
The
Westward Movement

Follow
the expanding American nation as it explores, then settles
the West.
Africans
in America: Westward
Expansion
As Americans moved west, the slavery problem followed them.
This PBS site does a good job of putting it all in
perspective.
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone is one of America's most famous explorers. He is perhaps more well-known for fictional accounts of his life and actions than for things that he actually did. Still, his accomplishments were significant.
The Cumberland Gap The Cumberland Gap was a main point of travel through the Appalachian Mountains for a great many American settlers heading west in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries.
The Wilderness Road The Wilderness Road was a major route of travel for American settlers heading west for several decades in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries.
The Cumberland (National) Road As the United States expanded in the early 19th Century by moving west, settlers found the need to build roads to help facilitate travel of more and more people. One of the first well-known federal roads was the Cumberland Road, also known as the National Road. In fact, it was the country's first federal highway, early in the century termed the "Main Street of America."
The Erie Canal The Erie Canal was one of America's most famous waterways.
The
Canal Age
Find out more about the Erie Canal and other water
transportation routes around 19th Century America.
Prairie
Schooners
Find out just how these huge wagons were able to travel such
long distances while carrying so much.
The California Gold Rush
The discovery of gold in California in the mid-19th Century ushered in one of the largest migrations in American history, as tens of thousands of hopeful, excited, and just plain desperate participated in the California Gold Rush.
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The
Kansas-Nebraska
Act
Learn more about this famous land act that really didn't
solve the problem of slavery at all.
Westward
Expansion
Great site gives you a good overview of the movement
West.
The
Homestead Act of
1862
An explanation of the importance of the famous land act.
Includes text of the act.
Black
History: Missouri
Compromise
See how this famous Congressional act affected not only
white people but also black people.
Mountain
Men: Pathfinders of the
West
Read about the men who carved out paths to the newly
discovered western territory.
Jim
Bridger: Mountain
Man
Read more about this famous explorer and trapper.
">"Kit"
Carson
Find out more about this famous explorer, trapper, and
Western legend.
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