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Why do people move? Slide 2 What conditions lured people to migrate to the West? Where did the western settlers come from? How did the American frontier shift westward? Slide 3 When geographers study reasons for major migrations, they look at what they call push-pull factors Push-Pull Factors-events and conditions that either force (push) people to move elsewhere or strongly attract (pull) them to do so. Slide 4 Push factors are conditions that drive people from their home lands Push factors include: War/Conflict/Violence (displacement) Famine Scarce land in home country Political or religious persecution Poverty Slide 5 Pull factors are conditions that attract people to a new country or area Pull factors include: The promise of political or religious freedom Hope for a new life Industry (i.e. the North vs. South) Jobs Land Money Slide 6 The Civil War had displaced thousands of farmers, former slaves, and other workers. Eastern farmland was too costly. Failed entrepreneurs sought a second chance in a new locations. Ethnic and religious repression caused people to seek the freedom of the west. Including former slaves Outlaws sought refuge. Slide 7 The Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864 Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862 Land speculation Homestead Act, 1862 Legally enforceable property rights Resource speculation Slide 8 Slide 9 German-speaking immigrants arrived seeking farmland. They brought the Lutheran religion with its emphasis on hard work and education. Many moved to what is now the Midwest including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, and Nebraska Slide 10 Slide 11 Lutherans from Scandinavia settled the northern plains from Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas Many pursuing dairy farming. Slide 12 Irish, Italians, European Jews, and Chinese settled in concentrated communities on the West coast They took jobs in mining and railroad construction This brought them to the American interior. Slide 13 Railroad companies began hiring Chinese men as workers The workers were punctual, willing and well-behaved Also known as Celestials because of their religious beliefs Experienced harassment from Caucasian workers Slide 14 Chinese teams were organized into groups of 20 Each group had a white foreman Each worker received $27/mo compared to $35/mo Irish workers made Irish workers received housing but Chinese workers did not Slide 15 After the Civil War, thousands of African Americans rode or walked westward, often fleeing violence and exploitation Many African-Americans sought the opportunity to own and farm their own land They also saw the west as a way to escape the discrimination and violence they experienced in the South Slide 16 Benjamin Pap Singleton led groups of southern blacks on a mass Exodus a trek inspired by the biblical account of the Israelites flight from Egypt to a prophesied homeland Hence, the settlers called themselves Exodus ters Slide 17 Born a slave in 1809 but escaped to freedom in Detroit in 1846 After the war he returned to Tennessee Even though former slaves had freedom they were still terrorized by the KKK Sharecropping essentially re-enslaved many former slaves by limiting profit Singleton decided he wanted to help former slaves escape the violence and oppression of the south so.. Slide 18 Singleton decided to lead his people to the promised land (Kansas) Like a Black Moses he encouraged people to make the exodus to Kansas for more opportunities This mirrored the story of Moses, the man who led his people (the Jews), to the promised land in the Bible In 1873 nearly 300 Blacks followed him to Cherokee County, Kansas and founded Singletons Colony Slide 19 Slide 20 Between 1870 and 1881 the organized movement of African-Americans gave way to a larger Exodus Tens of thousands of Southern Blacks fled to Kansas and other Northern states to flee oppression Many came unprepared but most who remained ultimately improved their quality of life Many also made important contributions to the state and their community Singleton, the man known as the Father of the Negro Exodus died in 1892 Slide 21 Some 50,000 or more Exodusters migrated west. Slide 22