Exploring the Frontier

The first colonists who came to the British colonies from Europe settled east of the Appalachian Mountions. The Proclamation of 1763 was the proclamation that made it illegal for colonists to settle on American Indian land west of the Appalachian Mountions. Yet this didn't stop people from trying to cross the mountains.

Daniel Boone

Daniel Boone was a hunter and a pioneer. A pioneer is one of the first of a group of people to enter a region. In 1769, Boone and several other men followed an Indian Trail through a passage in the Appalachian in Virginia. The trail was named the Cumberland Gap.

<---- What Boone may have looked like

Boone helped clear a new road through the Cumberland Gap. This new route was called the Wilderness Road. The road ran two hundred miles west. Daniel helped families, including his own, across the Appalachians using the Wilderness Road. Settlers started towns in present day Kentucky.

Life on the Frontier

In the late 1700s, thousands had crossed the Appalachians. The people were in search of good, inexpensive farmland and new opportunities. The settlers moved into a region known as the frontier. A frontier is an edge of a country or region. This frontier had already been settled by American Indians. Shawnee, Choctaw, and Cheroee, and other American Indian nations were built on their land. The Indians and the settlers fought. They also learned how to share ideas and customs from one another.

Wagons

Many families used large wagons full of food and supplies to travel west. There was often no room for people to ride in the wagons. The roads they traveled was rocky, dirt paths, and no bridges over the river. Wagons often broke apart and had to be repaired.

Flatboats

Floating in rivers were often easier than traveling on the poor roads. The most traveled river was the Ohio River. Families, supplies, and animals floated down the river in the flatboats. A flatboat is a large, rectangular boat that was partially covered by a roof. Settlers used flatboats to travel on canals or waterways.

Making a Home

Pioneers cut down trees to make homes and grew corn and other grains upon arriving in the frontier. Frontier life was hard, especially for women. They lived far from friends and family. While the men hunted, the women took care of the children and the farms. Although life was difficult, settlers lived better than they had in Europe or on the east.

Why it Matters...

When pioneers crossed the Appalachian Mountions, they moved the boundaries of America settlement west of the original thirteen colonies.

Indian Removal Act

Each year, settlers moved father west. President Andrew Jackson felt that the Indians hindered the nations growth by living on land the settlers wanted. Congress agreed with President Jackson. In 1830, President Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. This law ordered all the Indians nations east of the Mississippi River to move west of the river.

Indian Territory

The United States army forced Choctaw, Creek, and Chickasaw people to move to present day Oklahoma. This area (named by Congress) is called the Indian Territory.

Fighting the Indian Removal Act

The Cherokee Chief who led the fight against the removal act was named John Ross. He went to the Supreme Court. The head of the Supreme Court ,John Marshall, ruled that it was against the law to force the Cherokee to move.

The Trail of Tears

President Jackson ignored the Supreme Courts rule. In 1838, Cherokee Indians were forced out of their homeland by the United State Army to make the one thousand mile trip to Indian Territory. This trip was referred to as the Trail the Tears. The Indians had little to eat on their journey. The weather was cold and disease spread quickly. One fourth of the Indians died on the treacherous trip.

Summary

After Andrew Jackson was elected President, he ordered thousands of American Indians off their land. Indians were forced to move west and live in a new environment. This difficult journey was known as the Trail of Tears.

The Route

There was two main routes along which people wanted the first railroad to be built. One route was called the Central Route. and it followed a similar route to the Oregon Trail. The other route was called the Southern Route and it would stretch across Texas, New Mexico, and end up in California. The route that was eventually chosen was the Central Route.