What Are The Impacts Of The Westward Movement?

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The devastating impacts of the Civil War included drastic population decline, diminished cities and towns, unemployment, and severe poverty. These impacts forced many people to distract themselves from their hardships by continuing to attain Manifest Destiny. The land of the West was considered as the area beyond the Mississippi River to the Californian coast. The primary motivations for Western migrants to rapidly relocate included the desire to attain natural resources, farmland, and ranch property. New transportation devices and government assistance provided various opportunities for migrants to travel West. The rapid settlement of the West from 1865 to 1895 had various beneficial consequences; however, it also severely impacted the American …show more content…

The “old west,” also known as the Southern states of America provided many dangers for most migrants traveling toward California. Southerners utilized their guns to rob and shoot many migrants who crossed their way. In addition to societal dangers, migrants also had to be precautious about natural disasters, such as, tornadoes and floods in the South and blizzards in the North. The Westward movement had an apparent negative impact upon farmers during the late nineteenth century. During this time, a large majority of farmers set westward seeking more land. This resulted in the number of farms tripling to 4 million farms in a matter of decades. This immense increase of farms had a consequent increase in produce; and from 1870 to 1900, produce production tripled. The sudden availability of food crops overwhelmed the American markets, and farmers began growing more crops than the American population could consume. This resulted in overproduction and a declination in crop prices. Although many people were not purchasing many goods, farmers still had to pay for fertilizers and shipping costs. Overproduction and declination in value of crop goods drastically affected farmers financially putting most in debt. In response, one of the various ways farmers reacted was through political organizations such as, The National Grange Organization. This organization was founded in 1867 and was used by farmers as a political weapon to fight for their financial protection. One of the organization’s most successful endeavors was helping to create the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1887. The governmental agency helped to regulate railroads and their costs. This helped farmers to regain their financial ground because they no longer had to pay high costs for crop transport. In addition to political organizations, farmers reacted by developing cartels. Cartels allowed producers to limit the amount of production of a certain

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