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Westward Migration

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Westward Migration

The story of the westward movement of population in the United States is, in the

main, the story of the expansion of American agriculture

—

of the development of new

areas

for

the

raising

of

livestock

and

the

cultivation

of

wheat,

corn,

tobacco,

and

cotton. After 1815 improved transportation enabled more and more western farmers to

escape

a

self-sufficient

way

of

life

and

enter

a

national

market

economy.

During

periods when commodity prices were high, the rate of westward migration increased

spectacularly.

America

seemed

to

be

breaking

up

and

moving

westward,

observed

an

English

visitor

in

1817,during

the

first

great

wave

of

migration.

Emigration to the West reached a peak in the 1830's. Whereas in 1810 only a seventh

of the American people lived west of the Appalachian Mountains, by 1840 more than

a third lived there.

Why were these hundreds of thousands of settlers

—

most of them farmers, some

of

them

artisans

—

drawn

away

from

the

cleared

fields

and

established

cities

and

villages of the East? Certain characteristics of American society help to explain this

remarkable migration. The European ancestors of some Americans had for centuries

lived

rooted

to

the

same

village

or

piece

of

land

until

some

religious,

political,

or

economic

crisis

uprooted

them

and

drove

them

across

the

Atlantic.

Many

of

those

who experienced this sharp break thereafter lacked the ties that had bound them and

their ancestors to a single place. Moreover, European society was relatively stratified;

occupation and social status were inherited. In American society, however, the class

structure was less rigid; some people changed occupations easily and believed it was

their duty to improve their social and economic position. As a result, many Americans

were an inveterately restless, rootless, and ambitious people. Therefore, these social

traits helped to produce the nomadic and daring settlers who kept pushing westward

beyond

the

fringes

of

settlement.

In

addition,

there

were

other

immigrants

who

migrated west in search of new homes, material success, and better lives.

The West had plenty of attractions: the alluvial river bottoms, the fecund soils of

the rolling forest lands, the black loams of the prairies were tempting to New England

farmers working their rocky, sterile land and to southeastern farmers plagued with soil

depletion and erosion. In 1820 under a new land law, a farm could be bought for $$100.

The continued proliferation of banks made it easier for those without cash to negotiate

loans in paper money. Western Farmers borrowed with the confident expectation that

the expanding

economy

would keep farm prices

high, thus

making

it easy

to repay

loans when they fell due.

Transportation was

becoming less of a problem for those who wished to move

west and for those who hand farm surpluses to send to market. Prior to 1815, western

farmers who did not live on navigable waterways were connected to them only by dirt

roads

and

mountain

trails.

Livestock

could

be

driven

across

the

mountains,

but

the

cost of transporting bulky grains in this fashion was several times greater than their

value

in

eastern

markets.

The

first

step

toward

an

improvement

of

western

transportation

was

the

construction

of

turnpikes.

These

roads

made

possible

a

reduction

in

transportation

costs

and

thus

stimulated

the

commercialization

of

agriculture along their routes.

Two other developments presaged the end of the era of turnpikes and started a

transportation

revolution

that

resulted

in

increased

regional

specialization

and

the

growth

of

a

national

market

economy.

First

came

the

steamboat;

although

flatboats

and

keelboats

continued

to

be

important

until

the

1850’s

steamboats

event

ually

superseded all other craft in the carrying of passengers and freight. Steamboats were

not only faster but also transported upriver freight for about one tenth of what it had

previously cost on hand- propelled keelboats. Next came the Erie Canal, an enormous

project in its day, spanning about 350 miles. After the canal went into operation, the

cost per mile of transporting a ton of freight from Buffalo to New York City declined

from nearly 20 cents to less than 1 cent. Eventually, the western states diverted much

of their produce from the rivers to the Erie Canal, a shorter route to eastern markets.

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译文：移居西部