USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -What was the main contributor of the settlement to the west? Railroads continued to help grow the West because they allowed crops and other goods to be transported between the West and the rest of the U.S.

Detailed explanation-2: -Land, mining, and improved transportation by rail brought settlers to the American West during the Gilded Age.

Detailed explanation-3: -A number of factors fueled migration west. Trappers, settlers, and miners headed West from the eastern United States prior to the Civil War. The Homestead Act, passed in 1862, allowed settlers to claim 160 acres of land for free.

Detailed explanation-4: -The California Gold Rush was a major factor in expansion west of the Mississippi. That westward expansion was greatly aided by the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, and passage of the Homestead Act in 1862.

Detailed explanation-5: -Thousands of people crossed the Rockies to the Oregon Territory, which belonged to Great Britain, and thousands more moved into the Mexican territories of California, New Mexico and Texas. In 1837, American settlers in Texas joined with their Tejano neighbors (Texans of Spanish origin) and won independence from Mexico.