New Settlers in the West

1. Read pages 10 - 18  List three reasons why people in the United States moved west.

a.  opportunities for profit - fertile land means good agriculture and farms - farms mean communities - communities mean doctors, lawyers, and other professions 


b.  Immigrants thought the West was the symbol of American promise


c.  Social opportunity - Mormons had religious freedom - free African Americans often welcomed - women first obtained suffrage in West - others were able to put down other races

2. How did westward expansion contribute to sectional tensions in the United States?

Sectional tensions were increased due to westward expansion.  This is because of the differences between the North and South.  They had many economic differences, the main ones being that the South allowed slavery and depended on agriculture while the North relied on industry and trade and did not agree with slavery.  Both groups were looking to have legislation passed in Congress that with help their economy.  To do that, they had to have a majority of either slave states (the South) or free states (the North).  So westward expansion meant fighting over whether the new states would be slave or free.  This caused not only tension, but acts such as the Missouri Compromise, which balanced the number.  However, the Civil War would prove that the compromises were not long term solutions to soothe the tension.

3. What was the Peace Policy?


The Peace Policy was a plan set up by President Ulysses S. Grant.  This policy called for all Indians to be put on reservations and that any all Native Americans not on the land allotted by the government would be considered hostile.  Since they were "hostile", the army dealt with them.  Another part of the plan stated that religious groups would be on the reservation to teach the Indians about Christianity, English, and U.S. agriculture. Also, religious leaders would be in charge of the policy.  All of those components created the Peace Policy and its true goal was to have the Inidans stop their traditions and have American customs.