative for me. I enjoyed how you added in particular states that were of importance to the migrators that moved west with their religions they wanted to expand. I agree on the fact that you couldn't understand how the Mormons could perform polygamy it seems totally weird to me because I don't understand how they would do it either. I also liked how you explained more of the things that the migrators were lacting on their journey and the troubles they faced.

Claire said...

Thanks to your blog I could definitely see why people wanted to move western. I didn't know a thing about women and African Americans having more freedom out west; that's cool. While your blog gave a lot of details, I think you could've expanded upon it. What were those rights given to African Americans in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and Colorado? I would've liked to know those. Other than that, it was a good amount of information.

lovebirdz said...

nice going, shelby! its a good blog. i like how you explain the reasons for peeople to move west. i didn't know that the blacks were still prejudiced in some states in the west that they couldn't be guaranteed their freedoms. I thought the blacks were able to live in any states in the west but i stand corrected. Thus, its a good blog.

jordan! said...

I think that the people that moved west for religious purposes had good intentions for themselves and their families. Even though it may have been hard to, they still decided to take the long trip west for their beliefs. The people that moved there for money also had good intentions as well, but I don't think they were necessarily smarter. There were so many downsides to moving west for money, I don't know if it was worth it. I liked how your blog gave specific reasoning for westward movement. Good job. :)

Kyle McEvoy said...

Hey, Shelby! Nice job! I liked your blog. It was real interesting and detail-oriented. I like how you organize your thoughts. Your essay seem to be well planned and organized. I liked how you added women and african americans with the issues in the West. Nice job! Keep it up!

Hush student said...

This was a very good blog about the reasons why people moved to the west. I wish you would have mentioned why the Methodists went to the west in more detail. I learned the Homestead Act caused many people to migrate to the west. But I believe the Homestead Act was not completely fair, even though it granted land. It provided a lot of the land in the arid areas of the Rocky Mountains. A good lesson that I have learned from this historical event is, to be careful what deals you accept.

firishta said...

i liked you blog alot
i think it should had alittle more details to explain the western migration alittle bertter but it was still good. i alos liked how you listed the problems that migrators had during their journey