Internal migrations refer to the movements of people within the United States. These migrations have played a key role in shaping the western United States.
Evaluate the extent to which internal migrations influenced the western United States from 1840 to 1980.
Sample Essay
In the early 1800s most Americans knew very little about the land and people between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. The public assumed that savage Indian tribes occupied a region the poet Walt Whitman described as “vast, treeless spaces.” Most Americans seemed content to leave the region to the roaming tribes of Indians and the vast herds of buffalo. But four events sparked a series of major internal migrations that dramatically changed the American West. The appeal of Manifest Destiny, the discovery of gold in California, the construction of the transcontinental railroads, and the widespread adoption of air conditioning in the Southwest dramatically transformed the population, economy, and political orientation of the western United States.
