USA HISTORY

WESTWARD EXPANSION INDUSTRIALIZATION URBANIZATION 1870 1900

WESTWARD EXPANSION

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Why did pioneer families take the Oregon Trail and go West?
A
participate in the fur trade
B
convert people to Christianity
C
acquire farmland/start a new life
D
all of these!
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Free land in Oregon and the possibility of finding gold in California lured them westward. At the same time, eastern churches wanted to teach American Indians of the Oregon Country their European ideas of “civilization.” Many simply hoped for a chance to start a new life.

Detailed explanation-2: -Every pioneer had his or her own reasons for heading west. Some had heard about the rich farmland in the area that would later become Oregon, others traveled to escape an economic recession in the Eastern cities. Still, others felt that the change of climate would help them overcome chronic ailments.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Oregon Trail was a roughly 2, 000-mile route from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, that was used by hundreds of thousands of American pioneers in the mid-1800s to emigrate west.

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