Expansion of the United States

Two of the most significant environmental/geographic factors contributing to the expansion of the United States were the Gold Rush of 1849 and the Dust Bowl. The Gold rush created a frenzy of migration to California, specifically to the area around San Francisco. Men came first, single and married, but soon the women and children came so the family would be together.

San Francisco had been a fairly quiet port city, but gold changed all that. People wanted riches and many found it, but many didn't. Some people came because they knew that with all the people migrating there, the city would need merchants, lawyers, doctors, etc., and so they came to fill those needs. The progress of San Francisco moved forward fast due to the rush, but continued because business in other areas thrived.

The Midwest was a terrible place to live in during the time of what is known as The Dust Bowl. Pioneers, during the 19th century, traveled down to lower states of the Midwest searching for the best land to farm and when they reached this area they knew that they had found it. Grasses so high you could barely see over it. The ground was fertile and just waiting to be farmed, so they thought.

The farmers of the Midwest started plowing their land and planting their crops and year after year, the land produced a bounty. They did this until the land was tired and then the drought started and the bountiful crops stopped. The dirt had nothing holding it down and the winds just picked it up and carried it away. The farmers, after a few years, couldn't make ends meet so they packed up their belongings and moved west to find land that they could farm. They found this land in the Pacific Coast States, but most had to farm on other peoples farms because they had no money to buy their own.

Both of these events caused a mass migration to other areas of the country and populations rose in these new areas. If these events would not have occurred the migration west would have been slower and possibly the population would not be what it is today. People moved there, possibly not to stay, but circumstances created an opportunity to stay.