USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -European arrival (1513–1750) In 1513, Spanish explorers were the first Europeans to reach the west coast of North America, on the Pacific coast of the Panama isthmus.

Detailed explanation-2: -Gold rush and mining opportunities (silver in Nevada) The opportunity to work in the cattle industry; to be a “cowboy” Faster travel to the West by railroad; availability of supplies due to the railroad. The opportunity to own land cheaply under the Homestead Act.

Detailed explanation-3: -Expansion of the United States moved steadily westward from the late 18th to the mid 19th centuries. This territorial movement displaced most of the Native American peoples who lived in those lands for thousands of years before the arrival of European colonists.

Detailed explanation-4: -Western settlers of the 1800s included African Americans who were both former slaves and freeborn, Chinese Americans who moved to California with the railways, and Hispanic Americans who were given the chance to become American citizens after the Mexican-American war.