Why were many Americans eager to move to the western frontier?
1 Answer
Mostly for economic reasons
Explanation:
-The 1862 Homestead Act meant that land was to be given to anyone willing to move to the Western frontier and settle there.
-The discovery of Gold in California in 1848 drove hundreds of thousands to move to move there in order to look for the precious metal. Other areas in the West like Nevada had plenty of gold, silver and other resources and so mining attracted countless people and after led the formation of Ghost towns like Bodie in California or Austin in Nevada.
-The taste for adventure is also what prompted many people to move, the majority, for a long time there were many more men than women in the West since it was too dangerous and thus this is why women were enfranchised so early in Western territories(1869 in Wyoming for instance).
-The Mormons fled to Utah after 1850 as they were persecuted for practising polygamy, Utah became officially a state in 1896 when Mormons agreed to give up that practice.
