Edexcel GCSE History (1HI0) — The American West
Students often confuse the discovery of gold with the mass migration. Remember that James Marshall discovered gold in 1848, but the massive wave of migrants (the '49ers) did not arrive until 1849.
In 'Explain' questions about migration, examiners expect you to link a cause directly to an outcome. Explain HOW the Panic of 1837 provided the economic push, while Manifest Destiny provided the moral justification.
When asked to write a narrative account or describe a journey, ensure you sequence your events chronologically using linking words like 'First', 'Then', and 'Finally'.
Ensure you only mention 'early settlement' farming problems and solutions (c.1835-c.1862). You will lose marks if you include later inventions like barbed wire or Turkey Red wheat, which were introduced in the 1870s.
Push factor
Negative conditions, such as economic depression or religious persecution, that force people to leave their homes.
Pull factor
Attractions, such as the discovery of gold or cheap land, that lure migrants to a new location.
Manifest Destiny
The 19th-century belief that white Americans had a God-given, inevitable mission to expand across the North American continent.
'49ers
The massive wave of approximately 100,000 migrants who travelled to California in 1849 searching for gold.
Mormons
Members of a religious group who migrated to the Great Salt Lake to escape violent persecution in the East.
Mormon Trail
A specific migration route forged by Brigham Young's Pioneer Band to avoid conflict with other western migrants.
Hastings Cutoff
An unverified, disastrous shortcut taken by the Donner Party that added massive delays and hardship to their journey.
Wagon trains
Convoys of covered wagons used by pioneers to transport their families and supplies across the plains.
Sod houses
Dwellings built from blocks of earth and thick prairie grass roots due to the total lack of timber on the Plains.
Sod
The dense upper layer of prairie soil held together by a thick, tangled network of grass roots.
Prairie Madness
A term for the severe depression and psychological breakdown suffered by settlers due to extreme isolation and harsh environmental conditions.
Claim jumping
The illegal act of taking over a mining plot that had already been recorded by someone else.
Annuity
An annual payment of cash or food provided by the US government to Indigenous tribes as part of treaty agreements.
Cholera
A deadly bacterial disease caused by infected water, which acted as a major push factor for people leaving crowded Eastern cities.
Irrigation
A system built to artificially supply water to land or crops, crucial for Mormon survival in the arid Salt Lake valley.
Panic of 1837
A severe economic depression starting in 1837 that caused high unemployment in the East, serving as a major push factor for westward migration.
Fort Laramie Treaty
An 1851 agreement where Indigenous tribes agreed to safe passage for migrants and the building of roads in exchange for government protection and annuities.
Vigilance Committees
Groups of volunteer citizens formed to maintain law and order and punish criminals in areas where official law enforcement was absent or weak.
Oregon Trail
The 2,000-mile long route from Missouri to the West Coast, used by hundreds of thousands of pioneers during the mid-19th century.
Preemption Act of 1841
An 1841 law that allowed pioneers who had already settled on land to buy up to 160 acres at a low price before it was offered for public auction.
John Frémont's 1843 Report
An influential map and guidebook published in 1843 that provided vital information for settlers travelling the Oregon Trail.
Put your knowledge into practice — try past paper questions for History
Push factor
Negative conditions, such as economic depression or religious persecution, that force people to leave their homes.
Pull factor
Attractions, such as the discovery of gold or cheap land, that lure migrants to a new location.
Manifest Destiny
The 19th-century belief that white Americans had a God-given, inevitable mission to expand across the North American continent.
'49ers
The massive wave of approximately 100,000 migrants who travelled to California in 1849 searching for gold.
Mormons
Members of a religious group who migrated to the Great Salt Lake to escape violent persecution in the East.
Mormon Trail
A specific migration route forged by Brigham Young's Pioneer Band to avoid conflict with other western migrants.
Hastings Cutoff
An unverified, disastrous shortcut taken by the Donner Party that added massive delays and hardship to their journey.
Wagon trains
Convoys of covered wagons used by pioneers to transport their families and supplies across the plains.
Sod houses
Dwellings built from blocks of earth and thick prairie grass roots due to the total lack of timber on the Plains.
Sod
The dense upper layer of prairie soil held together by a thick, tangled network of grass roots.
Prairie Madness
A term for the severe depression and psychological breakdown suffered by settlers due to extreme isolation and harsh environmental conditions.
Claim jumping
The illegal act of taking over a mining plot that had already been recorded by someone else.
Annuity
An annual payment of cash or food provided by the US government to Indigenous tribes as part of treaty agreements.
Cholera
A deadly bacterial disease caused by infected water, which acted as a major push factor for people leaving crowded Eastern cities.
Irrigation
A system built to artificially supply water to land or crops, crucial for Mormon survival in the arid Salt Lake valley.
Panic of 1837
A severe economic depression starting in 1837 that caused high unemployment in the East, serving as a major push factor for westward migration.
Fort Laramie Treaty
An 1851 agreement where Indigenous tribes agreed to safe passage for migrants and the building of roads in exchange for government protection and annuities.
Vigilance Committees
Groups of volunteer citizens formed to maintain law and order and punish criminals in areas where official law enforcement was absent or weak.
Oregon Trail
The 2,000-mile long route from Missouri to the West Coast, used by hundreds of thousands of pioneers during the mid-19th century.
Preemption Act of 1841
An 1841 law that allowed pioneers who had already settled on land to buy up to 160 acres at a low price before it was offered for public auction.
John Frémont's 1843 Report
An influential map and guidebook published in 1843 that provided vital information for settlers travelling the Oregon Trail.
