Chapter 26 the great west and the agricultural revolution answers

Western Frontier

Manifest destiny was a common belief by the democrats in America in the 19th century that stipulated that Americans had to spread across the continent. This gave them a high sense of mobility in search of unused lands.

During 1870s to 1890s, the West experienced several conditions among them being cultural clashes and economic development. The cultural clash in the west was associated with the fact that people who settled in the area had different origins hence difference in cultures. They all had the desire to ac quire land hence they always fought for the few resources that were available.

The Native Americans were about 360,000 who settled in the trans-Missouri West. However, the Indians as increasing in number threatening the existence of the Native Americans. Some communities such as the Cheyenne and Sioux involved themselves in trading and hunting. On the other hand, there were whites from other countries who were said to have been spreading cholera, typhoid, and smallpox among other diseases to the natives. Therefore, there was increased competition in terms of hunting grounds among the communities that settled in the areas for survival. In order to safeguard their cultures and resources, the Native Americans established boundaries to each tribe and set themselves in areas where they did not recognize any foreign authority (Aboukhadijeh 57). Due to their increased growth, Indians were confined in small areas being forced to surrender their lands. This resulted into a fierce war emerged between the Native Americans and the Indians as the whites failed to fulfill their promises of leaving the Indians alone in their lands.

The western frontier also experienced immense economic development in this period. The settlers involved themselves in economic activities such as farming, mining and construction.

The western frontier was simply won because the settlers had already lost the East and therefore they had to look for alternative land to settle. Americans had been notorious for mobility. They viewed land as the most profitable commodity. Hence they could do anything to have land. Therefore, the west was won through conquest. Consecutively, the western frontier failed or was lost because of the cultural clashes. For instance, in 1890, a consensus was reached where it announced the frontier as being no longer discernible in America. Most of the land was therefore set as national parks.

Works Cited

Aboukhadijeh, Feross. "Chapter 26: The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution, 1865 1896" StudyNotes.org. StudyNotes, Inc., 17 Nov. 2012. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. .

Andrea LeVasseur, Allmovie. “ How the West was Won – Synopsis". amctv.com.