The earliest people who lived in America before the white men settled in America were known as the American Indians or the Native Americas. They had migrated from Asia and some of them had come from china and being plain Indians, they intermarried with the natives and gave rise to American Indians. Europeans migrated in to America and even though there were some negative implications of immigration, they introduced technology since they came with things like knives, copper, brass and swords to name just a few. Since Indians were normally nomads and used to own buffalos, Europeans occupied the lands and as a result, the conflict led to the Indian wars (AP United States History). There is a lot concerning the American history that has been written but this essay shall narrow down to the history of west America in the late nineteenth century.
Various acts were established mainly to help the Europeans achieve their objective of acquiring land which was mainly used for farming by American Indians. During the first years of prairie, life was characterized by prairie fires, heavy blizzards and cross hop invasions. As years progressed, major conflicts emerged between American and other states leading to more wars. For instance, the Mexican American War which resulted from a boarder dispute is one such conflict and came to an end in the year 1847 after the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Although the war was the smallest, it was more deadly since some American soldiers succumbed to bullet wound as well as to diseases (AP United States History).
Although major economic activities were nomadic and farming, Gold which was discovered in the year 1948 at California introduced mining industry in America. Gold continued to be a measure of value in America until towards the end of the century when it was slowly replaced by silver in the pro silver movement (Thies, 2005). Gold rush did not only bring economic recovery, but there were some disadvantages of the same. It also resulted to industrialization and urbanization. Consequently, some evils like prostitution grew rapidly in such towns. Due to the increased demand of labor, slave trade increased greatly in the 19th century which led to the American Civil war. The main aim of the civil wars was to question and eliminate slave trade in the territories. Although the second half of the 19th century was characterized by civil wars, there were still some major achievements like the construction of the Trans continental rail road which increased the rate of immigration in America like the European immigration. Life was not all pleasant in the Western America especially after the civil wars. Due to the destruction of property, the veterans of the civil war had the only option of becoming a cow boy. Cow boys were people who were employed for the main purpose of taking care of the animals and the little money they got was spent on prostitution, gambling, and food. During the same period, Wild West show began in the year 1833 and continued for the next thirty years. Scouting also became popular and characters like Buffalo Bill who was a famous fighter and scout also emerged.
American Industrial revolution, civil wars, and westward expansion were the major forces that defined west America during the last half of the eighteenth century. The three forces had great effects in the country. For instance, the Spanish American war which occurred during the era of imperialism was just one factor that led to the expansion of America. Industrialization created a demand for labor leading to immigration and this led to creation of trade and labor unions. Further, industrialization also contributed to women rights movement since all along women had fewer legal rights compared to men (Railroad Expansion, 1998). Towards, the end of the century, major changes had taken place because for instance, women were first allowed to vote in 1890. Nonetheless, some major changes continued to take place in the 20th century.
References
AP United States History. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2010, from http://www.kirkwood.k12.mo.us/parent_student/KHS/plattes/topics14-16/topics14-16.html
Railroad Expansion. (1998). Retrieved September 28, 2010, from http://history.howstuffworks.com/american-history/railroad-expansion.htm
Thies, C. F. (2005). Agitation, Gold Bonds and Silver. Retrieved September 28, 2010, from http://mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae8_4_5.pdf
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